Preparation of water-dispersed monolayer LDH nanosheets by SMA intercalation to hinder the restacking upon redispersion in water

We present a novel method for preparing water-dispersed monolayer layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets (m-LDH). By intercalating styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer (SMA) into LDH, we obtained m-LDH through a simple aging step that produced stable, translucent colloidal solutions. After drying, the resulting powder can be redispersed in water to recover the m-LDH monolayer structure. To our knowledge, this is the first report of immediate recovery of the m-LDH monolayer structure from dried powder after redispersion in water. Our method may have significant implications for preparing and utilizing m-LDH nanosheets in various applications.