Surface Modification of Nanomaterials

Due to the small particle size and high proportion of surface atoms, nanomaterials have extremely high specific surface area, surface activity and unique physical and chemical properties, which are the prerequisites for their wide application. But it is also these characteristics that make nanomaterials unstable, have high surface energy, and are easy to interact with each other, leading to agglomeration, thereby reducing the specific surface area of the material and the Gibbs free energy of the system, and also reducing the activity of nanomaterials, making it difficult to give full play to the proper characteristics of nanomaterials. On the other hand, nanomaterials have poor affinity with the matrix with low surface energy, and the two are incompatible when mixed with each other, resulting in voids at the interface and phase separation. To fundamentally solve these problems, the most effective way is to modify the surface of nanomaterials. After the surface modification of the nanomaterials, the dispersibility is greatly improved, and at the same time, the compatibility between the inorganic nanomaterials and the organic matrix is increased, and the interface problem is reduced. Therefore, the surface modification of nanomaterials has become an important content of nanomaterials research.