PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF KAOLINITE-PYRIDINE INTERCALATION COMPOUND

A kaolinite-pyridine intercalation compound was prepared by the displacement method using a kaolinite-methanol intercalation compound as an intermediate. The product was characterized by powder X-ray diffractometry(PXRD), thermal analysis (simultaneous TG and DSC) , and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) . The basal spacing of kaolinite-pyridine intercalation compound was 1.22 nm under wet conditions. The apparent intercalation of the product was 90.20% . It was unstable and the basal spacing decreased to 0.86 nm after drying in air. The IR spectra of the kaolinite-pyridine intercalation compound indicated the presence of hydrogen bonding between the inner-surface hydroxyls of kaolinite and pyridine. On the basis of the basal spacing of the kaolinite-pyridine intercalation compound, the pyridine appeared to be in an approximately perpendicular position, with the nitrogen facing gibbsitic sheets.