School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 801 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30332‐0295, USA
Abstract:
In order to understand the contribution of nanoparticle surface area to the properties of nanocomposite materials, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles with different specific surface areas (60 m2 · g?1 and 111 m2 · g?1) were synthesized using reverse microemulsion and processed into nanocomposites. Experimental results indicated that the thermomechanical reinforcement did show a dependence on nanoparticle surface area, although the transition temperatures did not. The reinforcement trends were dependent on temperature, suggesting that the nanoparticles had a greater impact on the amorphous polymer chains. The reinforcement above Tg may be plotted against nanoparticle surface area to obtain a single reinforcement trend, suggesting that surface area is a general parameter for nanocomposite property control.
