title: Influence of aspect ratio on barrier properties of polymer-clay nanocomposites.
abstract: The barrier properties of polymer-clay nanocomposites, with far less inorganic contents of layered-silicate fillers, are remarkably superior to those of neat polymers or their conventional counterparts. A simple renormalization group model is proposed to assess the influence of geometric factors (such as aspect ratio, orientation, and extent of exfoliation) of layered-silicate fillers on the barrier properties of polymer-clay nanocomposites. The results show that the aspect ratio of exfoliated silicate platelets has a critical role in controlling the microstructure of polymer-clay nanocomposites and their barrier properties. The estimated percolation thresholds of clay content for minimum permeability are in good agreement with experimental data.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Advanced Materials Technology, School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering J07, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. chunsheng.lu@aeromech.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Chunsheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yiu-Wing
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Mai