Structural characterization of lamellar compounds

Over the last decade or so, structural characterization of layered compounds has benefited from the intrinsic evolution of the commonly used techniques (TEM, XAS, XRD, etc), and especially from improvements in quantitative methods of data analysis. In particular, the collation of experimental and computational results allowed reciprocal improvements of both approaches. Significant progress has come also from the combination of experimental approaches allowing for a thorough characterization of complex and/or very defective lamellar structures, including natural materials and mixed-layered materials. This session will be devoted to the recent advances of individual techniques, and to new possibilities offered by their combination. New structural interpretations, dynamical properties, and insights into the formation and evolution of such materials in natural environments are also relevant. Materials of interest include, but are not limited to, phyllosilicates, layered oxides, layer double hydroxides, and layered compounds in general.