Layered Double Hydroxide Based Polymer Nanocomposites

Synthesis of organo cobalt-aluminum layered double hydroxide via a novel single-step self-assembling method and its use as flame retardant nanofiller in PP

Synthesis of polypropylene/organo-layered double hydroxide (PP/OLDH) has been carried out based on self-assembled organocobalt-aluminum LDH (O-CoAl-LDH). The novel method of synthesizing self-assembled CoAl-LDH and its characterization have also been reported in details. This method is proven to be very efficient way of producing OLDH in a single step with homogeneous composition and structure. As flame-retardant nanofiller, O-CoAl-LDH shows significant decrease in heat release rate (HRR), the total heat release (THR) and the heat release capacity (HRC) of the PP composites, though the thermal stability of the compounds decreases slightly compared to the base polymer. Morphological analyses show that the LDH particles are dispersed in PP matrix in a partially exfoliated form. The activation energy calculation based on the Kissinger method reveals that O-CoAl-LDH has a positive effect on the activation energy of thermal decomposition of PP. However, in the presence of this filler, decomposition of the composites starts at an earlier stage than that of pure PP.

Recent progress in the synthesis and application of organically modified hydrotalcites

This review is focused on the preparation and potential applications of hydrotalcite like compounds organically modified by ion-exchange procedure and the data reviewed have been supplemented with unpublished results. It is divided in two Parts. Part I deals with intercalation of biologically active species such as amino-acids, anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drugs, UV-absorbers to produce nano-hybrids with versatile application as biomolecule reservoir and in the pharmaceutical and personal care fields. Part II deals with the intercalation of several anions with either hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties in order to make the inorganic sheets compatible with different polymers. Moreover, if the guest is an active molecular anion such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antibiotic or anti-inflammatory, the polymer can acquire the peculiar properties of the guest opening novel interesting application fields.

Mg-Al layered double hydroxide intercalated with porphyrin anions: molecular simulations and experiments

Molecular modeling in combination with powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) provided new information on the organization of the interlayer space of Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) containing intercalated porphyrin anions [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TPPS)]. Anion-exchange and rehydration procedures were used for the preparation of TPPS-containing LDH with an Mg/Al molar ratio of 2. Molecular modeling was carried out in the Cerius(2) and Materials Studio modeling environment. Three types of models were created in order to simulate the experimental XRD patterns of LDH intercalates with a TPPS loading of 70-80% with respect to the theoretical anion exchange capacity (AEC). The models represent single-phase systems with a 100% TPPS loading in the interlayer space (Type 1) and models represent the coexistence of two phases corresponding to the total exchange from 75 to 92% (Type 2). To cover other possible arrangements, models with the coexistence of both TPPS and NO(3)(-) anions in the same interlayer space were calculated (Type 3). The models are described and compared with experimental data. In all cases, guest TPPS anions are tilted with respect to the hydroxide layers, and are horizontally shifted to each other by up to one-half of the TPPS diameter. According to the energy characteristics and simulated XRD, the most probable arrangement is of Type 2, where some layers are saturated with TPPS anions and others are filled with original NO(3)(-) anions.