Panorama da pesquisa acadêmica Brasileira em nanocompósitos polímero/argila e tendências para o futuro

Abstract

The research on polymer/clay nanocomposites was initiated by Toyota in the late 80s.From then on, the world scientific community has turned its attention to this type of material due to the enhanced mechanical, chemical and thermal properties in comparison to traditional composites. In Brazil, it was not different, as can be seen from the countlessscientific works on nanocomposites which have emerged in the early 21 th century. The aim thus is, after discussing the definitions related to the polymer/ clay nanocomposites, toshow Brazilian scientific works on the general use of plastics, engineering plastics and other types of polymers, correlating them with their production method, final morphology and resulting properties. Finally, a map of the Brazilian research into polymer/clay nanocomposites and their future perspective are presented.