“…Recently, we examined citrateMg-Al LDH, malateMg-Al LDH, and tartrateMg-Al LDH, which have citrate (C 6 H 5 O 7 3 À ), malate (C 4 H 4 O 5 2 À ), and tartrate (C 4 H 4 O 6 2 À ), respectively, intercalated in the interlayer, and found that these LDHs rapidly took up heavy metal ions from aqueous solution at a constant pH of 5.0 [28][29][30]. For example, in the case of citrateMg-Al LDH, a citrate/Cu 2 þ ratio of 2.0 in the nitrate solution was sufficient to reduce an initial Cu 2 þ concentration of 1.0 mmol/L down to 0.09 mmol/L in 60 min.…”