Article Title: Organic-nanoclay composite materials as removal agents for environmental decontamination

Journal: RSC Advances, 22 November 2019, 9, 40553-40564

Authors of the article: Giuseppe Cavallaro, Giuseppe Lazzara, Elvira Rozhina, Svetlana Konnova, Marina Kryuchkova, Nail Khaertdinov, Rawil Fakhrullin

Our staff, together with colleagues from the University of Palermo (Italy), released a new article on the latest achievements in the production of stable composite nanomaterials with a deactivating ability to inorganic and organic pollutants. The development of hybrid systems based on clay nanoparticles of various shapes (such as kaolinite nanoplates and halloysite nanotubes) and organic molecules (biopolymers, surfactants, cucurbituryl, etc.) as effective agents for the removal of both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons is presented. Successful preparation of kaolinite / graphene composites as well as tubular inorganic micelles is described. In particular, recent studies of Pickering emulsions (for oil spill response) and bioremediation technologies are discussed.