Intercalated nanocomposite description

Proceeding from the description of intercalated nanocomposites adduced in Section 7.1, it can be supposed that the polymeric material between Na -montmorillonite platelets is interfacial regions. In this case the interfacial layer thickness /. is determined as follows [23] ... 

Choudhury et al. [36] in their work on hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR)-nanoclay systems showed the thermodynamic aspects of nanocomposite formation using the mean-field-lattice-based description of polymer melt intercalation, which was first proposed by Vaia and Giannelis [37]. Briefly, the free... 

Explaining Behavior with Structure. To answer the question of why these materials behave so differently, we must revisit the issue of the polymer interphase (or bound polymer). These nanocomposite systems can be prepared such that nearly the entire polymer in the system is interphase polymer, due to the large specific surface area of the layered silicates (when properly dispersed) and the large amount of interface thus created. Coupled with the many descriptions of bound polymer reported in composite literature, molecular dynamics simulations of nanocomposite systems also indicate that local density variations occur in proximity to organically modified layered silicates, both in the absence and presence of intercalated polymer chains. In fact, such interlayer density variations (albeit with small molecules rather than polymers) have been reported for many years in field of clay science. ... 

These descriptive terms are used to classify the degree of nauoscale dispersion as well as global micro- and macroscale dispersion of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. Since no numerical standards exist for rating the degree of nanoparticle dispersion in the polymer matrix, use of these terms is strictly qualitative and continues to be area of some controversy, as the classification of dispersion is mostly the opinion of the user. Unfortunately, not all researchers in the nanocomposite area use these terms in the same ways. The definition of intercalated comes from an... 

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