| Summary: | Layered double hydroxide (LDH) or hydrotalcite-like compound is a material that can be used in agriculture as a support for controlled release formulations of herbicides such as 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA). In this study, calcium-aluminium (Ca-Al) LDH host was prepared as a new herbicide delivery system by intercalating 4-CPA with Ca-Al LDH through a co-precipitation method. The synthesis was performed at pH 12 using different concentrations of Al(NO3)3.9H2O, which were 0.025 M and 0.10 M. The successful intercalation was obtained using 0.025 M of Al(NO3)3.9H2O and has been confirmed through several analyses. First, the results obtained from the powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern showed that the basal spacing for the 0.025M nanocomposites had increased from 8.54 Å to 9.98 Å, indicating the successful intercalation of 4-CPA into the Ca-Al LDH. Meanwhile, the basal spacing of the 0.1 M nanocomposite remains unchanged. This result was supported by the ATR-FTIR band, which showed that the nitrate peak disappeared and the carboxylate ion (COO-) band was present at 1634 cm-1 unlike the nitrate peak for the 0.10 M nanocomposite, which remained at 1365 cm-1. The nanocomposite synthesized has shown mesoporous-type material with a H3 hysteresis loop in the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. This study has demonstrated the potential of Ca-Al LDH as a safer agent for agrochemicals by reducing the dosage of herbicide in the agriculture field and protecting the herbicide through leaching and runoff into the water system. © 2021, Malaysian Society of Analytical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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