EditorialAdvances in Applications of Polymer Nanocomposites

Yahya A. Ismail ,1 Mohammad Luqman,2 Rajaram S. Mane ,3,4 Yasir E. Greish,5

and Habib M. Pathan6

1Department of Chemistry, University of Calicut, Kerala 673635, India2Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Taibah University, Yanbu Albahr 41911, Saudi Arabia3Global Frontier R&D Center for Hybrid Interface Materials, Pusan National University, Busan 609735, Republic of Korea4School of Physical Sciences, SRTM University, Nanded 431-606, India5Department of Chemistry, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE6Advanced Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune-07, India

Correspondence should be addressed to Yahya A. Ismail; aiyahya123@gmail.com

Received 24 March 2019; Accepted 25 March 2019; Published 22 May 2019

Copyright © 2019 Yahya A. Ismail et al. %is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work isproperly cited.

Polymers are increasingly being used in numerous cutting-edge technologies owing to their robust behavior, versatileproperties, and comparably easier process ability. %ey serveas excellent host matrices for nanocomposite materials andcan easily be tailored to suit various requirements. Polymernanocomposites involve fillers in the nanometer scale anddemonstrate significantly different properties than in bulkdue to the variations in the interaction with the host matricesand morphology and created great interest both in the ac-ademia and industry. A general feature of most of thepolymers, that is, relatively low strength, coupled with lowimpact strength, has considerably been improved with theemergence of polymer nanocomposites. In this edition, ourfocus was to address the advances in the applications ofpolymer nanocomposites. We invited a few publications inthe form of original research articles addressing recentadvancements in the field of polymer nanocomposites.

%e first paper of this issue presents a novel study onpreparation, physicochemical characterization, and micro-robotics applications of polyvinyl chloride- (PVC-) basedpolyaniline (PANI)/poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene)(PEDOT): polystyrene sulfonate (PSS)/zirconium(IV)phosphate (ZrP) composite cation exchange ionomericmembranes. %e results demonstrated that the developedionomeric membrane could produce good tip blocking forceand displacement. %e proposed ionomeric membrane wasfound suitable for bending movement actuator that may leadit promising for smaller-scale mechanical applications.

%e second paper deals with effects of plasticizer(e.g., polydimethylsiloxanol) and modified nanosilicahaving amine functional groups on the morphology,thermal, mechanical, and rheological properties of bio-degradable maleated polylactide (MPLA)/thermoplasticstarch (TPS)/nanosilica composites. It was observed thatpolydimethylsiloxanol helped in enhancing the ductilityand the initial thermal stability of the plasticized blend.Nucleation ability and reinforcing effect of maleated SiO2on plasticized blend crystallization were much better thanthose of neat SiO2. Neat silica practically had no effect onthe thermo-oxidative degradation.

Studies on the miscibility and phase behaviour of pol-ypyrrole (PPy) and polyaniline (PANI) polymer blends arepresented in the third paper. %e PPy/PANI blends weresuccessfully formed in the DMSO solvent. %e polymerblends showed almost amorphous nature in XRD spectraowing to a good intermolecular interaction between PPy andPANI macromolecules, which was confirmed by FT-IR data.%e DSC results, especially, for the PPY: PANI� 50 : 50wt.%blend showed only one glass transition temperature (Tg),indicating that the two polymers are well miscible withoutundergoing any phase separation.

%e fourth paper addresses a novel and facile approach,nanoclay aerogel masterbatch, toward making exfoliatedpolymer [polyethylene glycol (PEG)]-clay nanocompositesthrough a melt-mixing process to modify the clay layerthrough PEG-clay intercalation and PEG-hydrogen bonding.

HindawiAdvances in Materials Science and EngineeringVolume 2019, Article ID 7136981, 2 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7136981

%is state was maintained with a small amount of the anionicpolymer hydrogel, e.g., kappa-carrageenan (KC), and turningit into a highly porous and fragile structure by freeze-drying,thus a so-called nanoclay aerogel masterbatch. %e highestnanoclay loading capacity (67wt.%) of the achieved nanoclayaerogel masterbatch was selected to prepare PS-clay nano-composites via a melt-mixing process. %e outstandingtransparency and brightness were remarked from the spec-imens prepared by using the nanoclay aerogel masterbatch.%e brownish specimens were observed by using organoclay.%e significant improvements of thermal and mechanicalproperties were observed from the nanocomposites preparedusing the nanoclay aerogel masterbatch.

%e fifth paper of this special issue sheds light on di-electric properties of TiO2/room temperature vulcanized(RTV) silicone rubber micro- and nanocomposites for high-voltage electrical insulation. %e surfactant Triton X-100greatly improves the dispersal of micro- and nanoparticlesacross the surface to produce more homogeneous com-posites that have improved dielectric properties. %e in-fluence of the filler concentration and particle size on thedielectric behaviour of the nanocomposites and themicrocomposite was also studied. %ere was an improve-ment in the permittivity values for the microcomposites ascompared to those of nanocomposites for all frequencies.

Conflicts of Interest

%e editors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Yahya A. IsmailMohammad Luqman

Rajaram S. ManeYasir E. Greish

Habib M. Pathan

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