Recent Patents on Nanotechnology - Volume 6, Issue 3, 2012

Layered double hydroxides, a rare family of anion-exchangeable functional materials with broad application prospects, have received much attention both in academic research reports and technological patents. It was recently discovered that they could be exfoliated into unilamellar nanosheets in different solvents. Especially, well-defined LDH nanosheets can be obtained through total delamination, in formamide, of large-sized crystallites prepared from homogeneous precipitation using hydrolysis agents. Bearing a positive charge at a two-dimensional molecular scale, layered double hydroxide nanosheets can be used as a model system for electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly in combination with polyanionic counterparts (polymer, DNA, oxide nanosheets, etc.) for various functional nanoarchitectures, such as lamellar aggregates, multilayer nanofilms and nanoshells.

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) can be incorporated in a variety of composites with different structures and properties. The choice of synthesis method is a very important factor in achieving LDHs with the desired structure and properties. A method involving separate nucleation and aging steps (SNAS), layer-by-layer self-assembly methods, in situ surface synthesis methods and a clean method have been developed in recent years. LDHs with different structure and properties have been synthesized using these different methods. Applications of these LDHs include as environmentallyfriendly functional additives in cement and asphalt, as new catalytic materials, as novel optical materials, in biosensors and as superhydrophobic materials. This paper summarizes recent patents describing methods for synthesizing LDHs with tailored structures and properties.

From an exhaustive overview based on applicative academic literature and patent domain, the relevance of Layered Double Hydroxide (LDHs) as electrode materials for electrochemical detection of organic molecules having environmental or health impact and energy storage is evaluated. Specifically the focus is driven on their application as supercapacitor, alkaline or lithium battery and (bio)-sensor. Inherent to the high versatility of their chemical composition, charge density, anion exchange capability, LDH-based materials are extensively studied and their performances for such applications are reported. Indeed the analytical characteristics (sensitivity and detection limit) of LDH-based electrodes are scrutinized, and their specific capacity or capacitance as electrode battery or supercapacitor materials, are detailed.

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have attracted a great deal of attention owing to their structural anisotropy, anion-exchange capability and compositional flexibility and have been widely investigated as catalysts, adsorbents, anionexchangers, polymer additives, optical materials, and so on. The intercalation of chromophores into the interlayer galleries of LDHs has drawn considerable interest since it can result in a kind of functional pigments showing different photophysical and photochemical properties from the pristine chromophores due to the host-guest and guest-guest interactions. This paper reviews recent patents progress made for the synthesis and applications of LDHs based pigments. The potentional applications and the future development are also discussed.

This review outlines research and patents relating to the use of inorganic nanomaterial, layered double hydroxide, as nanocontainers for drug delivery and gene reservoirs. Various intercalative synthetic routes including coprecipitation, ion exchange, reconstruction and exfoliation-reassembly have been explored to incorporate drug or gene molecules. Its unique two-dimensional structure allows layered double hydroxide to act as a nanospace for the stabilization, targeted delivery or controlled release of gene or drug molecules. Intercalative hybrid nanomaterials have uses such as pharmaceutically active ingredients, in oral- or cellular delivery systems, cosmetic ingredients, molecular coding units and etc. Toxicological studies have found layered double hydroxides to be biocompatible compared with widely used nanoparticles such as iron oxide, silica, and single-walled carbon nanotubes. Due to their versatile functionality and biocompatibility, layered double hydroxides have been widely studied and their applicability can be expanded to other nanoparticle based bio-medical applications.

This review treats the recent patents and related literature, mainly from the Authors laboratories, on biomedical and food packaging applications of nano-composites constituted of biodegradable polymers filled with micro or nano crystals of organically modified Layered Double Hydroxides of Hydrotalcite type. After a brief outline of the chemical and structural aspects of Hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTlc) and of their manipulation via intercalation of functional molecular anions to obtain materials for numerous, sometime unexpected applications, the review approaches the theme in three separated parts. Part 1 deals with the synthetic method used to prepare the pristine Mg-Al and Zn-Al HTlc and with the procedures of their functionalization with anti-inflammatory (diclofenac), antibacterial (chloramphenicol hemisuccinate), antifibrinolytic (tranexamic acid) drugs and with benzoates with antimicrobial activity. Procedures used to form (nano) composites of polycaprolactone, used as an example of biodegradable polymer, and functionalized HTlc are also reported. Part 2 discusses a patent and related papers on the preparation and biomedical use of a controlled delivery system of the above mentioned pharmacologically active substances. After an introduction dealing with the recent progress in the field of local drug delivery systems, the chemical and structural aspects of the patented system constituted of a biodegradable polymer and HTlc loaded with the active substances will be presented together with an extensive discussion of the drug release in physiological medium. Part 3 deals with a recent patent and related papers on chemical, structural and release property of antimicrobial species of polymeric films containing antimicrobial loaded HTlc able to act as active packaging for food products prolonging their shelf life.

Layered double hydroxides (LDH) has wide applications as non-toxic and halogen-free flame retardant for various resins and highly efficient thermal stabilizer for halogen-containing polymers. This review will discuss some public patents and relevant papers on the flame retardancy and the thermal stability of LDH/polymer composites when the LDHs with different chemical compositions are used as the additive in the polymer matrix. We have summarized these related LDHs in two tables: one for flame retardant and the other for thermal stabilizer.

The present article presents a review devoted to Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) as filler in coatings from the patent domain and the applicative literature. Other than bulk properties generally encountered in polymer nanocomposite aspect, LDHs filler relevance for coatings concerns surface properties as well as requiring diffusion barrier into limited width by isolating or healing substrate from aggressive medium. Enhancement of the substrate is performed with rather low pigment/filler concentration underlining the importance of nanometric dispersion to create large interfacial exposure between filler and polymer as well as being crucial for substrate adhesion. Largely exemplified with corrosion coating protection, LDHs is reported here as a corrosion inhibitor nano-container (C.I.NC.), and the self-healing protective effect is occurring from the delivery of inhibitor on demand, the guest interleaved species possess corrosion inhibition ability triggered when it is spontaneously released from the host matrix into aqueous environments in contact with corroding metal substrates. From the academic and patent literature, the review enlists the strategy to employ LDHs as efficient filler for bare metal substrate, mostly aluminum, magnesium and steel, as well as for polymer coatings and conversion films to prevent corrosion, as well as other properties: anti-UV, anti-abrasion and impact resistance, bactericide and antifouling. LDHs platelets dispersion either exfoliated or intercalated is found to be a key to provide great properties such as barrier properties and energy dissipation through nano-spring effect, respectively. The accent is also underlined on the concerns relative to ecological and economic considerations for coatings in an industrial setting and the chemicals regulation. Finally perspectives point out the topical relevance of LDHs nanofiller to supply adaptive and multifunctional properties to coatings.