A new and improved synthesis method for the formation of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 Hydrotalcites free from impurities

Abstract The synthesis of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 Hydrotalcites (HTLCs) has been previously described in numerous literature reports but these methods contain impurity phases that arise from a lack of understanding of the experimental conditions under which these impurities form during the precipitation of these types of HTLCs. Furthermore, the majority of these reports in which impurities are present in addition to the ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs have then been used for environmental and catalytic applications leading to the misinterpretation of their materials properties as a result of the fact that they contain non-HTLC phases. In our study, we have developed a new and improved co-precipitation method for the synthesis of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs free from impurities that are experimentally and rationally based on the use of a proper: (1) Iron source (Fe2+), (2) oxidant (30% H2O2) and (3) target pH (pH of 7) to avoid the commonly found impurities in the literature. The synthesized ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs are then characterized via the use of ICP-OES, XRD, ATR-IR, Raman, SEM, TEM, BET and TGA to explore their chemical and physical properties. Our work here offers the research community a new and improved synthesis method for the preparation of ZnFe-CO3 and ZnFe-SO4 HTLCs free from impurities designed for applications in a variety of multidisciplinary research areas.