Thermoplastic Composites are considered exotic and rare unlike their half-siblings, thermosetting composites. For the lay-folk, here are the definitions:
Plastic composite: A material made of multiple immiscible components (usually two), where one component acts as the matrix, and the other acts as the reinforcement (like concrete). The matrix or body, usually plastic, gives the colour, finish, etc to the composite, whereas the reinforcement, usually fibers, gives strength to the composite.
Usually, normal composites you come across are thermosetting composites, which are made from thermosetting plastic resins like epoxy, phenol formaldehyde, etc. The final composite mixture consists of a hardener, which cures the liquid resin into solid plastic. The common disadvantage of these is that they are non-recyclable, since the plastic is thermoset, and does not melt. But thermoplastics come in solid form and are hence impossible to fabricate by the conventional composite building methods.
So, I decided to try making a thermoplastic composite (at home). I dissolved the solid plastic pellets (PEI, which is a very high performance thermoplastic) in a solvent and then applied them onto the glass fiber reinforcement as per the conventional methods. The result is given below:
The cost raw materials for this A4 size composite were approximately $5. This is on the higher side, since I bought everything from chemical labs. Will try to explore this material more; next stop is thermoforming.
Manu T
