2.1. Chemicals
All chemicals were of analytical grade and used without previous
purification. Crude bentonite (Sigma-Aldrich, Oakville, Canada), sodium
chloride (NaCl) (ACP chemicals, Montreal, Canada), copper acetate
(Cu(CH3COO)2) (Fisher chemicals, Ottawa,
Canada), silver nitrate (AgNO3) (Fisher chemicals),
sodium borohydride 98% (NaBH4) (Acros organics, Ottawa,
Canada), copper nitrate (Cu(NO3)2)
(Anachemia VWR company, Montreal, Canada), Boltorn H20 (Perstorp, Malmo,
Sweden), absolute methanol (MeOH) (Sigma-Aldrich), toluene
(Sigma-Aldrich) were used. All experiments were performed in distilled
water. Non-woven cellulose tissue (gauze) denoted as CT was purchased
from PJC, Canada.