Pillared clay mineral membranes

A method of producing a two-dimensional membrane, the method comprising:

• providing a phyllosilicate material, the phyllosilicate material including a clay mineral;
• exfoliating the phyllosilicate material into a plurality of flakes;
• combining pillaring precursors with the plurality of flakes, the plurality of flakes restacked with the pillaring precursors to form a membrane comprising at least two phyllosilicate layers with the pillaring precursors disposed therebetween, the phyllosilicate layers including the plurality of flakes;
• and
• converting the pillaring precursors to pillars to form the two-dimensional membrane as a pillared membrane.

A method of producing a membrane, the method comprising:

• exfoliating a phyllosilicate material, the phyllosilicate material including a clay mineral;
• combining a pillaring precursor with the exfoliated phyllosilicate material;
• and
• restacking the pillaring precursor with the exfoliated phyllosilicate material to form the membrane, the membrane comprising two phyllosilicate layers with the pillaring precursor disposed therebetween, each of the phyllosilicate layers including the phyllosilicate material.