Overdue to give this informative thread some love.This is a...

Overdue to give this informative thread some love.

This is a recent article from 8 June 2020 by Bernadette Cuffari entitled: “The Next Step Towards Green Electrochemical Sensors”.

https://www.azosensors.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1969

For those of us who are unaware (I concede I was not until several minutes ago!), electrochemical sensors are devices that give information about the composition of a system in real time by coupling a chemically selective layer (the recognition element) to an electrochemical transducer - in particular they detect:

1. the presence of toxic gases and variation of oxygen in the air;

2. environmental pollutants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, dye compounds, and pharmaceutical compounds.

Hence electrochemical sensors have growing industrial uses, and are closely associated with nanotechnology.

According to the former mentioned article, which considers green and economical replacements for sensor components against a background of health concerns arising from the use of advanced nano-materials:

”Despite the desirable advantages associated with these novel nanomaterials, recent advancements within the field of nanotoxicology have shown that exposure to these nanomaterials can lead to adverse health and environmental effects.”


And accordingly the following is outlined with respect to halloysite:

”One of the most studied clay minerals that has been used for this purpose includes halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), which are a type of kaolin material that possesses dioctahedral 1:1 clay structure and nanotube shape.

Some of the unique properties associated with HNTs include:
-A hollow nanotubular structure
- Superior hydrophilicity and thermal stability capabilities - Tunable surface chemistry that is advantageous for electrochemical sensing applications”

If one digs a little further it does not take long to discover further journal coverage of the same topic:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0026265X1930325X

Which review notes that:

”... modified HNTs are considered a precious carrier for nanomaterials for improving their dispersion and can be designated for electrochemical sensing application due to their high surface area. The free lumen that was in HNTs can be utilized for hosting other compounds for obtaining nanostructures with excellent synergistic properties.... HNTs surface to be used as an electrochemical sensor for identifying various analytes such as hydrogen peroxide, glucose, nitrite, ascorbic acid, surface plasmon resonance, catechol amines, hydrazine, dopamine and uric acid.”

As James Marsh has frequently alluded to in his interviews, there are a vast number of patents that involve halloysite. Even for research purposes alone it might be reasonable to assume there is a growing market for this rare and interesting material.