A "Layered Look" for Spherical Nanoparticles in Semicrystalline Polymers

Abstract

In 1993, researchers at Toyota Central R&D reported that 5 wt % of an exfoliated clay could double the room temperature modulus of nylon-6, a semicrystalline engineering plastic, and raise its heat distortion temperature by more than 80 °C all without sacrificing toughness.1 That work stimulated a worldwide effort to synthesize and study polymer–matrix nanocomposites and it also highlighted the importance of high filler aspect ratio, and good filler dispersion, in achieving these properties. In this issue of ACS Central Science, Zhao et al. 2 demonstrate a more general route to nanoparticle reinforcement of semicrystalline polymers, achieving similar increases in modulus, again with no reduction in toughness with spherical nanoparticles, rather than plate-like clay layers simply by controlling the relative rates of particle diffusion and crystal growth.