Influences of nanoparticles aggregation/agglomeration on the interfacial/interphase and tensile properties of nanocomposites

In this article, the roles of nanoparticles aggregation/agglomeration in the interfacial/interphase and tensile properties of polymer nanocomposites are discussed. The interfacial/interphase and tensile levels are quantitatively characterized in some samples using known models assuming the aggregation/agglomeration phenomena by the effective volume fraction of nanoparticles. The findings show that the nanoparticles aggregation/agglomeration significantly reduces the interfacial/interphase and tensile properties of nanocomposites via decreasing the specific surface area and effective volume fraction of nanoparticles. Additionally, Kerner and Paul models suggest the accurate predictions compared to the experimental data considering the aggregated/agglomerated nanoparticles. However, assumption of well-dispersed nanoparticles over-predicts the modulus in the reported samples.