Fe(III)-pillared montmorillonites: preparation and characterization

Porous, high surface area solids have been prepared by intercalation of a trinuclear acetato hydroxy-iron(III) complex cation between the layers of montmorillonite and the resulting materials have been characterized in order to identify the nature of the iron intercalates formed during and after the cation exchange step. Spectroscopic studies demonstrated that at 623 K, the iron complex was partially decomposed and α -Fe 2 O 3 was only detected in samples heated at high temperatures, > 923 K. Under these conditions, the dehydroxylation of the montmorillonite layers led to the collapse of the structure.