REACTION OF METAL CHLORIDE GRAPHITE-INTERCALATION COMPOUNDS WITH AMMONIA

The uptake of ammonia by copper chloride graphite intercalation compou nds was studied. The products obtained can be represented by the formu la {xC}CuCl2.nNH(3). They are regarded to be occlusion complexes. The thermal decomposition of these complexes has been studied and compared with those of ammine complexes of CuCl2. The techniques used thermogr avimetric analysis supported by chemical analysis and diffraction. Whe n heated in a slow stream of ammonia or nitrogen, ammonia is lost in s teps, which are better defined when the decomposition takes place in a mmonia. The decomposition finally leads to the formation of CuCl mixed with graphite.