抄録
It is very difficult to investigate the behaviour of smectite and related clay minerals, because they are fine particles and low crystallinity. There are two ways to clarify their behaviour. One is the characterization by microscopic analyses: TEM, SEM and others. The other is the synthesis of large single crystal of smectite and that of related clay minerals. The former is supported by the recent progress in the analytical methodology and is successful partially in the last decade. The latter, to prepare a single crystal of smectite, is just recently realized in the author's research group using non-equilibrium condition, that is, quenching process of a high-pressure and high-temperature hydrous melt. In the future, the real behaviour of smectite and that of related clay minerals will be solved by the combination of these approaches.
