ABSTRACT
Development and commercialization of strong lightweight materials and related new products design and novel concepts of rapid assembly of structures are the key elements of emerging advanced structures and vehicles for the aerospace and automotive industries. The key materials used by the auto industry are high-strength steel (HSS), aluminum (Al), carbon fiber (CF) composites, and plastics which offer weight savings over traditional steel structures of up to 20" for HSS, 40" for Al, and up to 50" for 278CF composites. Polymer nanocomposites are a new class of hybrid materials in which the traditional micro-sized fillers are substituted by nano-sized inorganic equivalents. These additives produce a drastically greater level of improvement of designated structural and functional properties of polymers than their micro-sized analogues. The resultant nano-composites exhibit superior mechanical, electrical, thermal, barrier properties, fire retardancy, impact resistance, and other physico-chemical properties not achievable through the addition of micro-sized fillers making them suitable for replacing metals in automotive and other applications.
