Polymer Composites: Reinforcing Fillers

Abstract

Addition of reinforcing fillers is a well‐established method to enhance mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of plastics. Formulation and compounding of polymer matrices with inorganic and organic fillers having peculiar morphology enables the development of new multifunctional materials. Among the physical properties affected by the introduction of fillers in plastics, particular attention has been devoted to the mechanical behavior of the resulting composites. Moreover, introduction of inorganic fillers can reduce the cost of plastics, as they are sometime less expensive than polymers. It is well known that with a correct formulation and compounding, the tensile and impact strength and elastic modulus of polymers can be considerably enhanced, allowing to extend the application of plastics in technical fields previously undreamt of. Many other physical properties, such as friction coefficient, molding shrinkage, and weatherability, can be considerably affected by filler addition. This article aims at providing an overview of the various types of fillers available in the market to reinforce plastic products. After a general introduction, the article discusses both particulate microfillers as well as nanostructured fillers. For all the fillers considered, information on their morphological behavior, important physical properties, and production processes are provided. In addition, select examples of fillers’ effectiveness in improving the properties of polymer matrices (thermoplastic, thermosetting, and elastomers) are also presented.

Nano-dimensional spheres and worms as fillers in polymer nanocomposites: effect of filler morphology

“…Fillers are commonly employed to improve or modify various properties of polymer nanocomposite materials. 1–3 Typically, hard fillers such as silica particles, carbon black or graphene-derivatives are added to soft polymer matrices to increase the mechanical strength of the material while maintaining the deformability for various applications such as paints and coatings. 4–6 Although there are various types of fillers available, fillers with high aspect ratio such as carbon nanotubes, glass fibers and cellulose nanofibers have been attracting more interest due to their high reinforcing effect at low filler loading.…”

Innovative Reuse of Electric Arc Furnace Slag as Filler for Different Polymer Matrixes

“…This behavior could be explained with a better filler-matrix adhesion: in the PP matrix, the good filler matrix adhesion results in a load distribution between slag particles and polymer matrix. Extensive literature demonstrated that composite strength is strongly dependent on the interfacial adhesion between filler and matrix [55][56][57][58][59]. The influence of EAF slag as filler for PP was found to be similar to that of other fillers, such as talc [56,60], and calcium carbonate [61].…”

H2 Uptake and Diffusion Characteristics in Sulfur-Crosslinked Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer Polymer Composites with Carbon Black and Silica Fillers after High-Pressure Hydrogen Exposure Reaching 90 MPa

“…The fundamental properties of rubbery polymers can be improved by blending fillers. Fillers in polymer composites achieve multiple purposes, the most important including reinforcement, improvement in processing, diffusing molecule impermeability, an increase in oil resistance, and a reduction in material cost [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. The rubber industry uses a wide range of fillers because of their merits in rubber compounding.…”