US Patent 7462666 - Homogeneous nanofiller dispersion

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7462666.html

This patent from GM teaches a method of forming polymer nanocomposites with a more uniform distribution of clay nanoparticles. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for making a nanocomposite material, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a molten polymeric material in an extruder;

introducing a solution including a nanofiller material and a supercritical fluid into a molten polymeric material; and

causing the supercritical fluid within the solution to substantially instantaneously convert to a gas phase, thereby forming the nanocomposite material having the nanofiller material substantially homogeneously dispersed therein.