Structurally characterized mesostructured hybrid surfactant-inorganic lamellar phases containing the adamantane [Ge4S10]4- anion:: Synthesis and properties

The reaction of aqueous solutions of Na4Ge4S10 with various surfactant alkyltrimethylammonium bromide salts yielded new surfactant-inorganic phases containing the adamantane thiogermanate anion [Ge4S10](4-). The resulting [CnH2n+1N(CH3)(3)](4)Ge4S10 phases with n = 12, 14, 16, and 18 crystallize in the triclinic space group P-1 and contain parallel inorganic planes of unconnected [Ge4S10](4-) clusters, separated at mesoscopic scale lengths by organic bilayers of interdigitated cationic surfactant chains. These air-stable compounds were characterized by thermal analyses, Raman, far-IR, and solid-state UV-vis reflectance spectroscopy. Their ability to absorb reversibly various alcohols was studied by in-situ X-ray powder diffraction.