Effect of heat treatment on amino acid intercalated in montmorillonite

The protonated forms of glycine, L-alanine, L-tryptophane, L-histidine, L-methionine or L-lysine were ion-exchanged into montmorillonite, a cationic layered silicate. The organic-inorganic hybrid nanostructured materials underwent complex mass-loss procedures upon thermal treatment. They were the loss of physisorbed water, decarboxylation, deintercalation through the decomposition of the organic material, the loss of structural hydroxy groups until the collapse of the layered structure.