The effect of interfacial interactions on the elastic modulus of polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

Surface-functionalized nanodiamonds (sf-NDs) were prepared and dispersed into various polymers consisting of Nylon 6, polyacrylic acid (PAA), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polystyrene (PS). The Young's moduli of the polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), containing the ND content of 5 wt%, were measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanoindentation. It was observed that the Young's modulus of the polymer nanocomposites depends strongly on the nature of the functional groups of sf-NDs and polymer matrices. ©2010 IEEE.