Abstract
A facile, sol–gel method was developed to obtain Al-containing layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with Ca or Mg divalent cations. Ca- and Al-alkoxide were added to aqueous NaNO3 solution, and, after rapid gelation, a solid product, phase-pure, highly crystalline CaAl–LDH was formed with exceptionally regular morphology without impurities for the first time with sol–gel method. The lack of salt in the solution used for the hydrolysis resulted in a non-desirable by-product (katoite). For the sol–gel synthesis of MgAl–LDH, it was found that its formation was less sensitive to the presence of nitrate ions, and pure water or aqueous NaOH worked equally well. The product was also a highly crystalline material with thin, plate-like morphology as revealed by X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. IR measurements indicate the lack of organic substance in the interlamellar space for both materials.

Highlights
-
A novel version of sol–gel synthesis was utilized to prepare two types of layered double hydroxides.
-
The platelets have well-defined hexagonal morphology.
-
The products have thin crystals with high aspect ratio.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.









Similar content being viewed by others
References
Evans DG, Slade RCT (2006) Structural aspects of layered double hydroxides. Struct Bond 119:1–87
Thiel JP, Chiang CK, Poeppelmeier KR (1993) Structure of LiA12(OH)7·2H2O. Chem Mater 5:297–304
Al Jaafaari AI (2010) Controlling the morphology of nano-hybrid materials. Am J Appl Sci 7:171–177
Mostafa MS, Bakr AA, El Naggar AMA, Sultan EA (2016) Water decontamination via the removal of Pb(II) using a new generation of highly energetic surface nano-material: Co+2Mo+6 LDH. J Colloid Interface Sci 461:261–272
Khan AI, O’Hare D (2002) Intercalation chemistry of layered double hydroxides: recent developments and applications. J Mater Chem 12:3191–3198
Xu ZP, Zhang J, Adebajo MO, Zhang H, Zhou C (2011) Catalytic applications of layered double hydroxides and derivatives. Appl Clay Sci 53:139–150
Purohit PJ, Wang D, Wurm A, Schick C, Schönhals A (2014) Comparison of thermal and dielectric spectroscopy for nanocomposites based on polypropylene and layered double hydroxide—proof of interfaces. Eur Polym J 55:48–56
Goha K, Lima T, Dong Z (2008) Application of layered double hydroxides for removal of oxyanions: a review. Water Res 42:1343–1368
Tichit D, Gérardin C, Durand R, Coq B (2006) Layered double hydroxides: precursors for multifunctional catalysts. Top Catal 39:89–96
Ahmed N, Morikawa M, Izumi Y (2012) Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol using optimized layered double hydroxide catalysts. Catal Today 185:263–269
Fan K, Chen H, Ji Y, Huang H, Claesson PM, Daniel Q, Philippe B, Rensmo H, Li F, Luo Y, Sun L (2016) Nickel–vanadium monolayer double hydroxide for efficient electrochemical water oxidation. Nat Commun 7:11981
Jagadale AD, Guan G, Li X, Du X, Ma X, Hao X, Abudula A (2016) Ultrathin nanoflakes of cobalt–manganese layered double hydroxide with high reversibility for asymmetric supercapacitor. J Power Sources 306:526–534
Del Hoyo C (2007) Layered double hydroxides and human health: an overview. Appl Clay Sci 36:103–121
Cornejo J, Celis R, Pavlovic I, Ulibarri MA (2008) Interactions of pesticides with clays and layered double hydroxides: a review. Clay Miner 43:155–175
Hu G, O’Hare D (2005) Unique layered double hydroxide morphologies using reverse microemulsion synthesis. J Am Chem Soc 127:17808–17813
Ni X, Kuang K, Jin X, Xiao X, Liao G (2010) Large scale synthesis of porous microspheres of Mg–Al-layerd double hydroxide with improved fire suppression effectiveness. Solid State Sci 12:546–551
Wu H, Jiao Q, Zhao Y, Huang S, Li X, Liu H, Zhou M (2010) Synthesis of Zn/Co/Fe-layered double hydroxide nanowires with controllable morphology in a water-in-oil microemulsion. Mater Charact 61:227–232
Tao Y, Ruiyi L, Tingting Y, Zaijun L (2015) Nickel/cobalt layered double hydroxide hollow microspheres with hydrangea-like morphology for high-performance supercapacitors. Electrochim Acta 152:530–537
Yang M, Liu J, Chang Z, Williams GR, O’Hare D, Zheng X, Sun X, Duan X (2011) Mg/Al-CO3 layered double hydroxide nanorings. J Mater Chem 20:14741–14746
Chen L, Li C, Wei Y, Zhou G, Pan A, Wei W, Huang B (2016) Hollow LDH nanowires as excellent adsorbents for organic dye. J Alloy Compd 687:499–505
Francois M, Renaudin G, Evrard O (1998) A cementitious compound with composition 3CaO·Al2O3·CaCO3·11H2O. Acta Crystallogr C 54:1214–1217
Ogawa M, Kaiho H (2002) Homogeneous precipitation of uniform hydrotalcite particles. Langmuir 18:4240–4242
Wen J, Wilkes GL (1996) Organic/inorganic hybrid network materials by the sol–gel approach. Chem Mater 8:1667–1681
Lopez T, Bosch P, Ramos E, Gomez R, Novaro O, Acosta D, Figueras F (1996) Synthesis and characterization of sol–gel hydrotalcites. Structure and texture. Langmuir 12:189–192
Prinetto F, Ghiotti G, Graffin P, Tichit D (2000) Synthesis and characterization of sol–gel Mg/Al and Ni/Al layered double hydroxides and comparison with co-precipitated samples. Microporous Mesoporous Mater 39:229–247
Aramendía MA, Borau V, Jiménez C, Marinas JM, Ruiz JR, Urbano FJ (2002) Comparative study of Mg/M(III) (M = Al, Ga, In) layered double hydroxides obtained by coprecipitation and the sol–gel method. J Solid State Chem 168:156–161
Yamaguchi N, Ando D, Tadanaga K, Tatsumisago M (2007) Direct formation of Mg–Al-layered double-hydroxide films on glass substrate by the sol–gel method with hot water treatment. J Am Ceram Soc 90:1940–1942
Tadanaga K, Miyata A, Ando D, Yamaguchi N, Tatsumisago M (2012) Preparation of Co–Al and Ni–Al layered double hydroxide thin films by a sol–gel process with hot water treatment. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 62:111–116
Cota I, Ramírez E, Medina F, Sueirad JE, Layrac G, Tichit D (2010) New synthesis route of hydrocalumite-type materials and their application as basic catalysts for aldol condensation. Appl Clay Sci 50:498–502
Varga G, Kukovecz Á, Kónya Z, Korecz L, Muráth S, Csendes Z, Peintler G, Carlson S, Sipos P, Pálinkó I (2016) Mn(II)–amino acid complexes intercalated in CaAl-layered double hydroxide—well-characterized, highly efficient, recyclable oxidation catalysts J Catal 335:125–134
Muráth S, Somosi Z, Tóth IY, Tombácz E, Sipos P, Pálinkó I (2017) Delaminating and restacking MgAl-layered double hydroxide monitored and characterized by a range of instrumental methods. J Mol Struct 1140:77–82
Altomare A, Cuocci C, Giacovazzo C, Moliterni A, Rizzi R, Corriero N, Falcicchio A (2013) EXPO2013: a kit of tools for phasing crystal structures from powder data. J Appl Crystallogr 46:1231–1235
Scardi P, Leoni M (2001) Diffraction line profiles from polydisperse crystalline systems. Acta Crystallogr A 57:604–613
Inoue M, Hirasawa I (2013) The relationship between crystal morphology and XRD peak intensity on CaSO4·2H2O. J Cryst Growth 380:169–175
Valente JS, Cantú MS, Cortez JGH, Montiel R, Bokhimi X, López-Salinas E (2006) Preparation and characterization of sol–gel MgAl hydrotalcites with nanocapsular morphology. J Phys Chem C 111:642–651
Yang M, McDermott O, Buffet J-C, O’Hare D (2014) Synthesis and characterisation of layered double hydroxide dispersions in organic solvents. RSC Adv 4:51676–51682
Wang J, Wei Y, Yu J (2013) Influences of polyhydric alcohol co-solvents on the hydration and thermal stability of MgAl–LDH obtained via hydrothermal synthesis. Appl Clay Sci 72:37–43
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the European Union and the Hungarian Government through Grant GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00013. The financial help is highly appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muráth, S., Somosi, Z., Kukovecz, Á. et al. Novel route to synthesize CaAl- and MgAl-layered double hydroxides with highly regular morphology. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 89, 844–851 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4903-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4903-8