Ultrastrong and Stiff Layered Polymer Nanocomposites

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1143176
• Publication Date: 2007-10-04T20:39:21Z
• Authors: Paul Podsiadlo; Amit K. Kaushik; Ellen M. Arruda; Anthony M. Waas; Bong Sup Shim; Jiadi Xu; Himabindu Nandivada; Benjamin G. Pumplin; Joerg Lahann; Ayyalusamy Ramamo...; Nicholas A. Kotov
• Keywords: Polymer nanocomposite

Nanoscale building blocks are individually exceptionally strong because they close to ideal, defect-free materials. It is, however, difficult retain the ideal properties in macroscale composites. Bottom-up assembly of a clay/polymer nanocomposite allowed for preparation homogeneous, optically transparent material with planar orientation alumosilicate nanosheets. The stiffness and tensile strength these multilayer composites one order magnitude greater than those analogous nanocomposites at processing temperature that is much lower ceramic or polymer materials similar characteristics. A high level ordering nanoscale blocks, combined dense covalent hydrogen bonding stiffening chains, leads highly effective load transfer between nanosheets polymer.