Chain Confinement in Polymer Nanocomposites and Its Effect on Polymer Bulk Properties

The issue of chain confinement in nanocomposites remains largely unanswered because experimental systems are plagued by additional complicating variables such as particle-polymer interactions and free volume increases brought upon by the addition of the particles. Using computer simulation of high length chain polymers, we show that simple excluded volume interactions between polymer and nanoparticles lead to a wealth of changes in the diffusion coefficient and entanglement density of the chains. This opens up the possibility of using nanoparticles for tuning polymer properties, such as toughness, melt viscosity, and transient rubberlike behavior. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 687-692, 2010