Segmental Dynamics of Polymer Melts with Spherical Nanoparticles

The impact of spherical nanoparticles (NPs) on the segmental dynamics of polymer melts is investigated. The addition of NPs broadens the segmental dynamics with effects of both particle size and loading. Interfacial bound layer thickness is calculated by the difference in magnitude of the segmental dynamics of pure polymer and nanocomposites. These theoretical models suggest that the bound layer thickness in the case of strongly adsorbing polymer matrices may increase with particle size.