The importance of surfaces and interfaces in clays for water remediation processes

The continuous research around 2D layered materials allows to a significant raise up of our next future technological development in several engineering fields of emerging interest. Among the different classes of 2D layered materials, clays are naturally-occurring inorganic materials forming our planet soil, thus making them as one of the most promising sustainable solution as biocompatible and easily-accessible (almost ubiquitous). Hence, in order to valorize this class of layered materials even for advanced applications, their surface and interfaces properties are critically discussed, providing a detailed classification and focusing on their structure-property relationship. Lastly, the scientific literature discussing the application of clays in water remediation processes is here treated. Evidences of the direct use of clays as sorbing agents (with a particular emphasis on their interlayers properties) as well as their exploitation as raw materials for the production of ‘traditional ceramic’-based membranes (exploitable is separation science as filtering systems) are critically discussed, and performances compared.