PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL)-INTERCALATED AND CU(OH)(2)-POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL)-INTERCALATED GRAPHITE OXIDES

Poly(vinyl alcohol)- (PVA) and Cu(OH)(2)-PVA-intercalated graphite oxi de (GO) were prepared and characterized in detail. The I-c values of P VA-intercalated GO varied widely in the range: 1.32-2.24 nm. In the ca se of PVA-intercalated GO, a stepwise increase of the I-c value of sim ilar to 0.5 nm was observed along with the increase of amount of inter calated PVA, which suggests that two types of orientation of PVA occur in GO layer, that is, PVA chains lie in the layer as a single layer o r as double layers. In the case of Cu(OH)(2)-PVA-intercalated GO, the I-c values changed in very wide range between 1.66 and 4.96 nm, strong ly depending on the pH value of the solution. The formation of interca lation compound with about similar to 2.0 nm indicated that the PVA-Cu (OH)(2) complex that was observed only in aqueous solution was isolate d in the form of solid by means of intercalation into the GO layer for the first time. The change of the I-c values over a wide range sugges ts that the Cu(OH)(2)-PVA complex can take on various kinds of conform ation in the layer of GO.