Templated synthesis of graphene nanosheets within curling layered nanostructure of halloysite nanotubes

A novel method for the templated synthesis of the multi-layer graphene nanosheets in the curling layered nanostructure of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) was developed. The intercalation of acrylamide in the layered nanostructure of HNTs was successfully achieved by the second-step substitution method. The formation of polymer precursor as carbon source exploited the in-situ polymerization of acrylamide in the layered nanostructure. A series of characterizations such as XRD, FT-IR, Raman, XPS, UV-vis, SEM, TEM and HRTEM were used to determine the formation of graphene nanosheets in the curling layered nanostructure of HNTs. The results indicated that the as-synthesized plane-like graphene nanosheets were originated from the unfolding of the spiral spring-like graphene formed in the curling layered nanostructure of HNTs.