The degree of exchange of methyl viologen (MV2+) within the channels of zeo
lite I, microcrystals was determined as a function of the amount of MV2+ ad
ded to an aqueous zeolite L suspension. Care was taken to remove molecules
that have been adsorbed on the outer zeolite surface. Thus, the obtained va
lues for the maximum occupation probability per unit cell are 0.78 for the
commercial and 0.85 MV2+ for the self-synthesized potassium zeolite L for w
hich the equilibrium constant was found to be in the order of 10(4) at room
temperature. Adsorption isotherms and BET results show that the self-synth
esized zeolite has a larger specific surface area as well as a larger and,
thus, more accessible pore volume for the MV2+ than the commercial sample.
IR spectra of very thin layers on ZnSe in high vacuum and Raman spectra at
ambient conditions of MV2+-L zeolite at different loading levels are presen
ted. They are compared with a MVCl2-KBr pellet and MV2+-Y zeolite spectra.
The MV2+-L zeolite spectra indicate weak interactions between the MV2+ and
the zeolite framework. They also indicate that the two pyridyl rings of the
intercalated MV2+ are twisted. It was found that framework vibrations of t
he zeolite can be used as an internal standard for fast and nondestructive
determinations of the MV2+ loading. Raman spectra an better suited for this
purpose than IR. The reason for this is that the TR intensities of the zeo
lite framework vibrations at about 1050 cm(-1) are much higher than those f
or all MV2+ modes, while the only strong zeolite framework Raman band at ab
out 500 cm(-1) is narrow and well-isolated and of similar intensity to the
relevant MV2+ signals at high loading. On the basis of Rietveld refinement
of X-ray data and molecular modeling, a model of the MV2+ location in the c
hannels of zeolite L is proposed. The MV2+ lies along the channel wall, and
the angle between the main MV2+ axis and the c-axis of the zeolite is 27 d
egrees.