Infrared study of the effects of thermal treatment on montmorillonite-benzidine complexes - II. Li-, Na- K-, Br- and Cs-montmorillonite

Li-, Na-, K-, Rb- and Cs-montmorillonites were saturated with benzidine, these organo-clay complexes heated under vacuum to 200°C and IR spectra recorded at various temperatures. Benzidine is mostly bound to interlayer cations through water molecules, except in Cs-clay where bonding to hydrophobic water and to water molecules which are hydrogen bonded to the oxygen plane predominates. During the thermal treatment water is lost and alkali, cations coordinate directly with benzidine. In Cs-, and to some extent also in Rb- and K-montmorillonite, benzidine is oxidized to semiquinone and quinoidal cation during the thermal treatment.