Smectite lamellae

The smectite and vermiculite clays are particularly interesting from a catalytic standpoint since their lamellae are typically held together by hydrated cations that can be exchanged for other cations. The idea of exchanging cations in clays... 

Therefore, polymer/clay nanocomposites can be deflned as a new class of composites with polymer matrices in which the dispersed phase is the silicate constituted by particles that have at least one of the dimensions at nanometer level. One of the components is the matrix, in which the particles of the second material are dispersed. The most used mineral particles in these nanocomposites are smectitic clays (montmorillonite, saponite, and hectorite), having their particles lamellae morphology with sides at micrometer level and thickness around one nanometer (Alexandre and Dubois, 2000 Esteves, Barros-Timmons, and Trindade, 2004). 

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