General features of formation and structure of metal-filled polymer nanocompositions based on crazed polymer matrices

Metal-containing polymer compositions were prepared via electrolytic precipitation of a metal (copper) in solvent-crazed polymer matrices. A correlation between the structure of the initial polymer matrix and the dimensions of the disperse metallic phase is established. The total content of the metallic component is shown to he primarily controlled by the volume porosity of the polymer matrix and to depend on the tensile strain of polymer samples upon their drawing in the presence of an adsorptionally active liquid medium via solvent crazing. The nature of the polymer and the mechanism of solvent crazing appear to exert no marked effect on the precipitation of crystalline copper in solvent-crazed polymer matrices. Dimensions of crystallites of the as-introduced metal and, hence, the level of dispersion of nanocomposites based on solvent-crazed polymers are found to be controlled by the parameters of the initial structure of the porous polymer matrix.