Insights into grafting of (3-Mercaptopropyl) trimethoxy silane on halloysite nanotubes surface

Abstract Functionalization of halloysite nanotubes surface by using organosilanes is sensitive to the reaction conditions. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were modified using (3-Mercaptopropyl) trimethoxy silane (MPTMS). The experiments were performed under different reaction conditions including, various solvents [Toluene, Tetrahydrofuran (THF), Ethanol, n-Hexane, 1,4 Dioxane and Acetonitrile], water content in the reaction media, volume of solvent, number of moles of silane and catalysts (triethyl amine, ammonia solution and tetra-ethoxy titanium). The elemental analysis, FT-IR analysis were used to identify the samples, which attained the highest percent of functionalization. SEM image and t…