Herein, we present a general overview of the design of intercalation layered compounds (ILCs) and their applications devoted to the field of energy.

Intercalation compounds represent a unique class of materials that can be anisotropic (1D and 2D-based topology) or isotropic (3D) through their guest/host superlattice repetitive organisation.

It is well known that the hydrodechlorination (HDC) of chlorinated aromatic contaminants in aqueous effluents enables a significant increase in biodegradability. HDC consumes a low quantity of reactants producing corresponding non-chlorinated and much more biodegradable organic compounds. Two commonly used precious metals free Al alloys (Raney Al-Ni and Devarda’s Al-Cu-Zn) were compared in reductive action in an alkaline aqueous solution. Raney Al-Ni alloy was examined as a universal and extremely effective HDC agent in a diluted aqueous NaOH solution. The robustness of Raney Al-Ni activity is illustrated in the case of HDC of polychlorinated aromatic compounds mixture in actual waste water. In contrast, Devarda’s Al-Cu-Zn alloy was approved as much less active for HDC of the tested chlorinated aromatic compounds, but with a surprisingly high selectivity on cleavage of C-Cl bonds in the meta and sometimes the ortho position in chlorinated aniline and sometimes chlorinated phenol structures. The reaction of both tested alloys with chlorinated aromatic compounds in the aqueous NaOH solution is accompanied by dissolution of aluminum. Dissolved Al in the alkaline HDC reaction mixture is very useful for subsequent treatment of HDC products by coagulation and flocculation of Al(OH)₃ caused by simple neutralization of the alkaline aqueous phase after the HDC reaction.

The intercalates of Tartrazine Acid Yellow were prepared by heating [Zn_0.67Al_0.33(OH)₂]- (CO₃)_0.165·0.5H₂O or [Mg_0.70Al_0.30(OH)₂](CO₃)_0.15·0.5H₂O with a solution of an acid form of Tartrazine in an open reaction vessel or by stirring the powdered calcined hydrotalcites with a Tartrazine solution at room temperature. The intercalates were characterized by chemical and thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The intercalates prepared by stirring the calcined host powders have worse crystallinity than those prepared by ion exchange. A possible arrangement of the Tartrazine anions in the intercalates was suggested on the basis of their chemical compositions and interlayer distances, taking into account van der Waals dimensions of the guest anions and assuming that the structure of the host layers is not changed during the intercalation process.