Boosting charge transfer of NiAl-LDH by silicate nanosheets for enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction.

[Display omitted] • Electrostatic self-assembly of the 2D/2D NiAl-LDH/silicate composite. • Suppressing the restacking of NiAl-LDH nanosheets by silicate nanosheets. • The rapid charge transfer of the NiAl-LDH/silicate composite. • Efficient photocatalytic CO 2 reduction over the NiAl-LDH/silicate composite. The layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanosheets are ideal for photocatalytic CO 2 reduction. How to suppress the spontaneous agglomeration of LDH remains a challenge. Herein, this work reports that the insulated calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) nanosheets effectively suppress the agglomeration of NiAl-LDH nanosheets by an electrostatic self-assembly. The charge transfer of NiAl-LDH/CSH is effectively promoted, as verified by photoelectrochemical characterizations. As a result, the CO and H 2 generation rates from photocatalytic CO 2 reduction are as high as 3432 and 1411 μmol g−1h−1, which are ∼2.4 times higher than that of the pure NiAl-LDH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]