Potassium acetate is a water soluble salt which is used as a dehydrating agent. Halloysite nanotubes are natural clay - kaoline like minerals having low amount of available OH groups at the surface. K ,2p signal was observed in XPS results after surface functionalization with potassium acetate in aqueous environment.
Halloysite consists of nanotubules according to Wikipedia. That means it has a large inner surface. Potassium acetate should have an alkaline pH because acetic acid is a weak acid. My guess would be that the OH groups of Halloysite get partly deprotonated and that potassium ions are adsorbed to the inner surfaces to balance the charge. Basically, the Halloysite acts as a cation ion exchanger. As far as I know, many clays can do that. It should be possible to drive the cations out by treating the mineral with an acid. That should reverse the process, at least partially.
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