Squaraine “ships” in the Y zeolite “bottle”: a chromogenic sensing material for the detection of volatile amines and thiols

Abstract

The inclusion of squaraine (SQ) dye I into the supercages of zeolite Y (structure code FAU) with a SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio of 30 (Z30) through a two-step ship-in-the-bottle approach is reported, resulting in the squaraine-containing hybrid material Z30-SQ. Attempts to use the same synthetic procedure on sodium and ammonium Y zeolites were unsuccessful, stressing the importance of the presence of Brønsted acid centres in the Z30 zeolite. The reflectance spectra of Z30-SQ show a maximum in the typical squaraine monomer region at 618 nm and a shoulder at 570 nm. Spectral analyses revealed that the major species are SQ dimers and (tightly adsorbed) SQ monomers and SQ aggregates are only formed to a minor degree. The emission spectrum of Z30-SQ shows a single band at 669 nm. The sensory performance of this material was tested in the presence of volatile propylamine and propylthiol and other volatile organic compounds (acetone, ethanol, dichloromethane, hexane, acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, ethyl ether and acetic acid). The blue Z30-SQ material reacts with the thiol and amine derivatives, resulting in the bleaching of the solid and disappearance of the absorption band in the visible region, but does not undergo spectroscopic changes in the presence of other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Whereas the reaction with propylamine is irreversible, a partial reversibility was found in the presence of the thiol. Theoretical investigations of the reactivity of I with several VOC molecules at the semi-empirical level reproduced well the experimentally observed reactivity.