International audienceThis review intends to present different aspects concerning clay/polymer nanocomposites produced by heterophase polymerization in aqueous media. This paper highlights the ability of miniemulsion polymerization to produce clay/polymer nanoparticles with tailored nanostructures. Indeed, this polymerization route enables the synthesis of composite nanoparticles with the clay platelets located either on the surface of the polymer particle or embedded inside the polymer particle. A focus is given on the influence of these nanostructures on the properties of the final material through a direct comparison of the composites obtained after water evaporation from these structured nanoparticles. indeed, the film obtained from the film forming process of these nanoparticles present significantly different nanostructures and exhibit totally different mechanical behaviours and water uptakes. By comparing experimental results and modeling approaches, it is demonstrated that their properties are clearly related to the clay dispersion and contacts. It is also evidenced that the main drawback of miniemulsion from the coating application point of view, is the large water uptake promoted by the surfactant presence whose localization is strongly influenced by nanostructuration. This stresses the need for the further development of surfactant free miniemulsion polymerization using advantageously the clay presence to stabilize the emulsion

International audienceThis review article describes recent advances in the elaboration of graphene-based colloidal nanocomposites by the use of graphene or graphene oxide in heterophase polymerization systems. Two main routes are reviewed: latex blending and in situ polymerization. In the first strategy, a segregated network is formed by confining the graphenic fillers in the interstices between the latex particles during the drying process. The morphology of the network depends on the relative dimensions of the fillers and the latex particles and on the interfacial interactions. The various approaches used to promote latex/graphene interactions via charge attractions or pi stacking are reviewed. The second method relies on the in situ formation of polymer latexes in the presence of graphenic fillers using emulsion, miniemulsion or suspension polymerization processes in the presence or absence of a stabilizer. The use of graphene oxide as a Pickering stabilizer and the effect of the dimensional characteristics of the graphene sheets on particle morphology are also discussed. Finally, a brief discussion of the mechanical and electrical properties of graphene-latex nanocomposites with regard to the characteristics of the filler and the latex-graphene relative dimensions is given to provide insight into the main requirements of graphenic fillers with respects to various applications

VO 2 has been intensively studied as a model system for Metal-Insulator Transition, ever since its phase switching behavior at relatively low temperature (T c =68°C) was discovered. Its thermo-active characteristics have been studied for applications in thermal solar collectors to prevent overheating of the fluid absorber, smart windows and smart tiles to optimize thermal comfort in buildings. In the last decades, strong efforts were made to develop protocols to process VO 2 -based material into thin films, coatings, porous layers and glazings in order to provide thermo-active properties to common substrates. A selection of complementary works in both the synthesis of VO 2 nanoparticles and formulation of VO 2 -polymer nanocomposites is proposed in the present review. The perspective of this work is to provide an easy entry to the thermochromic nanocomposite research field as a tutorial to tackle future challenges such as improving the application-oriented properties, in particular transition temperature T c and solar transmittance modulation ΔT sol . Synthesis techniques to fabricate VO 2 particles and nanoparticles and strategies to insert VO 2 particles in a polymer matrix are presented.