NANOCLAYS TO IMPROVE PLASTICS.

Encouraged by nanotechnology, material scientists are forging ahead in a broad-based scientific quest to build polymer composites, containing dispersed, nano-sized sheets of natural clay. The sheets are so small that many of them measure no more than 1 nanometer in thickness, or roughly the space taken up by 4 atoms.

The sheet-like structure of the clay helps give plastics novel physical and chemical properties, making them lighter, stronger, more stable and, in some cases, less likely to emit poisonous gases when burned, as many contemporary plastics do, said Dr. Evan