Themed collection Layered Inorganic Solids

Welcome to this themed issue of Dalton Transactions entitled “Layered Inorganic Solids”.

Intercalation chemistry taking into account the interstratification and disorder phenomena is a valuable preparative tool for the design of artificial layered artificial nanostructures.

The effects of the spatial distribution of functional units in the interlayer space of intercalation compounds are discussed.

The reactivity and applications of layered sodium silicates and layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are described in more detail.

The combination of surface modification and intercalation chemistry of inorganic layered materials allows for the design of nanoparticles for specific applications.

Layered solids comprising cationic rare earth hydroxide layers have become a new source of multifunctionality.

The latest progress in layered double hydroxides derived catalysts for the simultaneous catalytic removal of soot and NO_x was reviewed.

Highlights, preparation methods, modifications, catalytic applications and the future scope of materials based on versatile zeolitic layers.

Separation of two stages of interlayer condensation and elimination of organic guests provides optimal conditions for the formation of RWR-type zeolite.

Atomically thin layers of materials which are just a few atoms in thickness present an attractive option for future electronic devices.

An attempt was made to synthesize artificial mixed-layered compounds between montmorillonite silicate and α-zirconium phosphate using a ship-in-bottle approach.

Boric acid accelerates the crystallization rate of Eni Carbon Silicates improving their crystallinity and phase purity, favoring also the formation of new structures.

Hydrous layered silicates containing ferrierite-type layers are a structurally versatile family of materials which can be converted into microporous silicates by topotactic condensation or interlayer expansion.

MWW family of different structural types (MCM-22, MCM-49, MCM-56 and MCM-36) was used as catalysts for aldol condensation of furfural and acetone studied in a batch reactor at 100 °C, autogenous pressure and a reaction time of 0–4 h.

A force field for tricalcium aluminate is presented, validated, and applied to generate insight into surface forces, the hydration reaction, and molecular adsorption that remains elusive from experiment.

Rotation electron diffraction (RED) combines the beam tilt and goniometer tilt to obtain single crystal electron diffraction data, which has been used for ab initio structure determination of interlayer expanded zeolites.

Mg²⁺ in the MgAl-LDH lattice was substituted by Co²⁺ in solution through soft chemical hydrothermal treatment without structural, size and morphological changes.

Functional bionanocomposites with the ability to adsorb Cr(VI) oxyanions were prepared by intercalation of cationic starch bearing quaternary ammonium groups in two layered silicates, commercial Cloisite®Na and an Algerian bentonite.

A novel visible light active photocatalyst is developed via a direct crystal growth of silver oxosalts on exfoliated titanoniobate nanosheets.

The porous structure of pillared zeolites IPC-3PI and MCM-36 depends, in the lower mesopore region, on the stacking of MWW layers.

Layered borosilicate zeolite precursor ERB-1P (Si/B = 11) is delaminated via simultaneous deboronation and SDA removal, to yield material DZ-1 consisting of silanol nests, using a simple aqueous Zn(NO₃)₂ treatment.

Thermodesorption of 2,2-dimethyloctane reveals different content of subsurface micropores in MWW-type zeolites.

Al-IEZ-MWW was successfully prepared via the interlayer-silylation in an aqueous solution of ammonium salt instead of HNO₃.

Tuning of interlayer expansion and textural properties of pillared materials by varying the type of surfactant and swelling conditions is shown.

The structure of MCM-22P and MCM-56 layered zeolites is proposed based on DFT calculations and powder pattern simulations.

From spinach to photonic nano-antennae: new chlorophyll a/layered double hydroxide hybrids.

The intercalation of Ir and Rh complexes within an interlayer of ZrP enables H₂ production without an electron relay.

The unilamellar form of zeolite MWW, MCM-56, which is obtained by direct hydrothermal synthesis has been studied with regard to acidity and porosity in its original and post-synthesis modified pillared and delaminated forms.

Interlayer deconstruction and reconstruction took place alternately when treating Nu-6(1) zeolite, the lamellar precursor of NSI topology, with HCl–EtOH solution.

A new anion exchangeable lanthanide hydroxyiodide has been synthesised, structurally characterised and its anion exchange chemistry investigated.

Novel hybrid mesoporous and functionalized materials with controllable surface area and pore dimensions, displayng functional basic sites (–NH₂), were synthesized from magadiite and [Al]-magadiite as layered silicate precursors.

Ultrathin electrodes exhibiting durability and fast charge transfer kinetics were prepared from aqueous dispersions of cobalt hydroxide nanosheets.

While BaZr(IO₃)₆ reveals a unidimensional band structure, K₂Zr(IO₃)₆ exhibits a zero-dimensional molecular geometry. The dimensionality variations are attributable to the flexible coordination numbers of Zr⁴⁺ cations with large ionic radii as well as the number of counter cations.

Layered compounds containing Ge/Sb/Te show improved thermoelectric properties upon doping with Sn. The structures were refined using resonant X-ray diffraction; structure models were confirmed by TEM.

Intercalation of tripodal molecules into zirconium phosphate and zirconium 4-sulfophenylphosphonate leads to their organization in a layered system of the hosts.

Pair distribution function analysis has been used to solve the structure of a coordination polymer material formed by ultrasound treatment of a metal–organic framework.