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The rise of organic-inorganic hybrid materials in both academia and industry results from a convergence of diverse expertise and communities and is driven by the curiosity of open-minded scientists. In this review article, a historical perception on the evolution of hybrid material science is described. The major periods associated with the genesis of hybrid materials are discussed: prebiotic hybrid chemistry, hybrid materials made through know-how, the rise of silicates and silicon chemistry, modern hybrids: a mushrooming multidisciplinary field of research, and current applications of hybrid materials fully integrated in the society. Finally, the review presents an outlook that summarizes some future prospects related to hybrid materials.

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A new family of functional hybrid nanocomposites based on the intercalation of naturally occurring anionic biopolymers including alginic acid, pectin, κ-carrageenan, ι-carrageenan, and xanthan gum in [Zn 2 Al(OH) 6 ]Cl‚nH 2 O layered double hydroxide (LDH), have been synthesized. The "coprecipitation" or "co-organized assembly" method has been successfully employed for the intercalation of such polysaccharides within the [Zn 2 Al] LDH. However, the "reconstruction" procedure from the calcined LDH in the presence of the anionic polysaccharides only resulted in a partial intercalation of the organic guest. Particular effort was devoted to the study of ι-carrageenan-[Zn 2 Al] systems. An essential feature of the prepared biopolymer-[Zn 2 Al] nanocomposites is that the anionic exchange capacity of the pristine LDH is turned into a cationic exchange capacity due to negatively charged groups in the polysaccharide structure that do not interact with the positively charged LDH layers. In agreement with the fact that most of the studied biopolymers interact strongly with calcium ions producing homogeneous gels, the prepared biopolymer-[Zn 2 Al] nanocomposites were operative as active phases of sensors for the recognition of calcium ions. Hence, the biopolymer-[Zn 2 Al] nanocomposites have been incorporated in carbon paste or PVC matrixes for the development of potentiometric sensors. These devices were applied to calcium determination by direct potentiometry and the best responses were obtained for the sensors based on alginate-LDH and ι-carrageenan-LDH nanocomposites.