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The development of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) constitutes an essential component of material research in the twenty-first century. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRDS) is an important technique for the structure–property correlation study of PNCs. Such studies are important since a wide variety of fillers, including layered materials like clay, graphite, graphene or its derivatives, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and various other nanoparticles (NPs) and nanofibers have been developed as reinforcements in PNCs. The parameters, such as dispersion of the nanofiller and its interaction with the polymer matrix, are also important in deciding the property variation and possible applications of the final product. For example, the barrier property is one of the important product characteristics influenced by the filler distribution and is important in several applications, such as packaging, water purification, and coatings. The literature presented in this chapter highlights the applications of XRDS to understand the filler distribution and its interactions with the polymer matrix. A brief introduction to the basics of XRDS along with the different variants of the technique, such as small-angle X-ray scattering, wide-angle X-ray scattering, and other recent developments applied to the characterization of PNCs are presented. |
