With the advent of nanoscience and nanotechnology, the dream of scientists to
engineer new functional materials combining the best specific properties of organic
and inorganic materials is closer to reality. The traditional targeted application has
been the reinforcement of plastics with the addition of inorganic fillers. Accelerated
research over the past two decades, as evidenced by the large bulk of literature on
mechanical properties of organic–inorganic composites, focused on systems such
as clay/polymer nanocomposites, which are now exploited by the automotive
industry worldwide. Although, in the low filler loading range, clay/polymer nanocomposites
can replace traditional fiber-reinforced composites, there is still a long
way to go before understanding the mechanisms of enhancement of major engineering
properties of polymers and to tailor their nanostructure