Potential Applications of Layered Double Hydroxides in Membrane-Based Separation and Anti-Corrosion

Abstract

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are representative of inorganic layered compounds consisting of positively charged brucite-like sheets and charge compensating anions located in interlayer galleries. The high length-to-width ratio, uniform gallery height, flexible chemical compositions, active surface functionality and unique calcination properties of LDHs have inspired us to explore their potentials in gas separation. In the presentation we demonstrated that LDHs not only enabled to effectively separate hydrogen-containing gas mixtures relying on the uniform interlayer galleries, but also could serve as efficient perch, active heterogeneous nucleation center and qualified single metal source of MOF crystals for the preparation of high performance MOF membranes. In addition, potential applications of LDHs in anti-corrosion were further explored. Relying on the dense in-plane structure of LDHs, preferentially c-oriented NiAl-CO3 LDH coatings were prepared showing excellent anti-corrosion performance. In addition, well-intergrown MOF coatings exhibiting excellent anti-corrosion performance could be in situ grown on Al substrates further by simple solvothermal treatment of ZnAl-CO3 LDH buffer layers. To sum up, full utilization of both microstructural and physicochemical properties of LDHs had greatly expanded their potential applications in membrane-based separation and anti-corrosion.