Due to their large specific surface area, but also other features such as: ion exchange capacities and outstanding hydration properties clay minerals were used as adsorbent materials, reinforcers in polymer nanocomposites after a chemical modification of their surface. As 2D confinement host matrixes, these layered minerals represent interesting materials to preserve biomolecules or other functional organic species and to orientate them as well for the preparation of thin organic films.

Amphiphilic molecules such as both cationic or nonionic surfactants can be used as chemical modifier to prepare hybrid organoclay materials based on clay minerals, leading to the generation of a hydrophobic environment. The intercalation of the surfactants switches the hydrophilic  nature of clay mineral surface to hydrophobic and opens its interlayer space at large value enlarging the possible applications of raw clay minerals. These organic moieties can be also associated with raw clay mineral in solution as original systems for the adsorption of pollutants in water remediation strategies.

In this present contribution, we focus on the preparation of novel organoclays based on nonionic surfactants and discuss and compare their properties and possible uses to conventional cationic organoclay systems (i.e. prepared with alkylammonium cationic surfactants) and raw clay minerals. Non-ionic organoclays with their dual hydrophilic/hydrophobic behaviors, unlike cationic ones showing a hydrophobic surface, and untreated clay minerals displaying a hydrophilic behavior, represent polyvalent materials for the adsorption of a wide range of micropollutants showing different chemical nature.