Nano Clay Reinforcement of Thermoplastics for Engineering Applications

Thermoplastics are widely used advanced materials in various fields as an essential product. The increasing interest in replacing thermosets due to their advanced properties such as high toughness, manufacturing time and processing possibilities. Thermoplastics exhibit poor mechanical properties in several engineering applications; hence the use of nano clay minerals enhances the mechanical property of thermoplastics to be used in many engineering applications. The reinforcing effect of clay minerals (nano-clay) in various thermoplastics such as polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which are popularly known as commodity plastics and are widely used in fabricating automotive parts and household articles. The frequently used clay minerals such as montmorillonite, bentonite, hectorite, halloysites and kaolinite as filler material in thermoplastics make them suitable in many engineering applications with enhanced mechanical properties. The integration of clay minerals into a polymer matrix allows both properties from clay minerals and polymer to be combined so as to exploit entirely new functionalities. In recent years, owing to a number of practical applications in the field of opto-electronics, a great deal of interest has been paid to study optical, dielectric and conduction behaviours of various polymeric materials. This chapter is designed to be a source for nano-clay reinforced thermoplastic nano-composite research including synthesis, characterization, structure/property relationship and applications considering optical and electrical conductivity which are discussed.