Clay chemistry is an applied subdiscipline of chemistry which studies the chemical structures, properties and reactions of or involving clays and clay minerals. It is a multidisciplinary field, involving concepts and knowledge from inorganic and structural chemistry, physical chemistry, materials chemistry, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, mineralogy, geology and others. Many distinct fields and knowledge areas are impacted by the phisico-chemical behavior of clay minerals, from environmental sciences to chemical process engineering, from pottery to nuclear waste management.