Polymeric nanocomposite with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane and nanocarbon (fullerene, graphene, carbon nanotube, nanodiamond)—futuristic headways

ABSTRACTABSTRACTPolyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) is an inorganic-organic nanoreinforcement for polymers. To enhance the physical/chemical interactions and compatibility of POSS molecules with organic matrices, POSS-nanocarbon nanostructures have been developed. POSS has been essentially modified to form POSS-fullerene, POSS-graphene, POSS-graphene oxide, POSS-carbon nanotube, and POSS-nanodiamond nanohybrids. The state-of-the-art review highpoints design, essential features, and developments of thermoplastic/thermosetting nanocomposite familiarized with POSS-nanocarbon nanofiller. Inclusion of POSS-nanocarbon has found to enhance structural, morphological, crystallinity, thermal, mechanical, wear, adhesion, anti-corrosion and other physical characteristics of nanocomposites. Recent progress in field of polymer/POSS-nanocarbon nanocomposite unveils potential toward solar cell, electromagnetic interference shielding devices, and membrane application.Graphical abstractKEYWORDS: PolymerPOSS-nanocarbonnanocompositesolar cellmembrane Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsAyesha KausarAyesha Kausar works for National Centre for Physics, Islamabad, Pakistan. She previously worked for Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan and National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. She obtained her PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea. Dr. Kausar’s current research interests include the design, fabrication, characterization, and exploration of structure-property relationships and potential prospects of nanocomposites, polymeric nanocomposites, polymeric composites, polymeric nanoparticles, polymer dots, nanocarbon materials (graphene and derivatives, carbon nanotube, nanodiamond, graphene, carbon nano-onion, carbon nanocoil, carbon nanobelt, carbon nanodisk, carbon dot, and other nanocarbons), hybrid materials, eco-friendly materials, nanocomposite nanofibers, and nano-foam architectures. Consideration of morphological, mechanical, thermal, electrical, anti-corrosion, barrier, flame retardant, radiation shielding, biomedical, and other essential materials properties for aerospace, automotive, fuel cell membranes, Li-ion battery electrodes, electronics, sensors, solar cells, water treatment, gas separation, textiles, energy production and storage devices, biomaterials, and other technical relevance are among her notable research concerns.