Efficient Exfoliation of Layered Double Hydroxides; Effect of Cationic Ratio, Hydration State, Anions and Their Orientations.

The exfoliation ability of nitrate based MgAl(OH)(NO)·HO layered double hydroxides (Mg-Al LDH) in formamide into single or multilayer nanosheets depends strongly on nitrate anion orientation and layer charge. Our systematic studies used materials that were likely to disclose differences with respect to anion type and their concentrations in the interlayer gallery. We assured to avoid any carbonate incorporation into the galleries for nitrate, chloride, iodide, and sulfate based Mg-Al LDHs.