Clay-containing polymers are a new class of composite material that are gaining more importance in technological applications. These composites belong to the class of two-dimensional nanocomposites. The worldwide market for these materials today is estimated to be in the range of one billion US dollars; within the next five years this figure is expected to at least double.
The book, divided into 13 chapters, discusses every aspect important in understanding the structure and applications of these materials. Most chapters start with the theoretical background, but the book is written in a way that makes skipping these sections possible. This is of great importance for the wider readership. This is a book about polymers; therefore, a broad knowledge of polymer chemistry is an advantage but not necessary to understand the details of the properties of this type of nanocomposite. The topics treated in this book range from classification of different types of clays and polymers and the preparation of the composite, to properties and characterization. Looking at properties, the discussion starts with mechanical properties, leads to barrier properties and mechanical stability, then to the most important fire-retardant properties. Fire retardancy is the primary reason for the huge technical and economic success of these materials, especially in the automotive industry. In regard to characterization, all types of microscopies, including electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and optical microscopy, are treated in detail. Also, methods for detailed analysis of the structure at different stages of synthesis (i.e., x-ray diffraction and small-angle x-ray scattering) are explained. For characterization of the organic phase, nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy are discussed. Most importantly for the production of technical parts, the rheology of these composites is treated in detail.
At the end of each chapter, the author gives a long list of references as well as an adequate and helpful index at the end of the book. Independent of any scientific or technical background, the reader will be able to gain a huge amount of information from this excellent book. However, there are two deficiencies: the author uses a lot of acronyms likely known only to the specialist, so the non-expert is always searching for the meaning of these letter combinations. Furthermore, considering the technological importance of these materials, four out of nearly 400 pages describing applications and suppliers are not adequate.
Reviewer: Dieter Vollathis CEO of NanoConsulting, Stutensee, Germany.
