Table 2
Within this temperature range, an initial mass loss was registered for
NaMt-Cu0 up to 180 °C, and must still be due to the
dehydration process. This dehydration over a larger temperature range
can be explained by an additional contribution of retained moisture on
the incorporated metal. A second WL can be seen up to 470-480 °C and
could be related to a dehydroxylation of terminal Metal-OH groups of
possible metal oxide particles. The latter may unavoidably be produced
during the synthesis procedure through slight metal oxidation when
contacted to air. Another explanation should consist in a possible slow
release of moisture from the internal surface the metal loaded clay
mineral. Both WL were found to shift towards lower temperatures but with
higher WL values in Ag0/NaMt, indicating a higher
hydrophilic character. In contrast, CT-based samples were mostly
characterized by a much lower moisture loss (Fig. S11.b) , which
indicates a much weaker hydrophilic character. This must be due to the
fact that commercial untreated CT displays negligible surface density of
hydroxyl groups. Polyol incorporation appeared to slightly improve this
feature, by introducing high amount of OH groups. Incorporation of MNPs
alone or accompanied by polyol H20 induced a marked enhancement of the
hydrophilic character. This is supported by more pronounced weight loss
in the temperature range of 47-200 oC up to 8.25 %
(Cu0/CT), 9.74 % (Ag0/CT), 4.675 %
(Cu0/H20@CT) and 8.525 %
(Ag0/H20@CT) (Table 2 ).