_Article_  
**Synthesis, Characterization and Mechanical Properties of Nanocomposites Based on Novel Carbon Nanowires and Polystyrene**  
**[PERSON] 1,2,3, [PERSON] 1,4, [PERSON] 1,5, [PERSON] 3,6, [PERSON] 1, [PERSON] 1,7, [PERSON] 1,8, [PERSON] 1,9,10,11,12,13,14,15**  
Footnote 10: footnot  
Many different natural or synthetic nanofillers have been added to polymer matrices. The incorporation involves inorganic nanofillers of different structures, including one-dimensional materials such as nanofibers and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), two dimensional materials (nanoclays, graphene, graphene oxide and layered double hydroxides-LDHs) and three-dimensional materials (nanoparticles). Several works have been reported regarding the mechanical properties of polystyrene (PS)/nanofilers nanocomposites [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6]. Polystyrene is a common polymer that is used widely for numerous applications, thanks to its high glass transition temperature and its high resistance to shrinkage.  
More specifically, the addition into the polystyrene matrix of a few nanofillers for the synthesis of nanocomposites has been reported. The most cited literature is for the carbon nanotubes polystyrene (CNTs/PS) nanocomposites [7; 8]. Carbon nanotubes exhibit tremendous mechanical properties and especially Young modulus up to 1 TPa [9]. So, the addition of those nanofillers into polystyrene matrix offers good mechanical results, and provides the nanocomposites with synergetic electrical and electromagnetic interference shielding properties [2].  
Another commonly used nanofiller is the silicate clays [10; 11]. The presence of those platelike silicate layers into the polystyrene matrix, provides significant gains in terms of mechanical properties and thermal stability. Over the last few years, and since the discovery of graphene, efforts have been made for the synthesis of this kind of nanocomposites. So, through the oxidation of graphene (GO), it has been achieved better dispersion and thus better mechanical properties of the PS/GO nanocomposite [12; 13]. Finally, carbon nanofibers have been tested as alternative one-dimensional nanofiller to CNTs [14; 15]. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs), exhibits characteristics of 70-200 nm in diameter and 50-100 um long. The idea of better mechanical properties, through the diminution of the nano dimension and therefore the incensement of the surface area and the interaction with the polymer, led to the synthesis of novel carbon nanowires.  
In the present study, novel nanocomposites of polystyrene with carbon nanowires (CNWs) were developed. The CNWs were synthesized through the hard templating method using as a template the mesoporous silicate material developed by the Mobil Oil Corporation, MCM-41 (Mobil Composition of Matter No. 41) [16]. Polystyrene nanocomposites with CNWs as nano-additives have not been published in the literature before.  
The nanocomposites were prepared by a solution-precipitation method at three nanofiller to polymer loadings (1, 3 and 5 wt%) and tested against the same prepared polystyrene without nano additives. For achieving a better dispersion of CNWs into PS, they have been oxidized with the Staudenmaier method. Through the development of surface functional groups, the attachment of octadecylamine (ODA) molecules to those functional groups has been done. The as-derived nanocomposites were studied with a combination of characterization and analytical techniques. Especially, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopies were used for the chemical and structural characterization of the pristine materials and the derived nanocomposites, while the morphology of nanocomposites and the dispersion of the carbon nanowires were analyzed by the atomic force microscopy technique. Tensile testing, dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were also used to examine the mechanical properties and thermal stability-glass transition temperature of PS after the incorporation of CNWs-ODA nanowires.