Use of Clay from Primitive to the 21st Century

The history of clays and their use may be traced back to ancient civilization. The focus on clay research was mainly on geological and the mineralogical aspect of clayey materials. People used clays primarily because of their easy availability. The rapid development of clay science and investigation on the extraordinary properties of clay minerals during the past few decades have created renewed interest among the researchers throughout the world. Over time, the empirical technology has been converted into scientific procedure. In this review paper attempt has been made to describe the use of clay minerals in diversified fields highlighting some novel applications. No other group of inorganic materials enjoy such a wide and diverse applications as clay minerals do.