Functional montmorillonite can be dispersed in polymer coatings and organic species and polymers can be intercalated into the interlayer space or grafted onto the surface of the functional montmorillonite. The addition of functional montmorillonite into polymer-based coatings can significantly improve anti-corrosion, refractory, super-hydrophobicity, antibacterial activity, and absorption of solar radiation by the resulting montmorillonite/polymer coatings. Montmorillonite can be functionalized for this purpose by ion exchange, intercalation, exfoliation, or combinations of these treatments. The rigid montmorillonite layers interspersed within the polymer matrix inhibit the penetration of corrosive substances, minimize the impact of high-temperature airflow, and thereby lead to strong resistance of the coating to corrosion and fire. The combination of polymers and dispersed montmorillonite nanolayers, which are modified by metal ions, metal oxides, and hydrophobic organic species, allows the resulting composite coating to have quite a rough surface and a much smaller surface free energy so that the montmorillonite/polymer coating possesses superhydrophobicity. The interlayer space of functional montmorillonite can also host or encapsulate antibacterial substances, phase-change materials, and solar energy-absorbing materials. Moreover, it can act as a template to make these guest species exist in a more stable and ordered state. Literature surveys suggest that future work on the functional montmorillonite/polymer coatings should be targeted at the manufacture of functional montmorillonite nanolayers by finding more suitable modifiers and tuning the dispersion and funtionalities of montmorillonite in the coatings.

功能性蒙脱土可以分散在聚合物涂层和有机物质中，并且聚合物可以插入层间空间或接枝到功能性蒙脱石的表面上。将功能性蒙脱石添加到聚合物基涂料中可以显着提高所得蒙脱石/聚合物涂层的防腐性、耐火性、超疏水性、抗菌活性和对太阳辐射的吸收。为此目的，蒙脱石可以通过离子交换、嵌入、剥离或这些处理的组合进行功能化。散布在聚合物基体中的刚性蒙脱石层可抑制腐蚀性物质的渗透，最大限度地减少高温气流的影响，从而使涂层具有很强的耐腐蚀性和防火性。聚合物和分散的蒙脱石纳米层的结合，由金属离子、金属氧化物和疏水性有机物质改性，使所得复合涂层具有相当粗糙的表面和小得多的表面自由能，从而使蒙脱石/聚合物涂层具有超疏水性。功能性蒙脱石的层间空间还可以承载或包裹抗菌物质、相变材料和太阳能吸收材料。而且，它可以作为模板，使这些客体物种以更稳定和有序的状态存在。