Thermal behaviour of dickite-dimethylsulfoxide intercalation complex

The thermal behaviour of the intercalation complex of a dickite from Tarifa, Spain, with dimethylsulfoxide was studied by high-temperature X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetry, and attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy. The ATR-FTIR study indicated that the heating between room temperature and 75°C produced the elimination of adsorbed molecules. Above this temperature the elimination of intercalated molecules occurs through several stages. Loss of 6.5% of the intercalated DMSO first causes a slight contraction of the basal spacing at 90şC due to a rearrangement of the DMSO molecules in the interlayers positions. This contraction is followed by the formation of a single layer complex and the restoring of the dickite structure, at 300°C, when the loss of intercalated species have been completed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.