A new semiconducting organic-inorganic nanocomposite, 1,5-diaminonphthalene-saponite intercalation compound

We synthesized a new intercalation compound, 1,5-diaminonaphathalene(DAN)-saponite where intercalated DAN molecules were shown to have a formal charge of +0.67 The measurement of optical diffuse reflectance spectra revealed the formation of electronic bands with a gap of ca. 1 eV suggesting semiconducting behaviour of this system. From ESR measurements, the radical formation in DAN-saponite was confirmed and the spin concentration was determined to be I spin per 200 and 300 DAN-molecules at 290 and 7.9 K, respectively. This temperature dependence of the spin density also implies the semiconductive nature of DAN-saponite. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.