Abstract: Saponite clays (S) were synthesized by hydrothermal mathod. The pillared saponite clays (Al-CLS) were prepared by intercalating the saponite with aluminum hydsoxy polymer [A1₁₃O₄(OH)₂₄·(H₂O)₁₂]⁷⁺. Saponite clays and their pillared clays were characterized with XRD, ²⁷A1 and ²⁹SiMASNMR and the amount of adsorped pyridine. The catalytic activity of saponites and their pillared anologues were evaluated for cumene cracking. The results show that the synthetic products were of good crystallinity and the aluminum amount in the tetrahedral layer of T-O-Tsheet of saponite could be controlled by synthetic condition. The crosslinking density is correlative with aluminum amount in the tetrahedral layer. Compared with saponite, the activity for cumene cracking on the Al-CLS is higher but activity decay is lower. The catalytic activity of the sample is correlated with the number of strong acid sites on the surface where the probe molecule can arrive.

Key words: Saponite pillared clay, Crosslinking, Cumene cracking