Mechanical Properties Modulus, Strength, and Toughness

Mechanical properties of nanocomposites in general have been extensively reviewed in recent years [10-13,145-148]. It has been shown that the inorganic fillers typically increase modulus and strength of the composite, compared to the unmodified pristine polymer. The magnitude of the increase depends on the aspect ratio of the fillers, the filler loading, and - assuming the filler is anisotropic - its orientation. 

While there has been limited investigation of mechanical properties of three-component (polymer/polymer/filler) nanocomposites, it would appear that the final result is strongly dependent on the morphology of the system. For example, if two polymers are immiscible, and nanopartides are localized in one of the domains, the modulus could be evaluated in two stages (i) separately calculate the modulus of the phase containing particles and (ii) utilize composite theories to determine the overall modulus of the entire system. 

7gcm and Eday/Ep ,iymer= 1000, In modeling stacks, it is assumed that the distance between platelets ( galle7 ) equals 1 nm. For more details, see Reference [146]. 

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