A review of the removal of anions and oxyanions of the halogen elements from aqueous solution by layered double hydroxides

• The removal of some anions of the halogen elements by LDHs has been reviewed.
• LDHs have shown promise for the removal of anions in laboratory scale experiments.
• The M3+: M2+ ratio of the LDH had a significant effect on anion uptake.
• Thermal activation usually greatly improved anion sorption.
• Some experiments using small scale continuous flow system have also been reviewed.

The application of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and thermally activated LDHs for the removal of various fluorine (F-,BF4-), chlorine (Cl-,ClO4-), bromine (Br-,BrO3-) and iodine (I-,IO3-) species from aqueous solutions has been reviewed in this article. LDHs and thermally activated LDHs were able to significantly reduce the concentration of selected anions in laboratory scale experiments. The M2+:M3+ cation ratio of the LDH adsorbent was an important factor which influenced anion uptake. Though LDHs were able to remove some target anion species through anion exchange and surface adsorption thermal activation and reformation generally produced better results. The presence of competing anions including carbonate, phosphate and sulphate had a significant impact on uptake of the target anion as LDHs typically exhibit lower affinity towards monovalent anions compared to anions with multiple charges. The removal of fluoride and perchlorate from aqueous solution by a continuous flow system utilising fixed bed columns packed with LDH adsorbents has also been investigated. The adsorption capacity of the columns at breakpoint was heavily dependent on the flow rate and lower than result reported for the corresponding batch methods. There is still considerable scope for future research on numerous topics summarised in this article.

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