This paper reviews current research, techniques for characterization and trends on the field of nanocomposites. Nanocomposites are new materials made with fillers which have nanosize. These materials have a big potential for applications in the automotive and aerospace industry as well as in construction, electrical applications and food packing. There is a tremendous interest for using bionano...

Monoalkyland dialkyl-imidazolium surfactants were used to prepare organically modified montmorillonites with markedly improved thermal stability in comparison with their alkyl-ammonium equivalents (the decomposition temperatures increased by ca. 100 °C). Such an increase in the thermal stability affords the opportunity to form syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS)/imidazolium-montmorillonite nanocomp...

Lignocellulosic fibers have become the focus of intense interest in recent years. They have attracted the attention of scientists and technologies worldwide because of their tremendous advantages and now it is possible to isolate cellulose nanofibrils and nanowhiskers from various lignocellulosic wastes. Studies in this area have shown that both cellulose nanofibrils and nanowhiskers could be u...

Epoxy resin is widely used in high voltage apparatus as insulation. Fillers are often added to epoxy resin to enhance its mechanical, thermal and chemical properties. The addition of fillers can deteriorate electrical performance. With the new development in nanotechnology, it has been widely anticipated that the combination of nanoparticles with traditional resin systems may create nanocomposi...

Rheology of graphene oxide (GO) and chemically reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets suspended in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution were investigated by altering nanosheet loading and reduction time of RGO in a wide range. A small amount (0.5 wt%) of GO and RGO in the dilute regime of filler resulted in a threefold increase and a fourfold decrease in steady viscosity at 0.01 s(-1), respectiv...

In this research, a modeling and experimental study was conducted to explore the effects of nanoparticle type (aluminum nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes), filler concentration and interactions between the nanoparticle and reinforcing fibers on through-thickness conductivity of nanoparticle/epoxy nanocomposites and nanoparticle/fiber-reinforced multiscale composites. Multiple, notable micromec...

This paper reports on the development of electrically conductive nanocomposites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes in an unsaturated polyester matrix. The resistivity of the liquid suspension during processing is used to evaluate the quality of the filler dispersion, which is also studied using optical microscopy. The electrical properties of the cured composites are analysed by AC impeda...

Self-alignment of thermally reduced graphene sheets (TRG) that enable highly efficient heat transfer paths in their poly(p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBO)-based nanocomposite films along the in-plane direction was achieved for the first time without any assistance of an external magnetic or an electric field. In the in-plane direction, the nanocomposite films possess an ultra-high thermal diff...

The characterization of the structure of polymer nanocomposites by the techniques of small-angle scattering of neutrons and X-rays is reviewed. Within a concise introduction to elastic small-angle scattering, the basics of shape, structure, and interactions of particles are presented, as well as the scattering from polymer chains. The scattering properties of polymer chains can be described wit...

We have prepared a series of nano-sized aluminium nitride (nano-AlN)/cycloaliphatic epoxy/trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) systems and investigated their morphology, thermal conductivity, thermal stability and curing behavior. Experimental results show that the thermal conductivity of composites increases with the nano-AlN filler content, the maximum value is up to 0.47 W/(m!K). Incorporation of a smal...