ABSTRACT
Polymer nanocomposites are one of the most important nanomaterials developed in the past decade. In nanocomposites, the dispersed particles in the polymer matrix have at least one dimension at the nanoscale (<100 nm).1, 2 Nanocomposites can be classified into three categories according to the number of nanoscale dimensions of the nanofillers dispersed in polymer matrix: (1) lamellar, (2) nanofiber or nanotube, and (3) spherical polymer nanocomposites. The lamellar structural nanofillers include clays, graphite, and layered double hydroxides (LDHs). Carbon nanotubes are the best-known example of the two-dimensional systems but a variety of inorganic nanotubes also exist3 and these do not appear to have been widely studied in combination with polymers. The best-known example of the threedimensional materials is polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS).
