Layered double hydroxides: Emerging sorbent materials for analytical extractions

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) comprise a category of inorganic materials with highly tunable composition and structures. These materials have shown exciting properties such as high surface area, two-dimensional structures, high thermal stability, and excellent anion-exchange capabilities. To date, these materials have been mostly used in catalysis, flame retardants, drug delivery, super capacitors, polyelectrolyte fuel cells, electrochemical sensors, and biosensors, and removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from different media. However, in recent times, there is an emerging trend in their application in analytical extractions such as solid-phase extraction (SPE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME), and dispersive SPE (DSPE). Hence, this review aims to provide a brief overview of this new trend to the analytical community. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.