Technical, Technological and Economical Aspects of Thin-Seams Coal Mining, International Mining Forum, 2007

Understanding nanosheets from chemical, structural, and application aspects in relation to their “fully nanoscopic” characters will help materials scientists to develop novel advanced materials. This is the first book that accurately and concisely summarizes this field including exfoliation and intercalation chemistries of layered crystals. The book provides perspective on the materials chemistry of inorganic nanosheets. The first section describes fundamental aspects of nanosheets common to diverse applications: how unique structures and properties are obtained from nanosheets based on low dimensionality. The second section presents state-of-the-art descriptions of how the 2D nature of nanosheets is utilized in each application of the materials that are developed.

This volume provides a discussion of these topics from leading international experts and will be a useful reference for researchers working in this field.

The ordering of the chapters reflects the natural flow of events in an evolving Universe: Philosophy of Science, the basis of the view that natural events have natural causes – Cosmology, the origin of everything from the Big Bang to the current state of the Universe – Geoscience, the physics and chemistry behind the evolution of the planet Earth from its birth to the present – Life Science, the molecules and mechanisms of life on Earth – Ecology, the interdependence of all components within the Ecosphere and the Universe – Information Content, emphasis on how words and phrases and framing of issues affect opinions, reliability of sources, and the limitations of knowledge.