Characteristic Properties of Nanoclays and Characterization of Nanoparticulates and Nanocomposites Muhammad Shahid Nazir, Mohamad Haafiz Mohamad Kassim, Lagnamayee Mohapatra, Mazhar Amjad Gilani, Muhammad Rafi Raza and Khaliq Majeed Abstract Clays have been one of the more important industrial minerals; and with the recent advent of nanotechnology, they have found multifarious applications and in each application, nanoclays help to improve the quality of product, economize on the cost and saves environment. The chapter describes key characteristics of nan- oclays and their classification on the basis of the arrangement of “sheets” in their basic structural unit “layer”. Major groups include kaolin–serpentine, pyrophyllite- talc, smectite, vermiculite, mica and Chlorite. The structural, morphological and physicochemical properties of halloystite and montmorillonite nanoclays, repre- sentative of the 1:1 and 2:1 layer groups, respectively, are discussed as well. After briefly introducing the surface modification of clay minerals by modifying or functionalizing their surfaces and their incorporation into polymer matrices to develop polymer/clay nanocomposites, techniques that are being employed to characterize these nanoclays, in general, and the sample preparation for these techniques, in particular, are also reviewed in this chapter. M.S. Nazir Á M.A. Gilani Á K. Majeed (&) Department of Chemical Engineering, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan e-mail: khaliqmajeed@ciitlahore.edu.pk; khaliqmajeed@gmail.com M.H. Mohamad Kassim School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 George Town, Penang, Malaysia L. Mohapatra Á K. Majeed Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar M.A. Gilani Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 83, Alkharj 11942 Saudi Arabia M.R. Raza Department of Mechanical Engineering, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Sahiwal, Pakistan © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 M. Jawaid et al. (eds.), Nanoclay Reinforced Polymer Composites, Engineering Materials, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1953-1_2 35