Study of the Intercalation of Lithium Salt in Gibbsite Using Time-Resolved in Situ X-ray Diffraction

Time-resolved in situ X-ray diffraction measurements have been used to measure the rate of intercalation of lithium salts (LiX; X = Cl, Br, NO 3, OH, and SO 4 ) into Gibbsite (γ-Al(OH) 3 ) giving the layered double hydroxides [LiAl 2 (OH) 6 ]X· n H 2 O (X = Cl, Br, NO 3, and OH) and [LiAl 2 (OH) 6 ] 2 SO 4 · n H 2 O. The temperature dependence of the rate of intercalation of LiCl yields an activation energy of 27 kJ mol - 1 . The reaction was also found to be half-order with respect to the initial concentration of LiCl. The rate of intercalation is sensitive to the nature of the anions with the half-lives of the reactions varying from 450 to 4800 s going from Li 2 SO 4 to LiNO 3 .