Bioinspired Hierarchical Composites


Baytaroglu S. A., KANDEMIR A. Ç.

Yükseköğretim Kurumları Destekli Proje, 2019 - 2020

  • Proje Türü: Yükseköğretim Kurumları Destekli Proje
  • Başlama Tarihi: Mart 2019
  • Bitiş Tarihi: Mart 2020

Proje Özeti

"Synthetic routes in polymer composite production induce strength by compromising toughness and ductility. This results in premature failure leading to reduced life-time of engineering materials. It is crucial to enhance lifetime of contemporary composite materials by implementing new reinforcing approaches since they are utilized vastly in many aspects of modern life. For instance, composites are widely utilized in aviation (as components of rockets and aircrafts) and prosthetic (as artificial bone, leg and arm) industries. In this project, it is aimed to produce bioinspired hierarchical polymer composites preserving both strength and toughness. The aim is to produce engineering materials whose mechanical properties are improved, that is, enhanced toughness and ductility are achieved together with high strength. Composites could become both strong and tough by inducing hierarchical distribution of particles which have diverse length scales in nano-, micro and macro-range. In fact, living organisms utilizing hierarchic distribution of reinforcements are able to preserve both strength and toughness which could not be attained by reinforcing in only one particular length-scale. Artificial hierarchical composites with polymer matrix could mimic nature in the means of elasticity and low density thanks to their organic nature. However, the studies on them are limited since hierarchical polymer composites are prone to weak interfaces between constituents, induced defects during production and necessitate high volume fraction of reinforcements which compromise from density. Because of this, most of the studies regarding hierarchical composite construction focus on ceramic and metal matrices. Therefore, in this study, polymer composites and nanocomposites are planned to be prepared by overcoming above-mentioned challenges. Ultimate aim is to obtain optimum reinforcement- matrix combination having homogeneous distribution and suitable bonding strength. One faculty member (project proposer) and one undergraduate student are going to take part in this 12 month-long project. Project proposer, Asst. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Çağıl Kandemir has focused on composite/nanocomposite production both in macro and nano/micro-scales in her academic studies which has resulted in publications of a number of articles in distinguished journals. This project presents an important opportunity for the proposer to transfer and disseminate knowledge gained in the course of her studies. Additionally, this study would serve as a seed project to further elaborate on hierarchical composites in the TÜBITAK 3501 project of the proposer."