INTERFACES FEATURES IN POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES: A REVIEW OF PROPOSED MODELS

Abstract

Different properties and phenomena that polymer nanocomposites exhibit compared to the base polymers or conventional polymers (polymers with micron scale particles) are attributed to interfaces features. As a consequence, theories and models (such as Lewis' model, Tsagaropoulos' model and the multicore model proposed by Tanaka) have been proposed, primarily to interpret the physical, chemical and electrical structure of interfaces. Moreover, these models try to explain several different phenomena and properties that polymer nanocomposites exhibit based on the interfaces features. According to these models, the interface with thickness comparable to the diameter of the nanoparticle consists of multilayers. In this paper, a detailed review and analysis of these models and theories is presented. Differences and similarities of the models are also discussed.