Halloysite: A Low-Cost Alternative

摘要: Filling ('loading') of nanotubes has been interest for over a decade. [ 1 ] Past investigations have focussed on carbon (CNTs) or boron nitride (BNNTs), both which are expensive and technologically demanding to produce in bulk. A cheap, low-tech alternative, morphologically similar multiwalled CNTs, is halloysite, hydrated polymorph the 1:1 phyllosilicate clay kaolinite. Halloysite (HNTs) form natural deposits. Preparation involves simply digging them from ground drying. HNTs ideal applications involving loading because external (tetrahedral sheet) internal (octahedral HNT surfaces differ, offering scope chemical control preferential internal, rather than external, desired components.