Partial cation exchange of Mg 2+ ions with Fe 3+ ions employing solid Mg(OH) 2 as precursor yielded an ordered layered double hydroxide of Mg and Fe in the presence of carbonate anions. Structure refinement revealed that the compound adopts the polytype structure 3R 1 (space group R3m, a = 3.108 Å, c = 23.08 Å) and does not show any signs of cation order. It crystallizes with a unique cation ratio of [Mg]/ [Fe] = 4. At this ratio, the compound shows a single sharp absorption in its electronic spectrum at 280 nm. Attempts to prepare the LDH with a higher Fe content resulted in the
IntroductionThe layered double hydroxide (LDH) of Mg and Fe has potential applications in catalysis, [1] water purification, [2,3] safe storage of vitamins, [4] anion exchange, [5] as well as cation sorption.[6] The oxide residue obtained by the thermal decomposition of the Mg/Fe LDH is a bifunctional catalyst with both acidic and basic surface sites.[7] The Fe 0 /Fe 2+ / Fe 3+ composition of the catalyst can be finely tuned by controlled reduction, whereby catalysts with high olefin selectivity can be generated for use in the Fischer-Tropsch reaction. Given the magnetic properties of the oxides of Fe III , the Mg/Fe LDH is also used as a precursor for the synthesis of single-phase magnetic ferrites [8] and magnetic nanocomposites.[9] Furthermore, the Mg/Fe LDH is less toxic than many combinations of di-and trivalent cations and is proposed as a model medium for drug delivery. [10] The Mg/Fe LDH is obtained by the isomorphous substitution of a fraction x of Mg 2+ ions by Fe 3+ ions in Mg-(OH) 2 to yield positively charged layers with the composi-x+ . [11] Anions are incorporated into the interlayer. Many pairs of di-and trivalent cations can be combined with a variety of anions [12][13][14] to obtain a large and diverse family of layered double hydroxides. The Mg/ Fe LDH in many ways stands apart from other LDHs.(1) There is limited literature on the anion-exchange and -uptake properties of the pristine and calcined Mg/Fe LDH. Evidence for the anion-exchange of Mg/Fe LDHs is phase separation of excess Fe into X-ray amorphous binary compounds, the existence of which can be discerned only by the appearance of absorptions at λ Ͼ 350 nm, a characteristic of oxide-hydroxides of Fe 3+ . The nitrate-containing compound also forms with a similarly low Fe content. At this composition, the compound does not exhibit any anion-exchange properties as the nitrate ions intercalated in layered hydroxides of low layer charge are not labile. This explains the paucity of information on anion-exchange reactions of layered double hydroxides of Mg and Fe.at best equivocal and there are some definitive reports, [4] including this work, of the absence of anion-exchange reactions in Fe-containing LDHs.(2) In general, the a parameter of LDHs decreases with increasing trivalent metal content.[ (3) If the composition is fixed at x = 0.25, as suggested by some authors, [17] or at x = 0.2, as suggested by others, [5,18] does the Mg/Fe LDH crystallize in a cation-ord...