Nanomaterials and hybrid materials have been studied recent years, due to the potential for improved performance in the on-going materials as well as for the innovative applications. Size and shape of the materials, in nanometer scale, are keys to observe unique physicochemical characteristics, which are not available for conventional bulk solids. A huge variation of nanometer sized materials have been synthesized by soft chemical processes as well as physical processes in vacuum. In addition to the synthetic nanomaterials, there are natural (both biological and geological origins) nanomaterais useful as advanced materials. Among them, nanofibers and nanosheets of natural materials have attracted increasing interests.
In the present lecture, the nanosheet materials of geological origins will be introduced. The applications of the natural nanosheet materials will be discussed based on the origin, structure and chemical nature of the materials.