Abstract
Fine crystals of hectorite-like layered silicate formed using hydrothermal reactions on monodisperse spherical silica particles with diameters of 0.2, 0.6 and 1.0 μm. The reactions were performed in a colloidal spherical silica suspension with lithium and magnesium ions under alkaline conditions at 373 K in a rotating Teflon-lined autoclave at the LiF:MgCl_2:SiO_2 molar ratio of 0.21:0.8:8.0. The grain size distributions were quite uniform irrespective of the silica size in the initial mixtures, as a result of the high rate of heterogeneous nucleation reaction than that of the homogeneous nucleation. The amount of a cationic surfactant that was intercalated tended to be large when the grain size of the silica spheres was small, while the negative layer charge of the hectorite-like silicate was same extent.
