Study of nanoparticles aggregation/agglomeration in polymer particulate nanocomposites by mechanical properties

A simple approach is described to study the aggregation/agglomeration details in polymer nanocomposites reinforced with spherical nanoparticles. The suggested methodology for mechanical properties can offer the aggregation/agglomeration level as a function of different parameters. In addition, the effective volume fraction of agglomerated nanoparticles in nanocomposite samples (phi(agg)) is determined by the present technique. The calculated results for various samples express that the aggregation/agglomeration of nanoparticles is occurred in all reported nanocomposites. Also, both aggregate/agglomerate and nanofiller diameters play important roles in aggregation/agglomeration level of samples. The aggregation/agglomeration extent increases by addition of nanofiller content and reduction of nanofiller size. Moreover, the aggregation/agglomeration decreases the effectiveness of nanoparticles in polymer matrix, which lastly results in the poor properties of samples. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.