Irreversible Conversion of a Water-Ethanol Solution into an Organized Two-Dimensional Network of Alternating Supramolecular Units in a Hydrophobic Zeolite under Pressure

Abstract

Turning disorder into organization is a key issue in science. By making use of X-ray powder diffraction and modeling studies, we show herein that high pressures in combination with the shape and space constraints of the hydrophobic all-silica zeolite ferrierite separate an ethanol-water liquid mixture into ethanol dimer wires and water tetramer squares. The confined supramolecular blocks alternate in a binary two-dimensional (2D) architecture that remains stable upon complete pressure release. These results support the combined use of high pressures and porous networks as a viable strategy for driving the organization of molecules or nano-objects towards complex, pre-defined patterns relevant for the realization of novel functional nanocomposites.

Keywords: X-ray diffraction; density functional calculations; high-pressure chemistry; self-assembly; zeolites.