The main objective of this paper is to characterize the chocolate smectite clays of Boa-Vista, PB, Brazil, in their natural form, and after chemical treatment, for their application in catalysis. The experimental methods were: X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The results show that the acid treatment altered the montimorillonite structure. The obtained reaction (isomerization of m-xylene) for the treated material showed that treated clays were more active than the natural ones.
smectitic clays; acid activation; isomerization reaction
