Nanocomposites: an overview

Materials play key role in every field of technology such as automobile, aerospace, construction, electronics, medicine, sensors and computing to make people’s lives more comfortable. There is always a critical need to use new materials with improved properties so that the demand for betterment can be satisfied. With the advancement of nanoscience, nanocomposites have emerged as very useful materials for a variety of applications. Subject of nanocomposites is an interdisciplinary area, encompassing physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and engineering. The knowledge arising from scientists with different backgrounds, create new science, and in particular new materials, with unforeseen technological possibilities such as creation of macroscopic engineered materials through nanoscale structures. Various nanocomposites have been designed with the aim to achieve high thermal, electrical and mechanical properties. This paper presents an overview of the type, synthesis, characterisation, properties, modelling and applications of nanocomposites in various sectors.