ABSTRACT
Nanomaterials and, in particular, nano-reinforcements have in recent years been the subject of intense research, development, and commercialization. The nanomaterials not only have very small physical dimensions but also exhibit some unusual properties by virtue of their small size. The use of nanomaterials makes it possible to design and create new materials with unprecedented exibility and improvements in their physical properties. The ability to tailor properties by using heterogeneous nanomaterials has been demonstrated in several elds. The most convincing examples of such designs are natural structures, such as bone (a hierarchical nanocomposite built from ceramic platelets and organic binders). Since the constituents of a nanocomposite have different chemical compositions and structures and hence properties, they can serve various functions. The nanocomposites are a class of composites, containing a material having at least one dimension below 100 nm, wherein the small size offers some level of controllable, enhanced performance that is different from the micro-/macrocomposites. Taking some clues from nature and based on the demands that emerging technologies put on building new materials to satisfy several functions at the same time for many applications, scientists have been devising synthetic strategies for producing high-performance nanocomposites. These strategies have clear advantages over those used to produce homogeneous micro-grained materials. Besides, the push for nanocomposites comes from the fact that they offer useful new properties compared to conventional composite materials.
