Vermiculite as a useful host for guest cyclic aliphatic amine intercalation, followed by cation adsorption

Two vermiculite hybrids containing aliphatic amines intercalated were synthesized. The amount of guest molecules intercalated resulted in 0.60 and 0.52 mmol g−1 for pyperidine and pyperazine, respectively, which reflect the effectiveness of such kind of reactions. The processes were confirmed by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction patterns suggested that the original crystallinity of matrix was maintained, however, the intercalation process is associated with the conformation of the guest molecule and the presence of the compensate cation inside the interlayer cavity. The intercalated inorganic hosts adsorb divalent lead, nickel, copper and cobalt cations, more effectively at basic pH value, from aqueous solution, which content of adsorption is higher than the precursor native vermiculite.