Catalytic activity of Ti- and Al-pillared montmorillonite and beidellite for cumene cracking and hydrocracking Original Research Article

Titanium- and aluminum-pillared beidellite and montmorillonite clays were prepared from Mg-beidellite synthesized hydrothermally, and Mg-montmorillonite obtained by Mg2+ ion exchange of a natural montmorillonite (STx-1, Source Clay Minerals Repository). The pillaring solutions were prepared by hydrolysis of aluminium chloride and titanium tetraethoxide solutions, to produce the tridecameric “Al13” polyoxocation, AlO4Al12(OH)24(H2O)127+, and “Tix” polyoxocations (structure not known), respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis of the basal spacing (d001) of the samples showed that the Ti-pillared beidellite is thermally more stable than analogous montmorillonite. The order of the overall activity for cumene conversion of the clay samples is found to be: Mg-montmorillonite < Al13-montmorillonite=Tix-montmorillonite < Mg-beidellite