Dispersion of nanoparticles in polymeric matrices

R. J. J. WILLIAMS

Buenos Aires

Simposio; XV International Symposium on Metastable, Amorphous and Nanostructured Materials; 2008

Universidad de Buenos Aires

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:PL; mso-fareast-language:PL;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> One of the possible strategies to disperse nanoparticles into polymeric materials is to polymerize a homogeneous solution of these particles in the corresponding monomers. This can lead to a final homogeneous dispersion provided that phase separation does not occur in the course of polymerization. However, in most cases a polymerization-induced phase separation takes place leading to different types of morphologies that depend on the initial composition and reaction conditions. The process can produce the self-assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) into hierarchical structures on different length scales. This is one of the main aspects of “bottom-up” approaches for device fabrication with potential applications in the fields of catalysis, optics, electronics, etc.