On the interaction between the potassium—GIC and unsaturated hydrocarbons

KC8 and KC24 were allowed to react with several unsaturated hydrocarbons. After contact with isoprene, styrene or 1,3-butadiene, potassium—graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) expanded slowly along the c-axis direction. Molecules of unsaturated hydrocarbons are considered to be introduced into the interlayer spacing of GICs and polymerized progressively. When acrylonitrile, 1-butene or isobutene is used as the unsaturated hydrocarbon, the interaction between GICs and hydrocarbons is quite different. Monomer molecules are polymerized only in the vicinity of the sample edge, which enhances the stability of potassium—GICs in water. Two other kinds of interaction between alkali metal—GICs and unsaturated hydrocarbons, i.e. intercalation with and without oligomerization, are also reported elsewhere by several authors. We classified the interaction into four categories mainly according to the reactivity of unsaturated hydrocarbon for polymerization.