We show that the mesoscale (~200 nm) thermomechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites formed from silica nanoparticles (NPs) and poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) critically depend on their interfacial structure, which can be controlled by the casting solvent. The results emphasize the important role of solvent in determining the interfacial structure of nanocomposites, which can be used to tailor their thermomechanical behavior.

From: Dan Zhao, Dirk Schneider, George Fytas, and Sanat K. Kumar
“Controlling the Thermomechanical Behavior of Nanoparticle/Polymer Films“, ACS Nano 8(8), 8163-8173 (2014).