Intercalation behavior of amino acids into Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide by calcination-rehydration reaction

The intercalation of amino acids for the Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide (LDH) has been investigated by the calcination-rehydration reaction at 298 K using mainly phenylalanine (Phe) as a guest amino acid. The Zn-Al oxide precursor prepared by the calcination of Zn-Al-carbonated LDH at 773 K for 2 h was used as the host material. The amount of Phe intercalated by the rehydration was remarkably influenced by the initial solution pH and reached ca. 2.7 times for anion exchange capacity (AEC) of the LDH at neutral and weak alkaline solutions, suggesting that Phe was intercalated as amphoteric ion form into the LDH interlayer. As Phe is intercalated for the LDH as monovalent anion in alkaline solution, the amount of Phe intercalated at pH 10.5 corresponded with AEC of the LDH. The solid products were found to have the expanded LDH structure, which confirmed that Phe was intercalated into the LDH interlayer as amphoteric ion or anion form. The basal spacing, d₀₀₃, of the Phe/LDH was 1.58 nm at pH 7.0 and 0.80 nm at pH 10.5; two kinds of expansion suggested for Phe in the interlayer space as vertical (pH 7.0) and horizontal (pH 10.5) orientations. The intercalation behavior of various amino acids for the LDH was also found to be greatly influenced by the feature of the amino acid side-chain, namely, its carbon-chain length, structure and physicochemical property. In particular, α-amino acids possessing a hydrophobic or negative-charged side-chain were preferentially intercalated for the LDH.