Creation of Organic/Inorganic Hybrids in Two‐Dimensional Organized Films Using Natural Materials and Control of Their Morphology.

Starch, an insoluble natural polymer, can be spread into a Langmuir monolayer on the surface of water as amylodextrin by solubilization, where it forms a spherical single‐particle layer at the air–water interface. In this study, we fabricated a two‐dimensional mixed monolayer from soluble starch and organo‐modified montmorillonite and attempted to control its morphology by varying the mixing ratio. The behavior of the organo‐modified montmorillonite was dependent on the spreading solvent and miniaturization was possible using a suitable solvent for spreading insoluble starch. Although both materials formed phase‐separated systems, nearly homogeneous particle layers were formed in some cases because of clay miniaturization. However, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the clay components remained intact and a rectangular morphology derived from aluminosilicate was observed in the mixed film with a high clay ratio. Functionalization as a mixed film clearly demonstrated the hydrophilic properties imparted by the starch particles and the selective adsorption of biomolecules on the clay surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]