ABSTRACT
Polymer nanocomposites emerged from nanotechnology and have been intensively investigated in colloid science. Polymer nanocomposites were developed as engineering plastics in the 1990s and appeared as dielectric and insulating materials in the 2000s. It was found that various characteristics can be improved when a few inorganic nanofillers are added to pure polymer resins. Nanocomposites are created to provide guest materials with excellent characteristics while retaining original good characteristics of the host materials. Composite materials are now expected to have mutually complementary characteristics and novel properties that neither host nor guest materials possess on their own. Three combinations of the host and the guest are available: inorganic with inorganic, inorganic with organic, and organic with organic. One of the most attractive combinations is considered to be an organic substance (polymer) as a host with an inorganic substance as a guest. Nanocomposites need nanofillers. There are three fabrication methods: a solid-phase method, a liquid-phase method and, a vapor-phase method.
