Fracture behaviour of nanoplatelet reinforced polymer nanocomposites

The authors present a review of the recent research effort towards developing a fundamental understanding of fracture behaviour of polymer nanocomposites that contain nanoplatelet fillers. Various toughening mechanisms reported in the literature are summarized and discussed. Within this review, an emphasis is placed on the up to date understanding of how the nanofiller aspect ratio affects the fracture behaviour of polymer nanocomposites. Besides, the effect of nanoplatelet dispersion and exfoliation on the fracture behaviour of polymer nanocomposites will be addressed.