Nanoparticle Modification and Enhanced Polymer Composites.

Polymer nanocomposites (PNC) are of great interest owing to the many potential property enhancements possible via introducing different types of nanofillers in polymer matrices. In recent decades, increasing attention has being paid to PNCs due to their light weight, low cost, and ease of processability compared to metal alternatives and due to their novel capability to tune properties. Depending on the end-use application, certain PNC properties are targeted and the their formulation and processing can be manipulated to achieve the desired properties. In this work, different PNC properties have been improved by employing different strategies;(1) Modification of nanofillers: Chemical treatment of nanoclay, multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and graphene nanoribbon (GNR);(2) Synthesis of novel nanofillers: GNR was synthesized from parent MWCNT to benefit from higher surface area and interaction of the novel nanofillers with the polymer chains;(3) Implementation of hybrid fillers: nanoclay as the secondary filler was utilized to further enhance the desired properties of PNC consisting of MWCNT;(4) Amendment of PNC production methods: Optimized PNC production conditions.