Polymers future research issues

Given the size and scope of the field of polymer colloids, an exhaustive review of the important themes for polymer colloids research is not feasible in the context of this paper. Instead, an overview of some of the more significant issues for current and future polymer colloids research is given. Important themes for research are presented in relation to industrial needs, specifically in terms of water-borne polymer colloids. 

Clay minerals and polymers can be used to prepare polymer nanocomposites, having interesting physical properties and, in some instances, commercial applications. Even if the vast majority of people involved in clay mineral-polymer nanocomposite research rightfully believe in the future of these new materials, few products reached industrial application. Mass production of polymer nanocomposites depends on consistent and reasonable preparation and processing techniques. The existing literature is packed of new nanocomposite materials. However, in order to use these materials in commercial applications, a number of issues must be resolved. There must be healthy methods to prepare exfoliated nanocomposites with required mechanical properties in large scale and at a cheaper rate. 

Finally, a relatively new area in the computer simulation of confined polymers is the simulation of nonequilibrium phenomena [72,79-87]. An example is the behavior of fluids undergoing shear flow, which is studied by moving the confining surfaces parallel to each other. There have been some controversies regarding the use of thermostats and other technical issues in the simulations. If only the walls are maintained at a constant temperature and the fluid is allowed to heat up under shear [79-82], the results from these simulations can be analyzed using continuum mechanics, and excellent results can be obtained for the transport properties from molecular simulations of confined liquids. This avenue of research is interesting and could prove to be important in the future. 

---