Fluoropolymer nanocomposites: introduction, fundamental properties, and high-performance applications

This chapter provides a basic introduction to fluoropolymers and their nanocomposites. The structure–property relationship in polymer science is of great interest to the scientific community. This chapter elaborately explains the beauty of the alteration of material properties by alteration of the chemical structures in fluoropolymers. Further, the interaction of different nanomaterials with fluoropolymers has been depicted herein to explain the formation of fluoropolymer-based nanocomposites. Advanced analytical and spectroscopic techniques used for the characterization of fluoropolymer nanocomposites have been described in this chapter. Fluoropolymers have shown good compatibility with different nanomaterials ranging from zero-dimensional nanoparticles to one-dimensional nanofibers. Moreover, such nanocomposites based on two-dimensional nanosheets such as nanoclay, graphene, graphene oxide have also been delved into thoroughly by different research groups. Such nanocomposites exhibit excellent material attributes such as high chemical and heat resistance, high mechanical properties, heat stability, unique nonadhesive, weather resistance, excellent dielectric properties. These features endorse fluoropolymer nanocomposites for numerous high-performance applications such as self-cleaning materials, automotives, superior household appliances, photocatalysis, semiconductors, antimicrobial coatings, environmental remediation, and electronics. This chapter encompasses different advanced applications of fluoropolymer-based nanocomposites. This chapter aims to showcase the structure, synthesis, characterization, fundamental properties, and high-performance applications of fluoropolymer nanocomposites.