Incorporation of fullerene derivatives into smectite clays: A new family of organic-inorganic nanocomposites

Three fulleropyrrolidine derivatives, characterized by the presence of positive charges, were introduced in the interlayer space of montmorillonite. The composites were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and differential thermal and thermogravimetric (DTA-TGA) analysis, in conjunction with FTIR, UV-Vis, Raman, and Fe-57-Mossbauer spectroscopies. Organophilic derivatives were intercalated into organically modified clays, while water-soluble fulleropyrrolidines were introduced into the clay galleries through ion exchange. The experiments, complemented by computer simulations, show that not all the clay-clay platelets are intercalated by the fullerene derivatives and that a sizable amount of charge transfer takes place between the host and the guests

A two-dimensional magnetic hybrid material based on intercalation of a cationic Prussian blue analog in montmorillonite nanoclay

A highly ordered two-dimensional hybrid magnetic nanocomposite has been prepared by synthesizing and intercalating a new cationic aluminum-hydroxy ferric ferrocyanide compound into a cation-adsorbing nanoclay (montmorillonite). Chemical and structural properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray photoemission, and Mössbauer spectroscopies. Elemental analysis was based on proton-induced gamma ray emission and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy data, N/C elemental ratios, and cation-exchange capacity measurements. Magnetic properties were studied by SQUID magnetometry. The results suggest: (i) that the cationic Prussian blue analog comprises Al-hydroxy cations embedded into a monolayer thick two-dimensional ferric ferrocyanide array; and (ii) that the clay-Prussian blue nanohybrid consists of such arrays stacked between the clay layers. The latter material orders ferromagnetically at ∼5. K showing a hundred times higher remanence than that of the starting material, soluble Prussian blue (ammonium ferric ferrocyanide)