Dynamic Mechanical Analysis of Clay–Polymer Nanocomposites

TLDR: The main purpose of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in clay-polymer nanocomposites is to recognize thermodynamic interactions between its components, i.e., matrix and filler.

Abstract: Thermomechanical stability of polymer nanocomposites plays a vital role in studying the molecular mobility transitions under varying temperatures. In this regard, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) explores the viscoelastic properties, i.e., storage modulus, loss modulus, and damping factor, of polymer-based nanocomposites. Commonly, because of the higher stiffness of fillers, storage modulus has been noticed to improve after the addition of nanofillers, while damping behavior shows reduced performance caused by restrictions in the movement of polymer chains. The main purpose of DMA in clay–polymer nanocomposites is to recognize thermodynamic interactions between its components, i.e., matrix and filler. A number of existing studies have shown that clay acts as a good compatibilizer for better dispersion of carbon-based fillers/nanofillers in polymer matrices and have reported the effectiveness of their findings with the help of thermomechanical properties of such composites. This chapter is designed to show the importance of this technique for further research related to clay-reinforced polymer blends/nanocomposites and to locate the key aspects for its precise investigation.