Primary and secondary polymer nanocomposites for tribology and engineering

Abstract

The current research comprises comparison of the investigations on primary and secondary polymer nanocomposites. Nanocomposites have been based on primary and recycled polymers, such as polypropylene (PP), ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer (ABS), polycarbonate (PC) and their blends, to develop perspective engineering materials, reinforced with nanosctructured inorganic fillers, such as montmorillonite clay (MMT) and zinc oxide (ZnO). It has been demonstrated that addition of either of the inorganic nanofillers allows improve mechanical, thermal and tribological properties of the polymer nanocomposites. It has been also demonstrated that secondary polymers (PP, ABS) can be successfully used for full or partial substation of primary polymers in the nanocomposites, without losing much of its performance.