Clay Minerals : Properties, Occurrence, and Uses

To a geologist clay minerals are fine particles (< 2 µm in size) and are also major constituent of rocks, sediment and soils. To an engineer or a ceramicist or a mineralogist, clay minerals belongs to the family of phyllosilicate or sheet silicate family of minerals which shows properties of plasticity and shrinkage, hardening upon drying or firing. Basically clay minerals are composed of polymeric sheet of SiO 4 tetrahedron linked together at apical oxygen to form sheets of octahedral. The types and characteristics of clay minerals depends on its origin of occurrence.

Clay and clay minerals has been used since the very beginnings of civilization and are also very important industrially. This is because of their abundant availability, inexpensive and unique properties. They have many applications such as in agricultural application, in engineering and building applications, in environmental remediation, in geology, in medicine, in ceramic, food processing and in many other industrial applications. Considering their unique properties and vast applications this book was written in order to provide various research results and compilation and up-to-date development on the current states of knowledge on clay minerals types, properties and their various uses.

This book is useful for practicing engineers, scientists, researchers, academics and undergraduate, post-graduate students' interest on this specific area.