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 mu m 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 mu m 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.