Layered Double Hydroxides

The impact of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) within the multidisciplinary fields of materials sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology is rapidly growing, given their easiness of synthesis, flexibility in composition, tunable biocompatibility and morphology. LDHs constitute a versatile platform for the realization of new classes of functional systems, showing unique enhanced surface effects and unprecedented properties for application in very different fields, namely, surface chemistry and catalysis, storage and triggered release of functional anions, flame retardants, drug delivery and nanomedicine, remediation, energy storage and conversion. These systems can be synthesized as self-assembled hierarchical nanosheet thin films by means of low temperature solution-based approaches, which are accessible by many laboratories and have the advantages of low cost, mild conditions, and environmental friendliness. In addition, the possibility of LDHs to be exfoliated into 2D nanosheets has been demonstrated to further improve their performance in many applications, as well as to be an attractive route to achieve building blocks for fabricating a wide plethora of hybrid functional architectures. LDHs are therefore a playground for exciting new research covering all of the most intriguing features of 2D materials and more. This Special Issue on “Layered Double Hydroxides” gathers a multidisciplinary collection of original contributions and review articles from authors with diverse scientific backgrounds and who employ LDHs for very different applications, permitting the demonstration of their versatility. Along with LDH-focused papers, this Special Issue also includes some research in which materials different to LDHs resulted in a convenient choice for selected purposes.