Green detergent made of halloysite nanotubes

The detergent has wide range of applications and plays a critical role in daily life. However, the existing commercial detergents present the drawbacks of irreversible environmental pollution due to their discharge with wastewater. Herein, halloysite clay nanotube (HNT) with unique hollow structure was explored as a green, nontoxic, multifunctional, and cheap detergents. HNT has large aspect ratio, small size, and high adsorption ability, which provides the possibility for removing various stains from different substrates. The increased contact angle and decreased surface tension of HNT dispersion are achieved by increasing the HNT concentration, and HNT tends to stabilize oil-in-water (O/W) Pickering emulsion. The cleaning capacity of HNT on cotton fabric for dyes is almost twice that of laundry powder, indicating that highly efficient cleaning capability of HNT. HNT detergent is also effective to remove ink, tea, and chili oil from textiles with clean efficacy higher than 88%. As kitchen detergent, HNT can effectively eliminates chili oil from ceramic, stainless steel, glass, and plastic plate. Seed germination and crop growth experiment demonstrate that HNT detergent shows no toxicity towards plants and no contamination towards soil. Furthermore, the residue on the cloth of HNT detergent is negligible. Overall, HNT has great potential as an alternative detergent in the future because of its excellent cleaning efficacy and ecological friendliness.

Automated summary

Halloysite clay nanotube (HNT) with unique hollow structure is explored as a green, nontoxic, multifunctional, and cheap detergent. HNT has excellent adsorption ability and cleaning efficacy for removing various stains from different substrates.