ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the structural parameters relative to intercalation in clays and in layered phosphates. Zirconium phosphate-alkanol compounds may be considered as very good starting materials for intercalation of other polar molecules. The ethanol-zirconium phosphate is a more effective complex for obtaining intercalation compounds than the methanol one because of its larger interlayer distance. Intercalation of amines may be regarded as the protonation of amines with the groups of the exchanger. The potentiometric titration curves are very useful in obtaining the saturation capacity of the exchanger for a given amine at different pH values and to have information on the intercalation mechanism. Studies on the intercalation behavior of layered phosphates lead to the conclusion that various kinds of polar organic molecules can be adsorbed in the interlayer spaces of α- and γ-phases. Preparations having different degrees of crystallinity or different crystal size could lead to different kinetic effects and, in this specific case, to obtain more easily an intercalation compound.
