Graphite oxide intercalation compounds with rotator hexagonal order in the intercalated layers

Graphite oxide intercalation compounds (GOIC), exhibiting a large distance between graphite oxide sheets as well as a long-range order in the organization of guest species, are obtained by intercalation of organic cations containing two long hydrocarbon tails. In particular, graphite oxide layers with interlayer spacing of 0.84 nm, when ionically bonded with cations with two C18 chains, lead to GOIC with interlayer spacing of 3.4 nm and with a hexagonal rotator order in the packing of the long hydrocarbon tails. The intercalation of a second guest species with one or two long hydrocarbon tails not only leads to a further large increase of the interlayer spacing (from 3.4 nm up to 5.8 nm, for guests with C18 alkyl chains) but also, surprisingly, improves the order in the stacking of the layers as well as in the organization of the hydrocarbon chains in the interlayer space. X-ray diffraction measurements on powders and oriented films indicate that these ordered GOIC present intercalate structures with inclined and perpendicular bilayers of guest molecules. Differential scanning calorimetry associated with X-ray diffraction measurements show the occurrence of reversible loss of the hydrocarbon rotator order, which can be associated with significant changes of the interlayer spacing.