Novel intercalation compound of poly[oligo(ethylene glycol)-oxalate] in molybdenum disulfide

The synthesis of polymeric organic/inorganic nano-composites achieved via the technique of intercalation chemistry continues to be a hot area in materials chemistry. In principle enhanced properties could be obtained from these nanomaterials that cannot be obtained by a mere physical mixture of the components or by the components all alone. One noted example in the literature is the enhanced mechanical and thermal properties attained by nylon-6/clay hybrid materials synthesized by Toyota Researchers. In our work, we have prepared a novel intercalated nanocomposite of poly[oligo(ethylene glycol)-oxalate] (POEGO) in MoS2. POEGO is a new polymer that has been shown to possess high ionic conductivity when complexed with salts, in particular lithium salts. This is due to the presence of adjacent carbonyl groups on the polymer backbone which increases its polarity and hence favors the dissociation of ionic salts. While there has been published work on the intercalation of poly(ethylene oxide) in various layered systems, there is no report to date on the intercalation of POEGO.