On Thursday, July 15, the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas reported that its research team had suggested a new use for halloysite. That is a natural, nanotube-shaped aluminosilicate mineral.
Synthetic aluminosilicates, utilised now for petrochemical and oil refining processes, are expensive and difficult to manufacture. Therefore this natural mineral has the potential to replace them. The new concept introduces halloysite into the development of functional materials and catalysts. Colleagues from Lomonosov Moscow State University and Samara State Technical University joined the research.
Such products are nowadays mostly synthetic-based. They require complex technologies to manufacture them and have high production costs, Gubkin University's Press Office informs. There are deposits of halloysite in the US, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Russia (in the Ural region). Its price is relatively low, and the production volumes allow making use of the mineral on an industrial scale.
"Halloysite is a naturally occurring aluminosilicate — basically a fossil functional material, nature's gift to us. What we did is we came up with how to use this unique gift," says Alexander Glotov, a senior researcher at Gubkin University.
Catalysts made from this natural material are by their properties similar to those based on synthetic aluminosilicates. There is also an added advantage that comes from the fact that halloysite occurs as nanotubes. Their outer surface is composed of silicon oxide and the inner surface of aluminium oxide, and hence those surfaces are oppositely charged. This property of halloysite allows to modify it, thus varying the characteristics of new catalysts depending on the production objectives.
Let us recall that St. Petersburg Mining University's research team has developed an effective technology for producing alumina by sintering kaolin ore with limestone and the addition of carbon-containing activating agents. The scientists found the optimal content of additives, leading to an increase in alumina recovery of over 7%.
