Poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) is one of a class of conjugated polymers which displays high electronic conductivity1 and a large nonlinear optical susceptibility.1 2 These properties are both highly dependent on the degree of polymer orientation and can be enhanced by orders of magnitude by alignment of the chains.2•3 Efforts to induce orientation in conductive polymers have included polymerizing the monomers in dimensionally confined crystalline organic matrices.4 PPV cnanot be introduced by this route, since the monomer does not undergo oxidative polymerization. It is prepared from a water-soluble polyelectrolyte precursor, which has been exploited to incorporate the polymer in amorphous glasses by sol-gel methods.5

AxMoO3(H20)y has been shown to undergo substantial exfoliation of the layer structure in water wheen A = Li. Although extensive exfoliation of the Na form is not observed, sufficient swelling occurs to enable the insertion of large polyoxycations of Al, Ga, Zr, Ti and Cr between the layers of MoO3 by ion exchange with colloidal dispersions of NaXMoO3. This represents the first such "pillaring" reactions for MoO3. Interlayer expansions are observed to range from 7 to 14Å in these materials. In some cases, the orientation of the oxide cluster between the layers can also be determined by 1D electron density mapping. We have also shown that this method can be applied to the insertion of conductive polymers via incorporation of a water-soluble precursor polymer. The sulfonium ionomer precursor of poly (p-phenylene vinylene) has been intercalated in MoO3, to form a novel polymer/oxide layered structure. Data for the heat-treated [PPV]32MoO3 films show an order of magnitude increase in conductivity over that of pristine NaxMoO3.