Dispersion Characterization Common Techniques and Limitations

Due to its ease of use and availability, simple Bragg-refiection powder x-ray diffraction is most commonly used to probe nanocomposite structure, especially for polymer/layered-inorganic filler hybrids where the iooi basal reflection is 

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is also widely employed, in its simplest bright-field mode, as a tool for direct visualization of the nanocomposite structure of polymer nanocomposites. This is possible because there exists sufficient contrast for the transmitted electrons between the polymer matrix and most fillers (inorganic particles, carbon in nanotubes or graphite, and almost all oxides) without polymer staining. In the extreme case, high-resolution TEM can even provide a qualitative picture of the inorganic filler crystal structure, or can be 

Finally, morphological information can also be obtained indirectly from methods that reflect the composite morphology into other macroscopic properties. Within the focus of this book, two examples of such methods can be mentioned rheological measurements and cone calorimetry flammability methods. Both methods can sensitively detect well-dispersed nanofillers in a polymer matrix and can distinguish them from the respective conventional composites based on the same polymer and fillers but without nanometer-scale dispersion of the latter. We shall not provide further details on this we just point the interested reader discussions of the cone calorimetry approach in subsequent chapters, and to a few representative references for the rheology.  

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