Composites that simultaneously combine light weight with high electrical and low thermal conductivity are very desirable for aerospace, marine, and energy applications but are hard to achieve in practice. Now researchers think they may have the answer in the form of hollow glass microspheres covered with carbon nanofibers, which can be used as a filler for polymer composites.
Hollow glass microspheres are well-known additives for polymer composites because of their light weight and low thermal conductivity. But the lack of interaction between glass microspheres and the polymer matrix reduces the composite’s strength. Carbon nanotubes and fibers hold promise as fillers for polymer composites because of their electrical conductivity. To get just the right balance of properties, the researchers sought to bring together the best attributes of each of these fillers in one material.
By growing carbon nanofibers directly on the surface of hollow glass microspheres, we do not need complicated techniques to disperse the nanofibers in the matrix so we can mix them as a standard microfiller.
This article comes from materialstoday edit released
