A wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF;
Bruker, S8 Tiger) was performed on as received LW clay.
The crystalline structure of intercalated clay was investigated
using a Bruker X-ray diffraction (XRD, D8 advance). XRD
equipped with Ni filtered Cu K radiation, λ = 0.1541 nm, using
a voltage of 40 kV and a generator current of 40 mA. The
scan was recorded cover a range of 5-80° with a step size of
0.02° and a step time of 6 s/step. The degree of intercalation
was calculated according to the following equation