Halloysite nanotubes(HNTs), as a natural nano-tubular material, with a variety of advantages, such as environmental friendliness, biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity and so on, have been widely used in recent years. As a kind of biocompatible "green" material, because of their low cost and abundant natural resources, HNTs can be used as excellent additives for biomaterials. Besides, nano-tubular structure, surface charge and adsorption properties provide favorable conditions for separation and enrichment of metal ions, dyes, organic compounds and so on. Even better, HNTs and HNTs-derived biomaterials have been used as absorbents to capture circulating tumor cells in recent studies. For better understanding and utilize the nanotube, we introduce the structure and properties of HNTs in detail, and review their application in separation, loading and controlled release of active molecules, etc. in this paper. Finally, we give a conclusion that HNTs own a splendid perspectives on future opportunities and promising applications.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Structure and properties of halloysite nanotubes
2.1 General Structure
2.2 Main Properties
3 Application of halloysite nanotubes in detection
3.1 Application in detection of heavy metal ions
3.2 Application in detection of compounds
4 Application of halloysite nanotubes in enrichment
4.1 Enrichment of dyes
4.2 Enrichment of functional compounds
4.3 Enrichment of tumor cells
5 Conclusion