Personally I am all for the shift away from fossil fuels and...

Personally I am all for the shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewables, electrification, etc - and I am most excited about where ADN might go and what it might contribute in the latter arena.

However, as a matter of interest and for the purpose of this thread, it appears that even the Russians are jumping onboard and showing some genuine and recent scientific interest in halloysite as a catalyst in the petrochemical space.

For example this catalyst design conference held in May 2021, where halloysite nanotubes were on the menu:

http://conf.nsc.ru/files/conferences/catdesign2021/645028/CatDesign_Scientific_Program-NSK.pdf





https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/664565

And this 20 July 2021 article with respect to Russian universities exploring the use of halloysite nanotubes as catalysts on an “industrial scale”:



Encouragingly a separate chapter of their halloysite research is dedicated to:

1. The removal of pollutants; and

2. Solving the problems of transportation and storage of hydrogen.

It appears there is also recently published Russian journal articles on the same topic, including this dated 9 July 2021 entitled “Clay nanotube-metal core/shell catalysts for hydroprocesses”:

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/CS/D1CS00502B

Among other matters noting:

“Ceramic materials, such as 50 nm diameter natural halloysite nanotubes, are of special interest for this. Much attention to halloysite clay is due to its tubular structure with a hollow 10–15 nm diameter internal cavity, textural characteristics, and different chemical compositions of the outer/inner surfaces, allowing selective nanotube modification. Loading halloysite with metal particles or placing them outside the tubes provides stable and efficient mesocatalysts. The low cost of this abundant nanoclay makes it a good choice for the scaled-up architectural design of core–shell catalysts, containing active metal sites (Au, Ag, Pt, Ru, Co, Mo, Fe2O3, CdS, CdZnS, Cu–Ni) located inside or outside the tubular template. These alumosilicate nanotubes are environment-friendly and are available in thousands of tons.”

Happy reading and best wishes to all.