Influence of Acid Treatment on the Loading and Release Behavior of Halloysite with 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole

Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are natural clay minerals with a tubular structure. They have attracted considerable attention as a potential nanocontainer due to their abundance, biocompatibility and nontoxicity. In this study, HNTs were handled with H2SO4 at 70 °C. The morphology and structure of these acid-treated and original HNTs were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion spectrum (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and their specific surface area was determined by automatic gas adsorption analyzer. The loading efficiency and release behavior of acid-treated HNTs for 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) were investigated by UV-vis spectrophotometer. Results show that acid-treated HNTs retained their tubular structure, but their internal diameter expanded by 35–37 nm after 32 h of acid treatment. After 72 h of acid treatment, HNTs can be transferred into amorphous silica nanotubes. Moreover, the specific surface area of these HNTs samples initially increased with the increase in acid treatment time but then started to decrease after 32 h. The specific surface area of acid-treated HNTs at 32 h can reach 251.6 m2/g, which was much higher than that for untreated HNTs (55.3 m2/g). In addition, the loading capacity of acid-treated HNTs can reach 32.1% for HNTs-32, which is about three times higher than that of original HNTs. The acid treatment has slight effect on the release behavior.