Characteristics of fine pores in some halloysites

Isotherms were obtained for nitrogen adsorption and desorption on seven halloysite-rich samples from New Zealand and Western Australia. Calculations from these isotherms indicate that halloysites with mainly small particles (<c. 0.08 μm in width) had abundant cylindrical pores with narrow size distributions in the 5-15 nm range. They also indicate that halloysites with mainly large particles (>c. 0.1 μm in width) had few if any pores in the mesopore range (2–50 nm). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that cylindrical pores originate from the central holes in tubular particles. The TEM also suggests that slit-shaped pores can originate from the shrinkage of blocks of layers upon dehydration of halloysite.