New Materials—Inorganic Whiskers

Inorganic whiskers, a kind of single crystal fibrous or needle-like material that appeared in recent years, are used to reinforce thermosetting resin, thermoplastic resin, rubber, metal, and ceramics through filling and to prepare advanced engineering plastic, composite materials, adhesive, sealant, and paint. The excellent performances of inorganic whiskers have led to their wide application as composite materials-  

---

Jiru Meng, Zhao Lei, Liang Guozheng et al. The applications of inorganic whiskers in polymers. New Chemical Materials, 29(12) l-6, 2001. 

Inorganic whiskers as single crystal fibers have become a remarkable new type of filling material because of its high-intensity, heat-resistant, anti-friction, anti-corrosion, and fire-resistant properties and other special features. 

In recent years, there has been a breakthrough in the manufacturing cost of potassium titanate whiskers, aluminum borate whiskers, and so forth. Meanwhile, inexpensive and high-quality inorganic whiskers such as calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and magnesium are successfully synthesized, which makes inorganic whiskers a new type of filling modification material of polymer materials. This field has become a research hotspot all over the world and reveals broad application and market prospects. 

---