Pillaring of montmorillonite and beidellite with aluminum polyhydroxypolymer takes place first by the saturation of the cation-exchange capacity by monomeric and/or dimeric aluminum hydroxide species and then the intercalation of the so-called Al13-polyhydroxypolymer. The clay slurry must have a solid concentration greater than 0.01% (w/w) to produce a basal spacing of about 18 Å. Sizeable clay tactoids must therefore exist in the slurry in order to produce a turbostratic structure ordered along the c axis. The main difference between pillared montmorillonite and pillared beidellite seems to be a more ordered distribution of pillars within the interlamellar space of the clays that are rich in tetrahedral substitutions. Recent 27Al and 21Si high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance data suggest that this higher degree of ordering results from the reaction of the aluminic pillars and the clay sheet near the sites of the tetrahedral substitutions.

Copper adsorption on a hydroxy-aluminum-hectorite complex (OH-Al-hectorite) at pH 4.5, 5.7, 7.4, and 7.8 was examined by means of electron spin resonance. The spectra of these samples were compared to those of Cu2+-hectorite and various aluminum hydrous oxides. Copper on the OH-Al-hectorite in aqueous gels occurred as mobile Cu(H20)62+ and chemisorbed to discrete sites of the OH-Al interlayer. As pH was increased, the ratio of chemisorbed to mobile Cu2+ increased. At pHs above 7 the solubility product of Cu(OH)2 was exceeded, but chemisorbed Cu2+ remained as the dominant species. These results contrast with the precipitation of Cu observed on microcry stalline gibbsite above pH 5 and indicate that the interlayer OH-A1 retained more Cu2+ on discrete sites. The greater adsorption capacity probably resulted in part from a higher specific surface area. Electron spin resonance spectra of Cu2+ in air-dried films of the OH-Al-hectorite at pH 4.5 and 7.4 showed Cu2+ in square planar symmetry, oriented with the z-axis perpendicular to the OH-Al-hectorite a-b plane. At the higher pH, the spectrum resembled that of Cu(OH)42- on alumina, suggesting a ligand exchange mechanism for Cu2+ adsorption on the complex.