Smectite-bearing clay samples from Pará state, Amazon region, Brazil, were used for pillaring process in the present study. The natural and pillarized matrices were characterized using XRD and textural analysis using nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The ions of intercalation (Al13, Ti, Zr) were obtained through chemical reactions of AlCl(3)6H2O/ NaOH, titanium ethoxide /HCl, zirconium acetate /HCl solutions. The Results showed that the pillarization process increases the basal spacing of the natural clay from 15.6 to 20.64 Å and the superficial area from 44 to 358 m²/g (Zr-PILC). The thermal stability of the natural clay was improved by the pillaring procedure. The resulting materials were submitted to catalytic process of decomposition of andiroba oil in a fix bed reactor at 673 ± 1 K. The catalytic activity was determined by the product composition resulting from the chemical reactions. The physicochemical parameters of the catalysts were obtained using XRD, FTIR and textural analysis. The pillared clays showed higher Brønsted acidity, with higher concentration in aromatic hydrocarbons and small concentration of aliphatic hydrocarbons.
pillared clay; Al13; smectite
