7. Hybridization with Polymers

Pioneers of hybrid materials in metal alloy and “clay” technology have shown a fine dispersion and an affinity between dispersed inclusions and matrix and are key points for the hybridization of inorganic sheets with polymers. The intercalation reactions delaminated silicate nano-layers and interlayer polymerization of 6-polyamide suggested a tendency to infinite swelling. Meeting the delamination reactions with an exfoliation by shear stress during polymer processing provided the hybridization with useful engineering plastics. They offer hybrid materials with excellent properties such as a gas barrier or flame retardancy. Applications of pioneering polymer processing such as melt-compounding procedures or electro-spinning processes and research of reactions in an interface between inorganic surfaces and organic matrixes promise further advances.