Properties and Applications of Polymer Nanocomposites

This chapter comprehensively emphasizes the effect of nanofillers (nanoclays, nanotubes, and graphenes) on the material properties of polymer matrices, including structure and modification of nanofillers, preparation techniques, and some suitable examples. Nowadays, the nanofiller-reinforced high-performance polymer nanocomposites have gained tremendous focus to the academia and industries due to substantial increase in overall material properties by the addition of very small amount of nanofillers. The performance properties of the polymer matrices are significantly improved by the incorporation of nanoparticles having high aspect ratio and extremely high active surface area. Specifically, both physical and mechanical properties of the polymer nanocomposites particularly depend on the chemical structure of the nanofillers, strong interfacial interactions between polymer and nanofillers, strong affinity of nanofillers for the polymer matrices, nature of dispersion of the nanofillers within the polymer matrices, and the method of preparation of polymer nanocomposites. The homogeneous dispersion of nanofillers throughout polymer matrix, achieved by eco-friendly, industrially viable, and cost-effective melt blending technique, greatly enhances its properties.

This chapter provides an overview on the carbon nanofillers such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene-based polymer nanocomposites for electronics, dielectrics, and microwave applications. The carbon-based nanofillers such as CNT and graphene are having sp²-hybridized C-atoms arranged in three-dimensional and two-dimensional lattice manner, respectively. These nanofillers exhibit exceptional thermal, mechanical, and dielectric properties. The carbon nanofillers create interconnected conductive networks in the insulating polymer matrix, and that enables the polymer nanocomposites a potential multifunctional material for various use in dielectric, electronic, and microwave fields. The applications of carbon nanofiller-based polymer nanocomposites in capacitor, super capacitor, sensor, and dielectric field have been described in this chapter briefly.

Polymer nanocomposites are revolutionizing the world of structure and construction nowadays. Since long time unreinforced polymer composites are being used in the construction industry in non-load-bearing applications such as trimmings, kitchenware, cladding, etc. In the last decade, polymer nanocomposites continue to rise into the construction industry for load-bearing applications all over the world due to its reinforcing ability. Potential advantages of polymer nanocomposite (PNC) are high specific strength and stiffness, durability, good fatigue performance, versatile fabrication, and lower maintenance costs, and these win the attention of structure and construction engineers. PNCs are being explored in applications such as alternative reinforcement for concrete, rehabilitation and retrofit and, in rare cases, entire fiber composite structures. In the PNC category, new-generation carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are the engineer’s delight due to their superior corrosion resistance, excellent thermomechanical properties, resilience, translucency, lightness, and ease of processing. In CFRP polymer matrix and reinforcing fiber interact with each other and provide excellent properties, where fiber supports in strengthening and stiffening the structure, whereas matrix binds the fibers together and transfers the stress from one fiber to another. It is also possible to introduce the fibers in the polymer matrix in a certain position, direction, and volume to obtain the maximum reinforcement efficiency. In this chapter development of advanced CFRP materials and their uses in civil engineering applications will be discussed.

Polymer-based nanocomposites have emerged as a new class of hybrid materials which find many promising bioapplications, ranging from tissue engineering, drug delivery, to various biotechnological applications. The fundamental understanding of structure, properties, polymer–matrix interaction and further modifications based on fundamental requirements are essential for their designing and development. Additionally, the control over physical and chemical properties along with assessment of biological interactions is instrumental for their potential applications. This chapter discusses emerging biomedical and biotechnological applications of polymer-based nanocomposites.

Nanotechnology is considered to play a key role in shaping current environmental engineering and science in this twenty-first century. The way the nanoscale science research is progressing in the development and use of novel and cost-effective technologies for adsorptive removal, catalytic degradation, and detection of contaminants as well as other environmental concerns is praiseworthy. Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), which incorporate advantages of both nanoparticles and polymers, have received increasing attention in both academia and industry. They present outstanding mechanical properties and compatibility owing to their polymer matrix, the unique physical and chemical properties caused by the unusually large surface area to volume ratios, and high interfacial reactivity of the nanofillers. In addition, the composites provide an effective approach to overcome the bottleneck problems of nanoparticles in practice such as separation and reuse. This chapter gives an overview of PNCs for environment application. A brief summary of the fabrication methods of PNCs is provided, and recent advances on the application of PNC materials for treatment of contaminants, pollutant sensing and detection, and green chemistry are highlighted. In addition, it also offers a comprehensive discussion on the research trends and prospective in the coming future.

This chapter provides an overview on the clay- and carbon-based polymer nanocomposites for fuel cell (FC), Li-ion battery, and supercapacitor (SC) applications. Fuel cell is responsible for conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy, whereas Li-ion battery and supercapacitor are mainly responsible for energy storage applications. Here, the applications of nanocomposite membranes for fuel cell application followed by Li-ion battery and supercapacitor applications are described. The working principle, purpose, and physical properties of the nanocomposites are critically described for the aforementioned applications. Finally, the summary and future scopes of the polymer nanocomposites in these fields are described.

This chapter provides an overview on the nanofillers such as nanosilica, CNT, CNF, and reinforced polymer nanocomposites for various automobile applications. Among all the polymer-based automotive components, tire is the most important one. A tire must deliver high traction on dry as well as wet roads, commonly called as wet and dry grip. This high traction force between tread and road is necessary for avoiding slippage while running on the road. Many leading tire manufacturers are now developing engineered composites to further extend the life of tire. This chapter explains the applications of polymer nanocomposites for automotive coating, highly scratch resistance clear coating, weather resistance automobile coatings, and for ultra-reflecting layer for automobile mirror.

The chapter presents a comprehensive account on the flurry of research works engulfing the utility of clay- and C-based polymeric nanocomposites, both the synthetic and bio-based ones undergoing renaissance since the 1990s in the realm of adhesives, coatings, and paints. The chapter focuses on the technological innovations of the nanocomposites and the modulations in the factors affecting the same as a function of shape-size accord of nanomaterials mainly clay- and C-based nanomaterials. In essence, the different physico-mechanical properties and various types of nanocomposites are critically scrutinized to bring out their potentiality in the aforementioned domains. The recent demand for low-temperature, radiation-cured, and waterborne high-solid content coatings gaining commercial importance has been highlighted. The chapter also pens down the scientific endeavor made in the contemporary times to bridge up the gap between the laboratories and the laymen. The present appraisal also intends to provoke a debate in the concluding section on the different strategies for upscaling of the current technologies and their impact on the environment.

The dynamic response of the materials to the external stimuli makes it intelligent or smart, and the smart materials have promising applications in many areas. Shape-memory polymers (SMPs), a class of smart materials, exhibit a rapid change from a normal rigid state to a stretchy elastic state and then come back to the original state in the presence of external stimulus. SMPs have several advantages which include multiple sensitivity of the materials, highly flexibility in programming, various structural designs of materials, fine-tuning of the property by proper blending, and formation of composite. Still SMPs have many disadvantages, including poor mechanical properties, low shape fixity and poor shape recovery stress, and shape recovery ratio. Therefore, the development of shape-memory nanocomposites is a matter of concern to improve the shape-memory behavior, stiffness, etc. Various SMP nanocomposites have been developed by incorporation of carbon nanofiber (CNF), carbon nanotube (CNT), nanoclay, nanosilicon carbide, carbon black, and inorganic fillers into the polymer matrix. Incorporation of nanoparticles leads to the development of electrical-sensitive, light-sensitive, magnetic-sensitive, and water-/solvent-sensitive SMP nanocomposites with special features.