Comparison of the hydrothermal syntheses of Sn-magadiite using Na2SnO3 and SnCl4·5H2O as the precursors

Abstract Magadiites constitute an important class of lamellar silicates, in which the negative charges can be compensated by either Na+ or H+ located in the interlayer spaces, resulting in a cluster of spheres. The introduction of cations, for example Al, in the interllamelar spacing or in silicate layers plays an important role in modulating the material properties. In this work, stannosilicates were hydrothermally synthesized via the isomorphic substitution of Si by Sn in the structure of magadiite using two different sources of Sn (Na2SnO3 or SnCl4·5H2O) to investigate the influence of the nature of the precursor on the characteristics of the final material, which can be promised in the catalysis are. Samples synthesized with various Sn/Si molar ratios were characterized by several techniques, and regardless of the Sn source used, the results confirm the presence of tetrahedral SnO4 species on Sn-magadiite lamellae, giving highly crystalline materials that exhibit weak to moderate acidity. It is important to highlight that usually SnCl4·5H2O is used as a source of tin, and to our knowledge, this study is the first to use the precursor Na2SnO3 as a promising and cheap Sn source for the synthesis of this type of stannosilicate, leading to materials with high crystallinity but slight morphological differences due to the formation of cauliflower structures on the lamellae.