There’s plenty of interest in fillers, especially the bio-based or bio-friendly varieties, which can be added to polymer matrices and result in enhanced performance and “greener” content. Dr. Joachim (Joe) P. Roesler, president of New Polymer Systems Inc., (NPS) provided an update on bio-friendly fillers at a recent Emerging Technology Forum presented by PolymerOhio in Columbus.

“There is a lot of interest in our new natural filler, hydrophobic lignocellulose, for use as bio-friendly filler for polymers,” Roesler said. He commented that plastic compounds are more economical and/or better with the use of fillers and that the most popular mass fillers are minerals, manufactured, or bio-based (talc, calcium carbonate, carbon black, wood flour). He added that high-performance fillers and fibers (nano, glass, natural fibers, etc.) improve properties, at a price, and that there are plenty of other expensive additives that can modify properties further.

High-performance, fiber-reinforced polymeric composite materials are the preferred materials for many aerospace industry, defense industry, and wind energy applications due to their high modulus-to-weight ratio and their high strength-to-weight ratio. As the applications for such materials become increasingly demanding, the materials performance must be improved. A common approach to improve the performance of such materials is to incorporate nanomaterials as an additional reinforcement to offer improved mechanical, thermal, electrical, and barrier properties plus good flame retardance if the processability challenges can be overcome while addressing the possible safety risks associated with nanomaterials. However, to date, significant improvements have been a great challenge to the research community. Now, a group of researchers from several engineering disciplines at The Ohio State University (OSU) in Dr. L. James Lee’s laboratory has developed what might be a revolutionary strategy for combining the advantages of both long-fiber reinforcements and nanomaterial reinforcements to create a superior long-fiber-reinforced polymeric (FRP) nanocomposite.