Halloysite Nanotubes for Nanomedicine: Prospects, Challenges and Applications

Recently, naturally occurring and abundantly available halloysite nanoclay has emerged as a nanomaterial carrier system suitable for both controlled and sustained delivery. These aluminosilicate tubes of 50-nm diameter, with outer silica and inner alumina layers, possess a tubular structure, with excellent features such as large aspect ratio, good biocompatibility, and high mechanical strength entails them to be suitable for drug delivery. The unique features of these nanotubes are the ability to load DNA and enzyme due to opposite charges on both inner and outer surfaces which allow selective drug loading on both surfaces. This review article emphasizes on the drug loading techniques with release characteristics and some important applications in biomedical, environmental fields, and different types of medication. Being most versatile, these nanotubes can be used widely as a carrier system for enzyme bases and different types of the nucleus which can be a most promising step for novel drug delivery systems.