Application of Layered Double Hydroxides in Electrocatalysis

The development of renewable clean energy and energy storage devices has attracted extensive attention because of bad condition of energy shortages and harsh environmental problems. Electrocatalytic reaction and catalyst materials play vital roles in the process of catalysis. Two dimensional layered materials have been widely used as electrode materials in electrocatalysis and energy storage devices thanks to their high specific surface area and unique electronic properties. Among them, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have a good development prospect in the electrocatalysis process and preparation of catalyst materials due to their typical layered structure and unique advantages such as low price, easy to be prepared and functionalized, good tunability in the composition and structure, etc. This review summarizes the research progress of LDHs applied in catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), catalyst supporter and used as precursor to prepare electrocatalyst. Especially, we discusse the recent advances in tuning LDHs including electronic structure, morphology, interface interaction and synergetic catalytic effect with noble metal catalyst to improve the catalytic performance. In addition, we briefly describe the preparation of electrocatalysts using LDHs as precursors. Finally, the current difficulties and future research directions of LDHs are also discussed to give an outlook of their prospect in electrocatalysis.