Aminoclay: a functional layered material with multifaceted applications

Layered silicates provide an interesting avenue to novel materials. There has been a growing interest in recent years for the development of functional materials using tailor made clays. This review highlights one such tailor made, water dispersible aminopropyl functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate (aminoclay) of the type R8Si8Mg6O16(OH)(4), (where R = -CH2CH2NH2) and its multiple applications in catalysis, biology, fuel cells and light-harvesting hybrids.