Hydroxide ion Conduction Mechanism in Mg-Al CO32- Layered Double Hydroxide

Ionic conduction mechanism of Mg-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) intercalated with CO₃^2- (Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH) was studied. The electromotive force for the water vapor concentration cell using Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH as electrolyte showed water vapor partial pressure dependence and obeyed the Nernst equation, indicating that the hydroxide ion transport number of Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH is almost unity. The ionic conductivity of Mg(OH)₂, MgCO₃ and Al₂(CO₃)₃ was also examined. Only Al₂(CO₃)₃ showed high hydroxide ion conductivity of the order of 10^-4 S cm^-1 under 80% relative humidity, suggesting that Al₂(CO₃)₃ is an ion conducting material and related to the generation of carrier by interaction with water. To discuss the ionic conduction mechanism, Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH having deuterium water as interlayer water (Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH(D₂O)) was prepared. After the adsorbed water molecules on the surface of Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH(D₂O) were removed by drying, DC polarization test for dried Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH(D₂O) was examined. The absorbance attributed to O-D-stretching band for Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH(D₂O) powder at around the positively charged electrode is larger than that before polarization, indicating that the interlayer in Mg-Al CO₃^2- LDH is a hydroxide ion conduction channel.