Abstract
Terephthalate anions have been incorporated as charge-balancing species inside the layers of Mg-Al containing layered double hydroxides (LDHs). The ease of incorporation as well as the orientation of the guest species has been studied as a function of the Mg/Al ratio. The orientation of the guest as a function of temperature and degree of hydration has also been studied using powder X-ray diffraction. Molecular dynamics simulations, using an NPT ensemble, have been performed and good agreement between experimental and simulated data has been obtained.