Montmorillonite (MMT) is a component used to adsorb toxins and bacteria in animal feed. However, its effect on the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance genes remains unclear. This study investigated the removal characteristics of MMT towards multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and its subsequent impact on plasmid conjugation. The results showed that 5 mg mL–1 MMT exhibited the highest removal ratio (84.60%), reaching saturation within 15 min. MMT showed a transient inhibitory effect on planktonic bacterial growth, resulting in a significant decrease in bacterial concentration at 2 and 4 h. In conjugation assays, while MMT significantly reduced the planktonic concentrations of donor and recipient strains via sedimentation, it did not reduce the absolute number of transconjugants. Consequently, the apparent conjugation frequency within the planktonic phase significantly increased at MMT concentrations ≥5 mg mL–1. These findings suggest that although MMT has application value as an adsorbent in feed to physically remove bacteria, its surface may act as a ‘hotbed’ that facilitates cell-to-cell contact, thereby promoting the conjugative transfer of resistance plasmids. Therefore, when assessing the safety of MMT as a feed additive, its potential role in accelerating the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes must be considered alongside its pathogen-removal capability. Future research should focus on the functional modification of MMT to mitigate its risk of facilitating gene transfer.

Compared with superhydrophobic coatings, superamphiphobic coatings offer broader application potential in various fields. However, their practical applications are often hindered by insufficient repellency towards low-surface-tension, high-viscosity and complex multicomponent liquids, as well as by their stability. Herein, a palygorskite-based stable superamphiphobic coating with a simple fabrication process and low cost is reported. The coating was fabricated through sequential spray deposition of a fluorosilicone resin (FSR) bonding layer and a superamphiphobic functional layer composed of fluorinated palygorskite (F-PAL), fluorinated carbon black (F-CB) and FSR. In this coating, F-PAL nanorods serve as the building blocks for constructing the primary nanostructure, while F-CB nanoparticles occupy the interstitial spaces between the PAL nanorods, forming the secondary nanostructure. Together, these components generate a multiscale hierarchical micro-/nanostructure that is critical for achieving superamphiphobicity. By systematically optimizing the mass ratio of F-CB to F-PAL and the FSR content, a low-surface-energy multiscale hierarchical micro-/nanostructure was successfully established, imparting the coating with excellent superamphiphobicity towards water, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene/dioctyl sebacate mixtures (HTPB-H) and their aluminium powder-containing suspensions (HTPB-H/Al). The coating exhibits outstanding mechanical, chemical and thermal stability. Furthermore, the coating demonstrates remarkable anti-adhesion performance against both HTPB-H and HTPB-H/Al, together with superior passive anti-icing performance, as evidenced by a significantly prolonged freezing delay time (1291 s, ∼30-fold increase) and a substantially reduced ice adhesion strength (from 224.3 to 65.8 kPa). Moreover, efficient photothermal de-icing performance was achieved under low-temperature, high-humidity and weak-light conditions. These results demonstrate that the proposed superamphiphobic coating holds significant promise for practical applications in anti-adhesion and anti-icing under harsh conditions.

Uncontrolled acute haemorrhage remains a leading cause of death in emergency situations such as warfare, traffic accidents and surgical procedures. Current clinical haemostatic materials have numerous limitations such as allowing high levels of blood loss, having slow clotting rates, being non-degradable and being difficult to fit onto complicated wounds. Due to their high water absorption, surface negative charge, ion-exchange capacity, abundant availability and good biocompatibility, clay minerals show promise as haemostatic materials. Herein, we review recent advances in the field of haemostasis involving clay minerals including kaolinite, zeolite, halloysite, montmorillonite and palygorskite, among others. The fabrication methods and performance in vitro and in vivo for these wound dressings are introduced, and their haemostatic properties are correlated with the chemical composition and microstructure of the clays. Then, the haemostatic mechanisms of the clays are discussed. To satisfy the needs of diverse clinical applications, the development of high-performance and functional haemostatic materials based on clay minerals should be conducted via the engineered design of these wound-healing materials. In the future, the integration of multiple functions, including haemostasis, antibacterial activity, promotion of tissue repair/regeneration, high biocompatibility, degradability, ability to fit complicated wound shapes and low cost, will enable the development of next-generation wound dressings based on clay minerals.

Converting CO2 into value-added fuels via photocatalysis represents a promising strategy to address the energy crisis and global climate challenges. The core of the matter lies in constructing an optimal photocatalytic system featuring broadband light utilization, high charge separation efficiency and abundant surface-active centres. To overcome obstacles including high cost, complex processes and poor environmental compatibility of synthetic photocatalysts, this study constructs kaolinite/pyrite (KL/Py) composite photocatalysts via a green mechanical ball milling method based on natural mineral symbiosis characteristics, using the abundant 1:1 layered clay mineral KL and the narrow-bandgap mineral Py as raw materials. Although the KL and Py used in this work are obtained from different commercial sources, their typical coexistence in sedimentary deposits inspires the design of this composite. By adjusting the composite mass ratio, the obtained composite exhibits the best photocatalytic activity, and its CO yield can reach up to 89.5 μmol g–1 h–1, which is 2.3 times higher than that of Py alone. The synergistic interaction between KL and Py markedly improves the efficiency of charge transfer at the interface and inhibits the recombination of photogenerated carriers. In addition, the hydroxyl-enriched surface of KL serves as an active centre for CO2 uptake and hole capture. This composite photocatalyst demonstrates outstanding and durable performance in photocatalytic CO2 conversion and offers a novel theoretical foundation and an eco-friendly synthesis route for the value-added application of clay minerals and the development of natural mineral-based photocatalysts.

Rapid and efficient haemostasis is key to controlling bleeding and reducing mortality, and so it is necessary to design high-performance haemostatic materials. Here, haemostatic gauze composites were facilely prepared based on dopamine polymerization modification of gauze and simultaneous impregnation loading of mixed-dimensional palygorskite clay (MDPal). The haemostatic performance of gauze composites was systematically evaluated in comparison with a commercially available gauze impregnated with kaolin. The results confirmed that no obvious changes were observed regarding the water vapour transmittance and water absorption of the gauze after coating with polydopamine and MDPal. Blood coagulation studies indicated that the optimal gauze composites prepared with 200 mg of dopamine after reaction for 6.5 h presented superior haemostatic properties according to the in vitro blood-clotting index, the coagulation kinetics of platelet-poor plasma coagulation, erythrocyte adhesion behaviour and thrombus formation. The haemorrhage effects on rat liver bleeding suggested that the blood losses with the gauze composites were 8.52% and 29.45% less than that of the blank group. In addition, the coagulation time decreased by 38.12% compared with the blank group. Furthermore, the gauze composites exhibited good biocompatibility as evaluated by haemolysis rate and cytotoxicity assays. Thus, the obtained gauze composites can serve as promising candidates for rapid wound haemostasis.

Tetraphenylborate (TPB)-assisted exchange of Na+ for structural K was explored to establish the extent to which K and radiogenic Ar were removed from mixed-layer illite-smectite (Ilt-Sme) and detrital muscovite in various clay fractions (<1, 1–2 and 2–5 µm) of three Illinois Basin palaeosols and of Ilt-Sme from a K-bentonite (<2 µm) clay. The K–Ar age value of the treated Ilt-Sme was virtually the same as that of the untreated material regardless of TPB exchange duration in the K-bentonite. Interlayer K is extracted quickly but not completely from fine illitic material. Interlayer K is extracted more slowly but more completely from coarser clay-sized muscovite based on changes in X-ray diffraction traces, K contents and K–Ar age values of the palaeosol size fractions upon TPB treatment. One hour of TPB treatment revealed that (1) detrital Ilt-Sme was predominant over diagenetic Ilt-Sme in one palaeosol and (2) relatively more of the K in R0 Ilt-Sme is resistant to TPB treatment than in illite-rich, ordered Ilt-Sme, which indicates that the single illite layers hold K+ against TPB exchange in the fine Ilt-Sme. The age values of all palaeosol size fractions treated for several weeks converged into a narrow range (mean value 247 ± 5 Myr), consistent with the remaining K and Ar being predominantly in illitic interlayers of diagenetic origin. TPB treatment is a promising technique to isolate diagenetic (or pedogenic) illite in clay fractions containing detrital components for K–Ar age determinations.

Palygorskite (Pal) is a layered-chain clay mineral characterized by unique one-dimensional nanorod crystals, regular nanochannels and abundant surface active groups. Since the discovery of Pal’s presence in China in 1976, Chinese scientists have resolved the key bottleneck of efficient the disaggregation of the rod crystal bundles restricting its high-value utilization and achieved a fundamental transformation of Pal from a traditional raw mineral material to an advanced functional nanomaterial. The applications of Pal in China have expanded into diverse fields, including energy materials, antibacterial agents, catalysts, tissue engineering scaffolds, hydrogen storage materials, membrane separation materials, functional coatings and pigments, among others. In the case of naturally abundant mixed-dimensional Pal clays with complex mineral compositions, full-mineral synchronous utilization technology has been developed for the fabrication of functional materials based on the differences and complementarities in the structures and properties of the coexisting minerals. This article reviews the significant progress made by Chinese researchers in transforming nanostructured Pal into advanced functional materials, highlighting representative cases in green preparation and sustainable applications. Finally, future key research directions are proposed to promote the efficient and sustainable utilization of Pal resources, aligning with the disciplinary frontier of mineral materialization.