Entrapment of organic molecules within binary metal alloys

Abstract

Within metallic materials, alloys form the largest and richest family. We describe here a method for extending the properties of alloys even further, namely by incorporating organic compounds within bimetallic alloys, thus forming three-component organic–metallic composite-alloys of a novel type. Specifically, thionin and neutral red were entrapped in the following bimetallic systems: Ag–Au, Cu–Pt and Cu–Pd. This was achieved by zinc co-reduction of the two metal salts in the presence of the dye molecule to be entrapped. It was found that the two metals in each composite formed a bimetallic alloy, and that the entrapment yields were 95% and above in most composites. Using alloys as entrapping metallic matrices allows for the preparation of a wide variety of metal–organic composites of potential use in fields such as catalysis and sensing.