Molecular interactions in inorganic-organic composite materials

Inorganic-organic interactions play a key role in determining the molecular and macroscopic properties of resulting composites. These materials have a wide variety of applications including use as catalysts, hosts for optical and electronic applications, and as adsorbents. Tailoring composites for each unique application is accomplished using local interactions between inorganic and organic species to control both local and mesoscopic ordering. For many inorganic-organic composites, no local order exists thereby inhibiting local characterization of these materials using diffraction techniques. However, using NMR methods that are not dependent upon periodicity, unique insight about inorganic-organic interactions in locally amorphous materials can be achieved.; Using solid-state NMR methods, inorganic-organic interactions have been utilized to unambiguously establish the local organization of a variety of mesoporous materials as well as provide insight into the biological processes controlling biomineralization. For example, such experiments have revealed the location and coordination of aluminum species in the aluminosilicate framework of mesoporous materials. Such findings are crucial for the preparation of advanced catalytically active materials. These techniques have also provided increase understanding of the formation process of the inorganic network and have lead to the synthesis of the first mesophase material with a 2D crystalline architecture. This discovery is promising for enhancing the thermal and mechanical strength of mesoporous catalysts that had previously been locally disordered and thermally unstable. These investigations provide a wealth of knowledge for understanding the influence organic molecules exert upon silica structures and can be utilized to provide advanced, tailored composites.