A clay mineral intercalated with small organic or inorganic complexes (or “pillars”), which do not completely fill the interlayer space. The size and shape of the resultant cavities (or “galleries”) are determined by the size, shape, and orientation of the pillars. Pillared clays are potentially useful to remove organic molecules based on shape-selective adsorption (“molecular sieves”). For clays, intercalations involve positively charged complexes (either organic or inorganic “cations”) to offset the negatively charged layers of the clay. Common types of complexes include those of the methylammonium group (organic) and the Keggin ion (Al13, inorganic). Other types of layered materials can also be pillared.
See Keggin ion.
Cf., zeolite