What is the difference composite and nanocomposite?
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Answer:
Printed thermoelectric nanocomposites comprising a conducting polymer matrix, inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. These nanocomposites exhibit enhanced thermoelectric properties making them attractive for applications in thermal energy harvesting.
Composite materials are prepared from the combination of two or more different materials with distinct chemical or physical characteristics. The resultant composite exhibits properties which are distinct (and hopefully superior!) to its constituent materials, which remain separate and distinct within the finished structure and are not held together by formal chemical bonds. In nanocomposites, either one of the constituents has dimensions on the nanoscale (<100 nm) or instead the composite structure exhibits nanosized phase separation of the individual components.
By far the most extensive industrial usage of composite materials relates to polymeric matrices reinforced with glass or carbon fibres. These form the mainstay of many important application areas in aerospace, land transport, marine, sports goods and a number of other industrial sectors. In general, however, these materials are mature and highly-developed. Work in the Department tends to focus on other types of composite, designed for more specialised applications.
Composites and nanocomposites can be prepared from a variety of different materials, depending on their intended application. The following areas are currently under exploration in the department.
Within the medical materials field, resorbable composites offer huge potential for controlled degradation and tailored temporary support to a healing site. Particle size and composition can be used to influence the mechanics and degradation profiles and active agents may be incorporated with sustained release tied to the degradation kinetics. Applications include resorbable cardiovascular stents and orthopaedic implants.
Image: MRI scan of a partially degraded, hydrated resorbable microcomposite of calcium phosphate particles in poly lactide-co-glycolide. (Dr Sarah Bennett).
Organic-inorganic composites combine the best of both worlds – the mechanical, optical and thermal properties of inorganic glasses with the elasticity and chemical functionality of organic polymers. Interfacial engineering can be used to control the placement of specific components at fixed locations within the composite, which can lead to materials with tuneable optical properties that find application in light-emitting displays or optical sensors.
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