Soft chemical properties of layered zirconium hydroxy phosphate

Soft chemical properties such as ion-exchangeability and intercalation property of a layered zirconium hydroxy phosphate, (NH4)2(H3NC2H4NH3)2[Zr3(OH)6(PO4)4], were examined. The ion-exchangeability was investigated by using solutions including H+, Li+, K+, Ag+, Ca 2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ ion. Among them only the cations of H+ and Ag+ were found to be exchangeable with the NH4+ and H3NC2H4NH32+ in the interlayer space. Using H+ derivative of the layered zirconium hydroxy phosphate, the intercalation property of alkylmonoamines was examined in an aqueous solution of alkylmonoamine with different C numbers (1–9). The intercalation of amines with longer alkyl chains than ethylamine was completed by using ethylamine as an exfoliator and the interlayer spacing increased with the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chains. The tilt angle of amine molecules to the inorganic layer in the intercalated samples was around 56.2°.