EFFECTIVENESS OF USE OF NANO FILLERS OF DIFFERENT TYPES IN POLYMERIC COMPOSITES

Abstract

The paper provides a theoretical analysis of the effectiveness of using different types of nanofillers to produce high-strength polymer composites. Three basic types of nanoscale inorganic nanofillers were selected: dispersed nanoparticles (0D-nanofillers), carbon nanotubes and nanofibers (1D-nanofillers), and organoclay, graphene, etc. (2D-fillers). The relative modulus of elasticity, i.e. the degree of amplification, is used as the main criterion for the effectiveness of nanofillers. Within the framework of the percolation model, the amplification levels of nanocomposites for different types of nanofillers are determined depending on the relative volume fraction of nanofillers and interfacial regions. It is shown that interfacial regions in polymer nanocomposites are treated as a reinforcing element of the nanocomposite structure. To describe the surface structure of nanofiller particles, an effective value of the fractal dimension is used, which serves as a determining factor for the relative proportion of interfacial regions. At a condition that the fractal dimension of the structural framework of nanofiller particles cannot exceed the fractal dimension of the enclosing Euclidean space, the relative proportion of interfacial regions and, through it, the maximum degree of filling for the types of nanofillers under consideration are determined. The results of the theoretical evaluation of the maximum limit value of the fractal dimension of nanofiller particles carried out in this work show that the formation of a bulk frame of particles is possible only for anisotropic nanofillers, and dispersed particles form chains that do not change the structure of the polymer matrix in comparison with the matrix polymer. It is also found that for each type of nanofiller, there is a limit maximum degree of filling, which ultimately determines the limit maximum degree of amplification of the nanocomposite. These results allow us to conclude that the most effective for creating structural polymer nanocomposites is a dispersed nanofiller.