ABSTRACT

Polymer nanocomposites have been an area of active research for the last 20 years. The field is relatively young, essentially starting in the late 1980s with the discovery by Toyota Research and Development Labs [1,2] that some important properties of polymers could be improved upon even as their total materials, cost was reduced by introducing clays as additives. As such, understanding of the interplay between nanoparticle (NP) and matrix has advanced rapidly in a short time. The consequences of this interest have been threefold: (1) nanocomposites have made considerable advances in leaving laboratory benchtops to be adopted in industry for industrial and consumer goods; (2) there has been a substantial push to improve specific properties of bulk materials, sometimes at the expense of real structure/property understanding; but (3) the imperative to gain a competitive edge in this field has allowed basic science to regain the upper hand. Understanding of the role of filler materials in improving the properties of matrix materials is now crucial to advancing the frontier in nanocomposite technology. This can be done primarily through studying the chemistry of the interface and the unique properties found at the interphase region of the polymer matrix.