Modification of fiber-reinforced composites using polymer blends as matrices

Abstract

Composite materials are widely used in many industrial products because they combine the properties of organic and inorganic materials. This review focuses on the property modification of composite materials where polymer blends are used as matrices to obtain functional composites. Polymer blends can be fabricated via the physical process of melt mixing; thus, they have good scalability. However, poor material design criteria compared with those of polymer synthesis are critical defects in polymer blending. To address this problem, we focused on the multiscale phase separation in polymer blends. Polymer blends can be divided into three categories according to their phase morphology: immiscible, miscible, and reactive. They exhibit characteristic behaviors that depend on their morphology. We propose a novel material design concept to combine polymers with different phase morphologies to obtain a combination of modification mechanisms. To provide specific examples, two previous studies on the modification of carbon- and glass-fiber-reinforced plastics were summarized. One study involves improving the hygrothermal resistance of carbon-fiber-reinforced polyamide by incorporating both miscible and immiscible components into the polyamide. The other study involves fabricating transparent glass-fiber-reinforced polyamides by investigating miscible and reactive blends. Our recent study on the property modification of composite materials where polymer blends are used as matrices were summarized. Polymer blends have good scalability; however, poor material design criteria is a critical defect in polymer blending. To address this problem, we focused on the multiscale phase separation in polymer blends. We propose a novel material design concept to combine polymers with different phase morphologies to obtain a combination of modification mechanisms, and hygrothermal resistant CFRP and transparent GFRP using polymer blends as matrix were obtained.