Surface modification of nanoscale fillers for improving properties of polymer nanocomposites: A review

Abstract

Direct incorporation of inorganic nanoscale building blocks into polymers represents a typical way for preparing polymeric nanocomposites. The most important aspect in preparation of nanocomposites through dispersive blending is surface modification of the nanofillers. It is able to increase hydrophobicity of the fillers, enhance interfacial adhesion via chain entanglement or chemical bonding and eliminate the loosen structure of filler agglomerates. The present paper reviews the state of the art of nanoparticles/polymer composites, including the specific surface pretreatment techniques and their applications. Especially, the role of treated nanoparticles and the mechanisms involved in the improvement of mechanical properties and wear resistance of the composites are highlighted.

Interfacial effects in nano-silica/polypropylene composites fabricated by in-situ chemical blowing

“…The procedure of grafting of poly(p-vinylphenylsulfonylhydrazide-co-butyl acrylate) onto nanosilica was similar to that of grafting poly (p-vinyl-3 Cai et al -eXPRESS Polymer Letters Vol.1, No.1 (2007) [2][3][4][5][6][7] Figure 1. Schematic drawing of the proposed route for making nano-SiO2/PP composites…”

“…An interlayer with proper flexibility ensured an overall enhancement of mechanical properties, especially impact strength, of the nanocomposites. : nanomaterials, processing technologies, nanoparticles, nanocomposites, interfacial effect eXPRESS Polymer Letters Vol.1, No.1 (2007) [2][3][4][5][6][7] Available online at www.expresspolymlett.com DOI: 10.3144/expresspolymlett.2007.2 defoaming of the compounds was not necessary prior to injection molding. It implies that this technique could lead to deagglomeration of the nanoparticles when nanocomposites are being manufactured, without side effect that might deteriorate performance.…”

Precipitated silica as filler for polymer electrolyte based on poly(acrylonitrile)/sulfolane

“…Hydrophilic nanoparticles and hydrophobic polymers are not compatible in nature, which will result in poor interfacial interaction [49,50]. Above all, it is necessary to modify the surface of silica (nano)particles.…”

“…Above all, it is necessary to modify the surface of silica (nano)particles. Surface modification techniques for preventing nanoparticles from aggregation became important in the applications of nanoparticles [49]. In general, there are two basic routes to surface modification of inorganic fillers: physical adsorption of polymer and covalently attachment by chemical reaction.…”

Silylation of clay mineral surfaces

“…Accordingly, a network will be formed among clay mineral, silane and polymer via covalent bonds. This can greatly improve the mechanical property of the resultant materials and may lead to a breakthrough in synthesis of novel CPN (Herrera et al, 2004;Katsarava and Yakov, 1992;Kiliaris and Papaspyrides, 2010;LeBaron et al, 1999;Rong et al, 2006;Zhou et al, 2007).…”