Nanopolymer matrix composites

Since the 1960s, P.J. Flory began to study the chain structure of polymers in solution. He thought that the polymer structure can be divided into three levds. One is chain stmcture, such as polyethylene the second one is conformation structure, such as 

A nanocomposite material is the combination of the nanosized ultrafine powders and the polymer matrix. In such materials, organic polymer generally is a continuous phase and the nanopartides form the dispersed phase, such as Bil3-nylon 11 nanocomposites and nylon-montmorillonite nanocomposites. In this century, nanocomposite materials have become one of the most advanced composite materials. 

Polymer-inorganic nanocomposites exhibit the machinability of organic materials and the functional and structural properties of inorganic materials, becoming the hot spot of today s sdence and technology. In the nanocomposites, a large part of 

Generally, the inorganic materials used to prepare the nanocomposites mainly include layered silicate clay, layered compounds, metal powder, and a variety of inorganic oxides. In our research works, nanosized zinc oxide, iron oxide, silica, and YIG particles were synthesized and used to prepare a variety of polymer nanocomposites, giving the composite materials many new features. This chapter based on our research discusses the methods of preparation and characterization of the polymer-inorganic nanocomposites. 

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Composite materials exhibit excellent performance, which can be widely used in aerospace, defense, transportation, sports, and other fields. Nanocomposites are one of the most attractive parts of the composite materials. Due to the fast development in recent years, nanocomposites are widely used by the developed countries for manufacturing new materials. The research on nanocomposites indudes organic-inorganic composites, nanopolymer matrix composites, and inorganic-inorganic composites. In this chapter, combined with our research experience, we mainly introduce the nanopolymer matrix composites to the readers. The synthesis and modification of nanopartides and preparation, characterization, and applications of nanopolymer matrix composites are mainly discussed. 

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is one of the very useful microscopic methods for the morphological and structural analysis of materials. Larena et al. classified nanopolymers into three groups (1) self-assembled nanostructures (lamellar, lamellar-within-spherical, lamellar-within-cylinder, lamellar-within-lamellar, cylinder within-lamellar, spherical-within-lamellar, and colloidal particles with block copolymers), (2) non-self-assembled nanostructures (dendrimers, hyperbranched polymers, polymer brushes, nanofibers, nanotubes, nanoparticles, nanospheres, nanocapsules, porous materials, and nano-objects), and (3) number of nanoscale dimensions [uD 1 nD (thin films), 2 nD (nanofibers, nanotubes, nanostructures on polymeric surfaces), and 3 nD (nanospheres, nanocapsules, dendrimers, hyperbranched polymers, self-assembled structures, porous materials, nano-objects)] [153]. Most of the polymer blends are immiscible, thermodynamically incompatible, and exhibit multiphase structures depending on the composition and viscosity ratio. They have two types of phase morphology sea-island structure (one phase are dispersed in the matrix in the form of isolated droplets, rods, or platelets) and co-continuous structure (usually formed in dual blends). 

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