**4. New millennium advanced material matrixes in S&T**

Today, smart materials have manifested assorted benefits and it is hard to envisage the modernized advancements without their contributions. Advanced materials endow a myriad of applicability in industries like chemical, mines, metallurgy, oil-gas extraction, refinery, power, and modern technology, viz. aerospace, IT, communication construction, transportation and genetic engineering. Smartly designed/ reconfigured matrixes have to face few technically notable challenging domains being adept at power turbines and well robust aerojet engines etc. Certain smartly designed super-alloys are found to fulfill numerous such methodological challenges and demands that own practically efficient utilities in an industry besides R&D. Accordingly emerges prototype thrust in R&D of material and prevalent advanced nanotechnology assisted rational fabrications of smartly functional matrixes thus continued Richards Feynman initiated timeline advancement of nano-materials. Today, paradigm nano-technological developments have stimulated rational reconfiguration of materials and ultimately pave a path for designing classic, competing and preferred matrixes or composites for strengthening S&T in the new millennium.

This twenty-first century, invoke technological advancement in smartly designing and rational reconfigurations of nano-material matrixes to be developed via amalgamating incredible features of constituents in resultant composites (as meso/ micro-porous materials like alloys, blends, ceramics, natural and synthetic polymers found to miss such designed features. More smart materials like 1D, 2D or 3D have to be architectured via reinforcement of two/more phases in vigor and firmly intercalated material framework as achieved in material engineering for sturdy, reinforced and robust output [3, 4, 6–12]. Augmented and perceived performance is practicable in such composites by means of particulate segregation due to tailoring of raw-skeletal elements. Advanced and sophisticated techniques aid in designing and reconfiguring assorted materials including natural and artificial origin. These reconfigured composites/matrixes are beneficial due to lesser density, superior directional mechanics, precisely enhanced tensile strength than steel/metals, elevated fatigue survival, adaptable tailoring/designing, facile machining and cost-effective synthesis. Directional arrangements of constituting matrix mutually control mechanical strength and functional properties of resultant composites. Parallel longitudinal atomic/molecular arrangements are obtained via solitary pathway and fully random configurations that are generally allied in the following sense: (a) Owing to irregular associations (b) Easy arbitrary/partial adjustments (c) Very much strengthening resultant composites due to small diameter, less surface flaws and facile suppleness over bulk materials (as seen in glass, aramid/kevlar and carbon fiber). Assorted 1D, 2D or 3D reconfigured material matrixes/composites are discussed in the following sections:

## **4.1 Fibrous composites**

Certain fibers owing to greater length than diameter and (*l***/***d*) ratio imparting valuable shear pressure reassign reinforcement in arbitrary direction in their skeletons resulting in the most persuade fibrous composites as shown in **Figure 2**.

### **4.2 Carbon-reinforced composites**

Carbon-reinforced composites have high reinforcement in their polymer matrix due to their innate tensile modulus and elevated strength at eminent temperatures, which are unaffected by water or other solvents, acids and bases. Carbon-reinforced composites display a variety of physicochemical and mechanical characters as

*Composite and Nanocomposite Materials - From Knowledge to Industrial Applications*

as devoid in counterparts.

as shown in **Figure 1**.

features as an alternative to classic synthetic/natural polymers. Consequently, various inorganic materials including metal particles, carbon nanotubes, ceramics and clays are blended in biopolymers resulting in a diverse nanocomposite/ hybrid like polymer-inorganic, metal-polymer, metal-ceramic and inorganicorganic phases [10]. All these rationally designed/reconfigured nanocomposites/ hybrids/matrixes endow many applications, viz. biosensor, marker, biochip, optic, electric, electronic, photoconductors, biocompatible tissue engineered scaffolds/templates and drug release/filter. Monomeric inorganic/organic hosts/ frameworks can be reinforced with many natural/bio- and synthetic polymers resulting in intercalated polymer networking composites [11]. Such matrixes are obtained via assorted techniques, viz. microwave, colloid interaction, suspended polymerization, solvent evaporation, electro-spinning, spray-drying, porous glass membrane spraying and emulsification. So, superior techniques are used for the development of desired characteristics like not expensive, competent, control/ tunable shapes/sizes, porosity, density and surface area in reconfigured matrixes

Rationally reinforced polymeric nanocomposites hold host-guest intercalated morphological permutations and combinations of inorganic/organic frameworks like nanocarbon, metal, clay, montmorillonite, ceramic, poly-vinyl alcohol/chloride and zeolite [12]. Template or chosen material that holds native stupendous physicochemical characters is too vulnerable in the derived matrix. Reinforced composites/matrixes offer distinctive significance in electric, electronic gadgets, tissue engineering, packaging, coatings, biomedicals, nanodevice feedstock, photosensitivity, catalysts and antimicrobials and disinfectants besides physicochemical analysis. Various technologically reinforced 1D, 2D and 3D composites/ matrixes own boosted intrinsic features and corresponding applicability domain

**102**

**Figure 1.**

*Technologically reinforced various composite matrixes [1, 2].*

**Figure 2.** *Assorted orientations in fibrous reinforced composites [1, 2, 13].*

exploited to get specific/rationally designed products like thermoplastic at quite a cheap cost. Such carbon-reinforced composites have huge strength:weight ratio and rigidity as needed in aerospace, transportation superstructures, automotive, engineered products, scaffolds and smart equipment. Certain fiber-reinforced plastic/composites are fabricated through polymeric matrix like organic/inorganic fibers, paper, wood and asbestos, which caters to the needs of aerospace, automotive, marine and constructions besides ballistic armor. American Chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland in 1905 had replaced shellac-resin (yield from lac bug's excretion) with synthetic Bakelite polymer obtained via phenol-formaldehyde reaction at controlled pressure and temperature, and it was the world's first synthetic plastic that was fiber-reinforced [14]. In 1936, du-Pont obtained resin-composite through "*fiber-glass*" blending with plastic followed by modern *cyanamids* resin in 1942. Glass, carbon and aramid fibers are still used in making fiber-reinforced plastic/ composites. Certain polymer-reinforced combinations are stated in **Table 1**.
