Poly(methyl methacrylate)/Fullerene nanocomposite—Factors and applications

ABSTRACT

Fullerene is remarkable nanocarbon captivating tremendous research attention recently. The most important application of fullerene is reinforcement in polymer matrices. Consequently, this review highlights essential aspects of fullerene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly(methyl methacrylate)/fullerene nanocomposites. Fullerene act as marvelous nanofiller leading to synergistic effects in physical property enhancement. Consequently, the design, dispersion, and characteristics including thermal stability, mechanical constancy, electrical conductivity, electroluminescence, thermal conductivity, etc. have been discussed. The main encounters involved in the poly(methyl methacrylate)/fullerene nanocomposite processing are dispersion and interfacial interaction in the matrix-nanofiller. The emerging application areas of the nanocomposites are solar cell, sensor, electronics, and biological activity.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Poly(methyl methacrylate)
• fullerene
• thermal
• solar cell
• sensor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ayesha Kausar

Ayesha Kausar works for National Centre for Physics, Islamabad, Pakistan. She previously worked for Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan and National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. She obtained her PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea. Dr. Kausar’s current research interests include the design, fabrication, characterization, and exploration of structure-property relationships and potential prospects of nanocomposites, polymeric nanocomposites, polymeric composites, polymeric nanoparticles, polymer dots, nanocarbon materials (graphene and derivatives, carbon nanotube, nanodiamond, graphene, carbon nano-onion, carbon nanocoil, carbon nanobelt, carbon nanodisk, carbon dot, and other nanocarbons), hybrid materials, eco-friendly materials, nanocomposite nanofibers, and nano-foam architectures. Consideration of morphological, mechanical, thermal, electrical, anti-corrosion, barrier, flame retardant, radiation shielding, biomedical, and other essential materials properties for aerospace, automotive, fuel cell membranes, Li-ion battery electrodes, electronics, sensors, solar cells, water treatment, gas separation, textiles, energy production and storage devices, biomaterials, and other technical relevance are among her notable research concerns.