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RESEARCH PRODUCT
A structural comparison of halloysite nanotubes of different origin by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) and Electric Birefringence
Pooria PasbakhshGiuseppe LazzaraGiuseppe CavallaroGiuseppe CavallaroLeonardo ChiappisiMichael Gradzielskisubject
Yarn Electric birefringenceSuperconducting materialPatch halloysiteHalloysite nanotube02 engineering and technologyengineering.materialNeutron scattering010402 general chemistry01 natural sciencesHalloysiteMolecular physicsPlants (botany)Structural descriptionGeochemistry and PetrologyKaoliniteRotational diffusion coefficientSettore CHIM/02 - Chimica FisicaMesoscopic physicsBirefringenceBirefringenceScattering length densityStructural analysiElectric BirefringenceRotational diffusionStructural comparisonScattering lengthGeologyHalloysite021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologySmall-angle neutron scattering0104 chemical sciencesCharacterization (materials science)NanotubeStructural knowledge Neutron scatteringengineeringSmall Angle Neutron Scattering0210 nano-technologydescription
The structure of halloysite nanotubes (Hal) from different mines was investigated by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) and Electric Birefringence (EBR) experiments. The analysis of the SANS curves allowed us to correlate the sizes and polydispersity and the specific surfaces (obtained by a Porod analysis of the SANS data) of the nanotubes with their specific geological setting. Contrast matching measurements were performed on patch Hal (from Western Australia) in order to determine their experimental scattering length density for a more precise analysis. Further characterization of the mesoscopic structure of Hal was carried out by Electric Birefringence (EBR), which allowed to study the rotational mobility of Hal. From the obtained rotational diffusion coefficients of the different Hal we deduced their length via the Broersma theory, which compares well to TEM data. The analysis of both SANS and EBR data provided a bulk average information on the Hal structure in water, which, for instance, documented the markedly higher degree of well-definedness of the PT-Hal and the thinner tube walls present here. The attained systematic structural knowledge represents a step forward for the robust structural description of halloysites selected from four geological deposits and shows that Hal of different origin differ very markedly with respect to their mesoscopic structure. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-08-01 |