Since the isolation of monolayer graphene, numerous other layered materials have been identified. In addition to providing a unique platform to discover exciting new physics, layered materials are promising for applications in flexible optoelectronics. In this thesis, we employ scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and nano-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, in concert with analytical and numerical calculations, to study light-matter interaction of several layered materials including muscovite mica, phosphorous allotropes (violet and black phosphorus), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), and transition metal dichalcogenides (MoS2 & WS2).Infrared dielectric properties of muscovite mica, exfoliated on silicon and SiO2 substrates is studied using near-field nano-FTIR spectroscopy. The spectra of mica show strong thickness and wavelength dependence, with a prominent broad peak centered around ∼1080 cm−1 assigned to Si−O. We reveal that the infrared dielectric permittivity of mica is anisotropic and experimentally measured nano-FTIR spectra agree well with analytical model calculations. The chemical degradation of exfoliated violet phosphorus (VP) in comparison to black phosphorus (BP) is studied under ambient conditions using Nano-FTIR and nanoscale imaging. We identify oxidized phosphorus species that result from chemical reaction processes on the surfaces of these phosphorus allotropes. We have found that VP exhibits a noticeably different and slower degradation process when compared to BP. Two dimensional (2D) in-plane MoS2–WS2 heterostructures exhibiting nanoscale alloyed interfaces are investigated using elastic and inelastic scattering near-field nanoscopy. The 2D alloyed regions exhibit thermal and photodegradation stability providing protection against oxidation. Coupled with surface and interface strain, 2D alloy regions create stable localized potential wells that concentrate excitonic species via a charge carrier funneling effect. In this thesis we demonstrate a reconfigurable hyperbolic metasurface comprised of a heterostructure of isotopically enriched hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) in direct contact with the phase-change material (PCM) single-crystal vanadium dioxide (VO2). Metallic and dielectric domains in VO2 provide spatially localized changes in the local dielectric environment, enabling launching, reflection, and transmission of hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) at the PCM domain boundaries, and tuning the wavelength of HPhPs propagating in hBN. This system supports in-plane HPhP refraction, thus providing a prototype for a class of planar refractive optics. This approach offers reconfigurable control of in-plane HPhP propagation. Furthermore, the thesis investigates HPhP characteristics as a function of the substrate dielectric function by employing s-SNOM and nano-FTIR, in concert with analytical and numerical calculations.