A process for delamination of a synthetic or naturally occurring 2:1 clay mineral layered silicate in an aqueous medium, wherein in a first step a. a synthetic or naturally occurring 2:1 clay mineral layered silicate having a layer charge L c from ≥ 0.25 to ≤ 1.0 and a charge equivalent area A s = 47.6 Å 2 / (2 L c), is treated with b. a delamination agent, and in a second step the thus treated layered silicate obtained in the first step is contacted with an aqueous medium, characterized in that the delamination agent i. is a compound having exactly one positively charged atom, the positively charged atom being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and phosphorous; ii. contains n f functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, ether groups, sulfonic acid ester groups and carboxylic acid ester groups, n f being a number from 1 to 10; iii. comprises a total number of carbon atoms n c being from 2 to 20; iv. has a ratio n c /(1+n f) from 1 to 5, wherein n c is the total number of carbon atoms of the delamination agent and n f is the total number of functional groups in the delamination agent as defined under ii.; and v. has a charge equivalent area A d being from at least 0.90-fold to 3-fold of the charge equivalent area of the layered silicate A s; and wherein the delamination agent is used to treat the layered silicate in an amount of at least equal to the cation exchange capacity of the layered silicate, with the proviso that nf ≥ 2, if L c ≤ 0.6. in a first step a. a synthetic or naturally occurring 2:1 clay mineral layered silicate having a layer charge L c from ≥ 0.25 to ≤ 1.0 and a charge equivalent area A s = 47.6 Å 2 / (2 L c), is treated with b. a delamination agent, and a. a synthetic or naturally occurring 2:1 clay mineral layered silicate having a layer charge L c from ≥ 0.25 to ≤ 1.0 and a charge equivalent area A s = 47.6 Å 2 / (2 L c), is treated with b. a delamination agent, and in a second step the thus treated layered silicate obtained in the first step is contacted with an aqueous medium, characterized in that the delamination agent i. is a compound having exactly one positively charged atom, the positively charged atom being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and phosphorous; ii. contains n f functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, ether groups, sulfonic acid ester groups and carboxylic acid ester groups, n f being a number from 1 to 10; iii. comprises a total number of carbon atoms n c being from 2 to 20; iv. has a ratio n c /(1+n f) from 1 to 5, wherein n c is the total number of carbon atoms of the delamination agent and n f is the total number of functional groups in the delamination agent as defined under ii.; and v. has a charge equivalent area A d being from at least 0.90-fold to 3-fold of the charge equivalent area of the layered silicate A s; and wherein the thus treated layered silicate obtained in the first step is contacted with an aqueous medium, characterized in that the delamination agent i. is a compound having exactly one positively charged atom, the positively charged atom being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and phosphorous; ii. contains n f functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, ether groups, sulfonic acid ester groups and carboxylic acid ester groups, n f being a number from 1 to 10; iii. comprises a total number of carbon atoms n c being from 2 to 20; iv. has a ratio n c /(1+n f) from 1 to 5, wherein n c is the total number of carbon atoms of the delamination agent and n f is the total number of functional groups in the delamination agent as defined under ii.; and v. has a charge equivalent area A d being from at least 0.90-fold to 3-fold of the charge equivalent area of the layered silicate A s; and wherein i. is a compound having exactly one positively charged atom, the positively charged atom being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and phosphorous; ii. contains n f functional groups selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl groups, ether groups, sulfonic acid ester groups and carboxylic acid ester groups, n f being a number from 1 to 10; iii. comprises a total number of carbon atoms n c being from 2 to 20; iv. has a ratio n c /(1+n f) from 1 to 5, wherein n c is the total number of carbon atoms of the delamination agent and n f is the total number of functional groups in the delamination agent as defined under ii.; and v. has a charge equivalent area A d being from at least 0.90-fold to 3-fold of the charge equivalent area of the layered silicate A s; and wherein the delamination agent is used to treat the layered silicate in an amount of at least equal to the cation exchange capacity of the layered silicate, with the proviso that nf ≥ 2, if L c ≤ 0.6.