Aluminum-27 NMR Investigations of Aqueous and Methanolic Aluminosilicate Solutions

Abstract

Aluminum-27 NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize aqueous and methanolic alkaline solutions of tetramethylammonium (TMA) aluminosilicates. Aluminosilicate solutions have been prepared with different concentrations of silicon [0.577–1.24% (w/w)], aluminum [0.0022–0.239% (w/w)], methanol [0.0–0.70% (w/w)] and H₂O [0.23–90% (w/w)]. All solutions contain the same ratio of Si/TMA = 1 and Si/Al molar ratios between 0.5 and 25.²⁷Al NMR spectra of TMA aluminosilicate solutions are characterized by a variety of aluminosilicate species such as q¹(Al1OSi), q²(Al2OSi), q³(Al3OSi) and q⁴(Al4OSi). Aluminum-27 NMR spectra of TMA aluminosilicate solutions indicate that considerable changes occurred by changing the Si/Al ratio. The distribution of aluminosilicate species was affected by the presence of the methanol and the method of mixing the silicate and aluminosilicate solutions. A methanolic aluminosilicate solution needs about twice the time required for an aqueous aluminosilicate solution to reach a steady state, i.e., the latter takes 36 h to reach steady state. Results with the same concentration of silicon and aluminum show that the formation and distribution of aluminosilicate species are strongly dependent on the solvent comprising the silicate and aluminate solutions.