Calcined layered double hydroxides Mg–Me–Al (Me: Cu, Fe, Ni, Zn) as bifunctional catalysts

A series of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) materials containing different divalent and trivalent cations [Mg1−x−yMexAly(OH)2] (CO3)y/2·mH2O, where Me: Cu, Fe, Ni, Zn; were prepared by coprecipitation. The solids were characterized by X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of CO2; thermogravimetric and textural analysis were also performed. All solids, dried at 100 °C, showed XRD patterns typical of hydrotalcite, where Me cations isomorphically replaced some Mg2+ cations within the layers, thus forming a ternary LDH, as the starting material. The materials were calcined at 550 °C and tested as catalysts in the gas-phase conversion of 4-methylpentan-2-ol at 200 °C.