Unique Decolorization of Rhodamine Dye/Dodecyltrimethylammonium/α-Zirconium Phosphate Hybrid Solid in O-Xylene

We prepared a rhodamine dye/dodecyltrimethylammonium/alpha-zirconium phosphate (R3B/C12TMA/alpha ZrP) hybrid pinkish powder with luminescence by an ion-exchange method and investigated its decolorization behavior in xylene solutions. The R3B/C12TMA/alpha ZrP powder showed remarkable decolorization and emission quenching by immersion only in o-xylene. This unique decolorization behavior in only o-xylene could be explained by the desorption of R3B from the interlayer space of the R3B/C12TMA/alpha ZrP hybrid to bulk o-xylene solution. These results suggest that the R3B/C12TMA/alpha ZrP hybrid is promising for selective detection of o-xylene.