Designed interfaces in polymer nanocomposites: A fundamental viewpoint

Using nanocornposites in design-critical applications requires an understanding of their structure-property-function relationships. Despite many reports of highly favorable properties, the behavior of polymer nanocomposites is not generally predictable. The ability to tailor the filler/matrix interaction and an understanding of the impact of the interface on macroscopic properties are key to designing their properties. Tailoring can be achieved by grafting short molecules or polymer chains from the surface with precise control over their chain length (1-1000 mers), graft density (0.01-1 chains/nm(2) and chemical architecture. The challenge is understanding the impact of the modified surfaces en the properties of the interfacial polymer, which can be more than 50% of the volume of the polymer matrix and, hence, can exert significant control over the macroscopic behavior of the nanocomposite. This article highlights the fundamental technical challenges that need to be overcome before spherical nanoparticle or nanotube composites can be designed. In particular, we discuss results from the recent literature that have significantly advanced our ability to predict and control nanocomposite properties through the use of designed interfaces.