Dependence of the Degree of Reinforcement of Polymer/2D-Nanofiller Nanocomposites on the Nanofiller Surface Structure

Abstract

A procedure for calculating the fractal dimension of tactoid structures of a 2D-nanofiller (graphene oxide) in the polymer matrix of a nanocomposite is proposed. The fractal nature of tactoids leads to the fact that only a part of their surface (the unscreened surface) is available for the formation of interphase polymer-matrix—2D-nanofiller contacts. An increase in the unscreened surface dimensions determines the enhancement of a relative fraction of the interphase regions and, as consequence, improvement in the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. It is suggested that the interaction of graphene-oxide tactoids has a certain influence on the indicated properties.