SPREADING OF CLAY ORGANOCOMPLEXES ON AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS - CONSTRUCTION OF LANGMUIR-BLODGETT CLAY ORGANOCOMPLEX MULTILAYER FILMS

Dilute dispersions of hexadecylammonium (1) and dioctadecylammonium hectorite (2) clay organocomplexes, dispersed in butanol/benzene mixtures, have been spread on the surfaces of water and aqueous electrolyte solutions in a Langmuir trough. Surface pressure (II) vs reduced surface area (AR) and surface potential vs AR isotherms, in situ reflectivity and Brewster-angle microscopic measurements, ex situ transmission electron microscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements established the formation, at the aqueous solution-air interface, of a layer of overlapping clay platelets with thicknesses ranging from 50 to 130 Angstrom. Langmuir-Blodgett clay organocomplex multilayer films have been prepared from 1 and 2 by Z-ty pe deposition onto solid substrates.