Auto industry eyes nanocomposites

Although the term "nanotechnology" is a relatively new one in the lexicon of engineering, the development of nanocomposites has been a hot topic for more than a decade among materials researchers seeking ways to expand the properties of polymers.

As a story in this month's Mechanical Engineering magazine explains, researchers are looking to nanocomposites to boost the properties of a range of polymer families, from commodity resins to engineering plastics.

This research is of keen interest to the automotive industry, which hopes to find new polymers that will contribute to weight reduction, improved performance and recyclability.

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