Preparation of CeO2-decorated organic-pillared hydrotalcites for the UV resistance of polymer

A series of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-5-sulfonic acid (BP-4) pillared hydrotalcites (CeO2-BP-LDH) decorated by CeO2 nanoparticles were successfully prepared by calcination-reconstruction, in which the effect of the temperature during the ternary ZnAlCe-LDH precursor calcination on the anti-photoaging ability was studied. The microstructure, bonding state, surface properties and UV-absorption properties of the CeO2-BP-LDH materials were investigated by XRD, FT-IR, SEM/EDS, TEM/HRTEM, XPS, BET/BJH, UV-vis-DRS and TG-DTG, suggesting that CeO2 was successfully grafted onto the surface of the LDH host layers, and BP-4 anions were intercalated into the interlayer galleries during the calcination-reconstruction process. For the CeO2-BP-LDH materials, the microstructure, such as the interlayer gallery and specific area (S-BET) was related closely with the temperature of calcining the ZnAlCe-LDH precursor. Moderate calcination temperature could enlarge the interlayer gallery (d(003) value), which resulted in more amount of interlayer BP-4 anions and higher specific area (S-BET) with more UV-photoadsorption site to effectively improve the anti-photoaging ability of PP polymer. Especially, the CeO2-BP-LDH400 obtained at 400 degrees C had the largest interlayer gallery and highest S-BET, which indicated the strongest UV-photoadsorption ability and optimal anti-photoaging ability for PP polymer due to the synergy of the LDH host-layer and supramolecular BP-4-guest anion as well as CeO2 nature property.