Green Polymer Nanocomposites in Automotive and Packaging Industries

Abstract

Green polymer nanocomposites referred to as completely biodegradable, renewable, environmentally friendly, and benign materials, have received a surge of attention to promote sustainable development. Polymer nanocomposites, where nanomaterials are used for reinforcement, possess a large interfacial area per volume, and the intervals between the filler nanoparticles and polymer matrix are significantly short. Molecular interactions between the filler particles and the matrix, therefore, provide polymer nanocomposites with novel characteristics that ordinary polymers or conventional macrocomposites do not possess. However, nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanofilms, nanofibers, nanoflakes, etc., in the form of nanocomposites may cause serious health hazards and pollute the environment severely. While the number of review articles on fundamental and applied research work of polymer nanocomposites is noteworthy, this review focuses more in depth on the applications of safe and green polymer nanocomposites in the automotive and packaging industries. The particular focus has been to examine and investigate in detail the initial and contemporaneous trends, status, and perspectives of green and safe polymer nanocomposites in the automotive and packaging industries. Background characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, potentiality, prospects, and opportunities of green polymer nanocomposites suitable for automotive and packaging industries have been addressed. The ultimate goal is to have a profound understanding of the structure-property relationship of green polymer nanocomposites to overcome existing limitations for automotive and packaging applications.

Keywords: Safe nanotechnology; biocomposite; eco-filler; eco-polymer matrix; green polymer nanocomposite; natural fiber.