Solid acidities of SiO2–TiO2/montmorillonite composites synthesized under different pH conditions

SiO2–TiO2/montmorillonite composites were prepared under acidic, neutral and basic conditions and the solid acidity of the resulting composites were determined. All the SiO2/TiO2 ratio of the colloidal particles was set at 10 but the resulting SiO2/TiO2 ratios were significantly richer in TiO2. The XRD patterns of the acidic composite showed expanding and broadening of the (001) reflection by intercalation of colloidal SiO2–TiO2 particles, but the neutral and basic composites showed only broadening of the reflections and no intercalation. The specific surface areas of the acidic, neutral and basic composites (375, 237 and 247 m2/g, respectively) were much larger than of montmorillonite (6 m2/g). The average pore sizes were about 4, 15 and 50 nm, and the amounts of solid acidic sites measured by the NH3-TPD were 178, 95 and 86 µmol/g for the acidic, neutral and basic composites, respectively. The solid acid amount of the acidic composite was twice that of a commercial catalyst, K-10, (85 µmol/g) and much higher than the guest phase SiO2–TiO2 gel (16 µmol/g) or the host phase montmorillonite (6 µmol/g). The TPD peak temperatures reflect the acid strength, and were similar in all the samples, ranging from 175° to 200 °C.