Recent Advances and Perspectives for Layered Intercalation Compounds Part 2: Applications in the field of catalysis, environment and health

Abstract

Intercalation compounds represent a unique class of materials that can be anisotropic (1D and 2D-based topology) or isotropic (3D) by their guest/ host superlattice repetitive organization. Intercalation refers to the reversible introduction of guest species with variable nature into a crystalline host lattice. Different host lattice structures have been used for the preparation of intercalation compounds and a lot of examples are given by exploiting the flexibility and the ability of 2D-based hosts to accommodate different guest species, spanning from ions to complex molecules. This reaction is then carried out to allow a systematic control and a fine tuning of the final properties of the derived compounds thus allowing to use them for various applications. This review mainly focuses on the recent applications of intercalation layered compounds (ILCs) based on layered clays, zirconium phosphates, layered double hydroxides and graphene as heterogeneous catalysts, for environmental purposes and health, aiming at collecting and discussing how intercalation processes can be exploited for the selected applications.