EPR Spectroscopy of Iron- and Nickel-Doped [ZnAl]-Layered Double Hydroxides: Modeling Active Sites in Heterogeneous Water Oxidation Catalysts

) were observed in the dehydrated samples. Although the magnetically dilute materials were not active catalysts, the identification of model sites in which the coordination environments of iron and nickel were particularly labile (e.g., by simple vacuum drying) is an important step toward identifying sites in which the coordination number may drop spontaneously in water, a probable mechanism of water oxidation in functional materials.