Preparation and properties of intercalation compounds of graphite oxide

Abstract

Preparation and characterization of various intercalation compounds of graphite oxide were summarized. The hydroxyl groups with acidic nature in graphite oxide were responsible for the intercalation of various reagents including alkyltrimethylammonium ions, alkylamines and silylating reagents. The size of the empty space in the interlayer spacing of the resulting intercalation compounds varied in a wide range by changing the kind or amounts of intercalated species. They possessed hydrophobic nature, therefore, large amounts of organic molecules such as pyrene were adsorbed from water based solution onto them. In addition to this, the intercalation compounds with long alkyl chains were soluble in organic solvents, forming so called nanosheet solution. This enabled to prepare thin film samples by casting the solution containing intercalation compounds and they can include various organic dyes between the alkyl chains. These alkyl chains well prevented the aggregation of dye molecules introduced into the layer of intercalation compounds. The fluorescence from organic dyes included in them increased by introducing perfluoroalkyl chains into them instead of alkyl chains.