Entropic Effects in Polymer Nanocomposites
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally.
Entropy 2019, 21(2), 186; https://doi.org/10.3390/e21020186
Received: 14 December 2018 / Revised: 31 January 2019 / Accepted: 11 February 2019 / Published: 15 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 20th Anniversary of Entropy—Review Papers Collection)
Polymer nanocomposite materials, consisting of a polymer matrix embedded with nanoscale fillers or additives that reinforce the inherent properties of the matrix polymer, play a key role in many industrial applications. Understanding of the relation between thermodynamic interactions and macroscopic morphologies of the composites allow for the optimization of design and mechanical processing. This review article summarizes the recent advancement in various aspects of entropic effects in polymer nanocomposites, and highlights molecular methods used to perform numerical simulations, morphologies and phase behaviors of polymer matrices and fillers, and characteristic parameters that significantly correlate with entropic interactions in polymer nanocomposites. Experimental findings and insight obtained from theories and simulations are combined to understand how the entropic effects are turned into effective interparticle interactions that can be harnessed for tailoring nanostructures of polymer nanocomposites.
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Keywords:
entropy; nanocomposites; thermodynamics; nanostructure; morphology
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MDPI and ACS Style
Dai, X.; Hou, C.; Xu, Z.; Yang, Y.; Zhu, G.; Chen, P.; Huang, Z.; Yan, L.-T. Entropic Effects in Polymer Nanocomposites. Entropy 2019, 21, 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/e21020186
AMA Style
Dai X, Hou C, Xu Z, Yang Y, Zhu G, Chen P, Huang Z, Yan L-T. Entropic Effects in Polymer Nanocomposites. Entropy. 2019; 21(2):186. https://doi.org/10.3390/e21020186
Chicago/Turabian StyleDai, Xiaobin; Hou, Cuiling; Xu, Ziyang; Yang, Ye; Zhu, Guolong; Chen, Pengyu; Huang, Zihan; Yan, Li-Tang. 2019. "Entropic Effects in Polymer Nanocomposites" Entropy 21, no. 2: 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/e21020186
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