Towards Novel Multifunctional Pillared Nanostructures: Effective Intercalation of Adamantylamine in Graphene Oxide and Smectite Clays

Abstract

Multifunctional pillared materials are synthesized by the intercalation of cage‐shaped adamantylamine (ADMA) molecules into the interlayer space of graphite oxide (GO) and aluminosilicate clays. The physicochemical and structural properties of these hybrids, determined by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman and X‐ray photoemission (XPS) spectroscopies and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that they can serve as tunable hydrophobic/hydrophilic and stereospecific nanotemplates. Thus, in ADMA‐pillared clay hybrids, the phyllomorphous clay provides a hydrophilic nanoenvironment where the local hydrophobicity is modulated by the presence of ADMA moieties. On the other hand, in the ADMA‐GO hybrid, both the aromatic rings of GO sheets and the ADMA molecules define a hydrophobic nanoenvironment where sp 3 ‐oxo moieties (epoxy, hydroxyl and carboxyl groups), present on GO, modulate hydrophilicity. As test applications, these pillared nanostructures are capable of selective/stereospecific trapping of small chlorophenols or can act as cytotoxic agents.