Electrical Characterization of an Anisotropic System Based on Clay Nanotubes

Clay nanotubes are recently attracting interest as micro-metric-scale vehicles for smart release of drugs and proteins being also biocompatible, nontoxic, and abundantly available. Halloysite nanotubes can be easily mixed with both polar and low-polar polymers; this feature opens many possibilities of functional biocomposites. The latter can be enhanced in mechanical strength, adhesion, and slow release of chemical agents because of the addition of clay nanotubes that work as an inorganic reinforcement material of polymers. Here, we inserted halloysite tubes in a polyethylene oxide gel doped with a lithium salt. The resulting material, placed between two gold electrodes, revealed anisotropic features and had been characterized by electrical pulsed mode measurements.