ABSTRACT
Abstract: Nowadays, great emphasis is being given to the preparation of green polymer nanocomposites based on biomaterials, due to their similarity to natural materials. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a truly biodegradable synthetic polymer is a favourable candidate for preparing of nanocomposites, because it is biosafe and biocompatible in the biological environment and can also interact with nanoadditive components of composites, and consequently stabilize the dispersed llers at a nanoscale level. In this chapter, we categorize and highlight recent progress, as well as current issues, in the production of PVA nanocomposites that consist of metal oxide nanoparticles, nanoplatelets and carbon-based nanomatrial llers. Their related applications in novel specic elds such as sensors, electronic, medical and food industry are also discussed. The incorporation of nanoadditives with an extremely large surface area into a PVA polymer can lead to a simultaneous improvement of the properties of polymer materials even at a rather low loading. So far, noticeable enhancements in the properties of materials such as electrical conductivity,
mechanical properties, thermal stability, ame retardancy and resistance to chemical reagents are attained by the monotonic dispersions of nanollers and proper interfacial interaction in the polymer matrices.
