Nanocomposites on the Basis of Crosslinked Polymers

In the present chapter the structure and properties of the current most popular polymer/organoclay nanocomposites will be considered. By virtue of the present monograph the specific character of nanocomposites, in which crosslinked polymers serve as the matrix, will mainly be considered and nanocomposites on the basis of linear polymers will be used for comparison purposes. 

Let us consider the main aspects of reinforcing of polymer/organoclay nanocomposites. As for all multiphase systems, the level of interfacial adhesion between the polymer matrix and the nanofiller is a crucial factor in the degree of reinforcement [2, 3]. In paper [4] it has been shown that good adhesion results in reinforcement of composites, and poor adhesion in the absence of reinforcing and the absence of interfacial adhesion weakens the polymer composite, i.e., the elasticity modulus for the composite is lower than the corresponding parameter for a matrix polymer. In the general case such behaviour is connected with stress transfer conditions in the interfacial boundary. For allowance of this factor an additional aspect appears for nanocomposites interfacial layer formation in the polymer-nanofiller boundary. 

The polymer region adjoining the filler surface and having a structure different from the bulk polymer matrix structure is called an interfacial layer. The polymer structure 

Attempts were made to obtain the direct correlation of d and nanocomposites reinforcement degree EJE (where E and E are elasticity moduli of the nanocomposite and the matrix polymer, respectively). The authors of paper [17] received an approximately linear increase in the elasticity modulus with raising d for intercalated polycarbonate/montmorillonite nanocomposites. However, for the 

As has been noted in the previous section, the distance (interval) between layered silicate platelets d, characterising its stratification degree, is considered as one of 

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