Fracture Mechanisms and Toughness in Polymer Nanocomposites: A Brief Review

This article underlines the observation that, unlike the underperformance of nanocomposites in as far as their static mechanical properties of modulus and strength are concerned, fracture toughness exhibits exceptional behavior. This is attributed to the fact that fracture toughness expresses a measure of the energy absorbed in crack propagation, namely, the energy involved in creating new surface area, which, in turn, is controlled by a specific type of energy-dissipating interaction of the crack front with nanoparticles. This concise review focuses on two micromechanisms that are considered representative of energy dissipation due to their frequent presence in nanocomposites of both nanoparticles and nanofibers. Examples taken from recent relevant articles are presented to showcase fracture toughness improvements by nanoparticles.