Mechanochemical synthesis of Cu-Al and methyl orange intercalated Cu-Al layered double hydroxides

•A facile mechanochemical route to synthesize Cu-Al and MO intercalated Cu-Al LDH.•The products possesses high crystalline of LDH phase with no impure phases.•The dry milling process induces the element substitution between the raw materials.•The agitation operation helps the grain growth of LDH.

In this study, a mechanochemical route to synthesize a Cu-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) and a methyl orange (MO) intercalated one (MO-LDH) was introduced, in which basic cupric carbonate (Cu2(OH)2CO3) and aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) with Cu/Al molar ratio at 2/1 was first dry ground for 2 h and then agitated in water or methyl orange solution for another 4 h to obtain the LDH and MO-LDH products without any heating operation. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Thermogravimetry (TG), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The products showed high crystallinity phase of Cu-Al and MO intercalated Cu-Al LDH with no evident impurities, proving that the craft introduced here was facile and effective. The new idea can be applied in other fields to produce organic-inorganic composites.