ABSTRACT
A review of the recent studies on polymer halloysite nanocomposites is presented in this chapter. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are naturally occurring clay minerals which predominantly exist in nanotubular form. Their unique structure and properties have drawn interest to use them for new high-tech applications including polymer based nanocomposites. Effects of halloysite on a wide range of polymer matrixes including thermoplastics, rubbers, and thermosets have been studied in this context. Different aspects of preparation process, morphology and microstructure, key mechanical properties, and structure-property relationship of each polymer/halloysite nanocomposites have been discussed. In general, HNTs have easier dispersion and preparation process compared to other nanofillers such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and montmorrilonite (MMT); they cause considerable improvement in mechanical and thermal properties of polymer matrixes; and they have reasonable price and availability, which makes them promising nanofiller for polymer industry.
