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More than twenty years have passed since we invented polymer-clay nanocomposites (PCN), in which only a few wt.-% of silicate is randomly and homogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix. When molded, these nanocomposites show superior properties compared to pristine polymers such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, heat distortion temperature, gas barrier property, and so on. The number of papers on PCN has increased rapidly in recent years, reaching over 500 only in 2005. As the pioneers of the new technology, we will review its history highlighting our works. Epoch-making events of PCN are as follows: In 1985, The first PCN, nylon 6-clay hybrid (NCH), was invented. In 1987, NCH was first presented at the ACS Fall Meetings. In 1989, NCH was presented at the MRS Fall Meetings, firing PCN. In 1989, Toyota launched cars equipped with a NCH part. In 1996, Clay was found to cause a memory effect in liquid crystals.

We studied the adoption of plastics derived from plants (bioplastics) such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA) for automotive parts in order to contribute to suppressing the increase in CO, emissions. For this application. major improvements of heat and impact resistance are needed. As a method to improve heat resistance, we developed PLA combined with clay of high heat resistance. As a result. we succeeded in synthesizing a PLA-clay nanocomposite using 18(OH)2-Mont. In-mold crystallization of PLA-clay nanocomposite lead to the great suppression of storage modulus decrease at high temperature. which in turn improved the heat resistance of PLA.