Advanced silica/polymer composites: Materials and applications

Recent advance on the silica/polymer composite materials combining the unique properties of the inorganic fillers and the organic polymers have widely been achieved in academic and industrial fields. Especially nanotechnology approaches to hybrid materials gives new opportunities in the development of advanced inorganic–organic hybrid composites to improve them in the overall properties of the system and to understand the interfacial interaction and nanosized level-hybridization of organic polymers and silica fillers. In this review, the scope of “advanced silica/polymer composites: materials and applications” includes the synthesis and characterizations of the composite materials and their applications such as uptakes for organic compounds and heavy metal ions, functional coatings, bioapplications.