Designing composite resin materials from perspective of powder and material processing

Abstract

The manufacturing process of polymer-based composites typically involves the dispersion of powder fillers into polymers, shaping, and curing followed by material utilization. Throughout this processing chain, the powder-handling technique will be key to the successful control of polymer-based composite material properties. For instance, powders can form aggregates easily when they are dispersed into solvents and polymers. These aggregates need to be suppressed to avoid the viscosity increase of dispersions and reduce shaping failures. Further, owing to the geometric properties of powders, a large polymer/particle interface area exists in polymer-based composite materials. The sufficient structural design of these interface regions based on an understanding of structural-property relationships is also an important factor to achieve the desired material properties. Here, we briefly review some of the major difficulties in handling powder materials, and further introduce how polymer-based composites can be designed from the viewpoint of powder-processing technologies.