Abstract
Nickel (II) hydroxide intercalated montmorillonite containing different nickel content were oxidized with sodium hypochlorite. The structural change as well as change in electrical property has been occurred during oxidation. In this reaction, nickel (II) hydroxide layers were converted into conducting nickel oxyhydroxide layers. Two layered phases with different basal spacing were obtained. The first phase has a basal spacing of 1.25 nm, which appeared in the lower nickel content region below three nickel atoms per O20(OH)4 aluminosilicate unit. This phase showed an apparent dielectric character. The second phase has an expanded basal spacing of 1.96 nm in the higher nickel content region. In this region, the composites showed an apparent electric conductivity in the order from 10-7 to 10-3 Scm-1, depending on the nickel content. These results suggested that insulator/conductor nano layered composites were synthesized through oxidation reaction. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity showed the semicomductive behavior.
