Progress in pre-treatment and extraction of organic and inorganic pollutants by layered double hydroxide for trace-level analysis

Continuous release of pollutants into the environment poses serious threats to environmental sustainability and human health. For trace-level analysis of pollutants, layered double hydroxide (LDH) is an attractive option to impart enhanced sorption capability and sensitivity toward pollutants because of its unique layered structure, tunable interior architecture, high anion-exchange capacities, and high porosity (e.g., Zn/Cr LDH/DABCO-IL, Ni/Al LDH, CS-Ni/Fe LDH, SDS-Fe3O4@SiO2@Mg-Al LDH, Boeh/Mg/Al LDH/pC, and Fe@NiAl LDH). In concert with the well-defined analytical methodologies (e.g., HPLC and GC), the LDH materials can be employed to detect trace-level targets (e.g., as low as ∼ 20 fg/L for phenols) in aqueous environments. This review highlights LDH as a promising material for pre-treatment of a variety of organic and inorganic target pollutants in complex real matrices. Challenges and future requirements for research into LDH-based analytical methods are also discussed.