Hydrotalcite

Hydrotalcite is a double-layered lamellar clay. The structural features are wide flexibility of cation selection, compositional variety and homogeneous distribution of cations in brucite-like layers that allow high surface area making it an ideal catalyst precursor. Important conclusions are that nickel-based catalysts show high activity, but they suffer deactivation by carbon deposition and sintering. These two issues can be overcome by hydrotalcite's lamellar structure. Noble metal doping, specifically Pt and Rh are very effective and self activate and self regenerate the catalyst. Basicity of hydrotalcite catalysts greatly affects activation of carbon dioxide and prevention of carbon deposition.

Fig. 1 Hydrotalcite-based catalyst for hydrogen production. (Sikander U.; et al. 2017)

A novel magnetic nanocomposite for multimodal cancer therapy combined magnetic hyperthermia and thermally triggered chemotherapy. The nanocomposite consisted of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles embedded in a Mg/Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) matrix, synthesized through a continuous-flow precipitation method involving sequential hydrolysis of iron salts and nitrates in a carbonate-rich alkaline environment.
The LDH matrix provided an ideal structure for hosting anionic anticancer drugs, with 5-fluorouracil loaded into the interlayer space through ion exchange with structural carbonates, achieving loading capacities up to 8.7 mmol/g. The critical feature of this system was the heat-triggered drug release mechanism, where the application of AC magnetic field induced a rapid temperature increase, resulting in 80% drug release within 10 minutes at 40℃. The nanocomposite demonstrated efficient cellular internalization into the lysosomes of HT29 colon cancer cells and exhibited acceptable biocompatibility.

Fig. 2 Fe3O4/Mg-Al LDH nanocomposite for hyperthermia-triggered chemotherapy. (Simeonidis K.; et al. 2021)