New Applications of Nanoheterogeneous Systems

The exceptional properties of nanoheterogeneous materials result both from the nature of each component, the size scale, the degree of mixing between the two phases, and the surface area-to-volume ratio. Therefore, significant performances of the resulting materials can be reached by tailoring the interfaces. Due to their features, nanoheterogeneous materials have been involved in a plethora of niche markets linked, for instance, to new generations of smart textiles, photovoltaic and fuel cells, antennas and satellite communications, optoelectronics, new catalysts and coatings, smart therapeutic vectors with controlled drug delivery properties, new ultrasensitive sensors, cosmetics, smart papers, and so on. The chapter is an overview of the current state of knowledge in processing, manufacturing, characterization, and potential applications of the most common polymer nanocomposites, with a special attention to their utilizations in gas sensing.