ABSTRACT
94Nanotechnology seems to be gaining importance rapidly as a powerful technology. Its immense potential promises the possibility of significant changes in near future. Today, the products made from polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) have shown their potential applications in gas sensing, drug delivery, nanoelectronics, energy harvesting for self-powered nanosystems, solar cells and batteries, aerospace materials, etc. In the last two decades, there has been proliferation in the research field of polymer nanotechnology. This research area includes nanopolymers, nanomaterials, nanocomposites, nanohybrids, nanodevices, nanocrystals, nanofibers, nanoclays, nanotubes, nanofilters, nanohorn, nanowires, nanosprings, nanorods, and nanomembranes, which have been explored. The essence of nanoscience is the ability to work at molecular level, atom by atom to create macrostructures with fundamentally new molecular organization. Nanotechnology is the application of these structured materials at nanoscale in solving problems of real life. As a result of molecular manufacturing and advanced form of nanotechnology, various types, preparation methods, properties, and applications of PNC are discussed in this chapter, which aims to review the previous work done and recent advancements in the field of polymer and plastics nanotechnology.
