Crystallization behavior of polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

This chapter is an overview of the effect of the different nanofillers on the crystallization performance of polymer matrices. The most relevant nanocomposites were classified according to the nature of the reinforcement.In general, it was reported that the way of processing greatly affected the crystal sizes, crystalline structure, and the degree of crystallinity of semicrystalline polymer nanocomposites, modifying the performance of the material. Therefore the influence of the different crystallization processes on barrier, thermal stability, and dynamic or mechanical properties of nanocomposites is described. Moreover, it was observed that the crystallization mechanism of polymers in the nanocomposites strongly depends on the intrinsic characteristics of the nanoparticles and the matrix, and in consequence the dispersion of the filler in the matrix.This chapter focuses on the studies about the effect of different types of nanofillers on several aspects of polymer crystallization, such as kinetics, crystal structure, nucleation effect, as well as spherulitic growth and morphology.