Intercalation of Layered Nanomaterial with Organic Compounds and Effect on Magnetic Properties

Intercalation of the layered material FePS₃ with 1,3-bis(amino-5-phenyl-1,2,4-triazol-3-ylsulfanyl) propane (BAPT) was tested. The material has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy-dispersive X-ray system (EDX) before and after the intercalation process. Magnetic properties are measured by using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) at room temperature with varying magnetic field intensity up to ± 20 G. The XRD patterns exhibit sharp 001 reflections of FePS₃ before and after intercalation. The crystallite size calculation refers to the nanostructure formation of FePS₃ before and after intercalation. The average crystallite size of FePS₃ before intercalation is 84 nm and after intercalation is 88.6 nm. A New phase has appeared at 2Ө = 4.8°, and d-spacing is about 18.4 Å. This means that the interlayer spacing of the FePS₃ has expanded by about 12 Å. The molecular size of intercalates plays a role in the interlayer expansions. SEM image shows perfect layers without deformation of FePS₃ crystal structure after intercalation. This means that the material keeps its crystallinity even after the intercalation process. This also confirms the stability of the material. The IR spectrum shows a significant peak of FePS₃ at about 570 cm⁻¹. The IR spectrum of FePS₃ and BAPT shows the peaks of the groups, NH₂, C=C, and C–N. This confirms the intercalation of BAPT in the FePS₃ layers. FePS₃ exhibits antiferromagnetic properties. The magnetic phase transition occurs from the antiferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase due to the intercalation of BAPT into FePS₃ layers. Also, there is a magnetic phase transition of FePS₃ from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic due to intercalation with DMF.