LAUSR

The effect of water and isopropanol intercalation on montmorillonite (MMT) delamination was investigated in order to compare the roles of hydration and solvation in the delamination. Transmittance results showed that water has a significant effect on the delamination of MMT compared with isopropanol. This observation was attributed to the difference of the intercalation of water and isopropanol. Thermogravimetric (TG) results illustrate that the intercalation mass of water was greater than that of isopropanol when the pressure remained constant. Weighing test results show that the intercalation mass of water was smaller than that of isopropanol when the volume of MMT remained constant. Molecule dynamic simulation results show that the water and isopropanol molecules were interacting with Na+ and siloxane surface of MMT, respectively. It was demonstrated that the hydration of the MMT interlayer followed two steps: in step 1, the Na+ in the interlayer was hydrated, thereby expanding the interlayer spacing; in step 2, additional water molecules were absorbed into the expanded interlayer space. It was found that step 2 could not be actuated until the completion of step 1. For the solvation of the MMT interlayer with isopropanol, however, only one step was required, in which isopropanol was absorbed onto the siloxane sites of the interlayer while maintaining the interlayer spacing.