Physico-chemical control over the single- or double-wall structure of aluminogermanate imogolite-like nanotubes

It is known that silicon can be successfully replaced by germanium atoms in the synthesis of imogolite nanotubes, leading to shorter and larger AlGe nanotubes. Beside the change in morphology, two characteristics of the AlGe nanotube synthesis were recently discovered. AlGe imogolite nanotubes can be synthesized at much higher concentrations than AlSi imogolite. AlGe imogolite exists in the form of both single-walled (SW) and double-walled (DW) nanotubes, whereas DW AlSi imogolites have never been observed. In this article, we give details on the physicochemical control over the SW or DW AlGe imogolite structure. For some conditions, an almost 100% yield of SW or DW nanotubes is demonstrated. We propose a model for the formation of SW or DW AlGe imogolite, which also explains why DW AlSi imogolites or higher wall numbers for AlGe imogolite are not likely to be formed.