LAUSR

Abstract We succeeded in the self-assembly of 8-hydroxyquinoline (8Hq)-Li (I), Al (III) and Cu (II) complexes into the interlayer surfaces of layered silicate magadiite (Na 2 Si 14 O 29 ·nH 2 O) and investigated the luminescence of organic metal-chelates in the confined spaces. The measurements, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis) and Photoluminescence spectra (PL), confirmed that the metal-organic chelates species were immobilized onto the silicate sheets via ion-dipole interaction and free diffusion. The encapsulation was obtained by a flexible solid-solid reaction, and the present reaction and products have a potential of application to industrial uses. A speculative mechanism is proposed for reaction by the combination of solid-solid and solid-gas intercalation. Furthermore, it was found that the complexes in the interlayer space showed a special fluorescence property than in the crystal state and the confined space of phyllosilicate shows an influence on properties of complexes. Here, a possibility of synthesizing metal-organic complexes that encapsulated in phyllosilicate is given.