Abstract

The definition for a hybrid material by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry is based on a chemical point of view that “A hybrid material is composed of an intimate mixture of inorganic components, organic components, or both interpenetrate on sales of less than 1μm.” For instance, polymer blends of polyphenylene oxide/styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer compatibilized by a triblock terpolymer and Janus particles exhibit a sub-micron level contribution of different kinds of organic components. At the same time, engineers look at hybrid materials from a different scale with no uniform definition. According to the engineering point of view; hybrid materials combine different material classes within one structural material. For example, Glass Laminate Aluminum Reinforced Epoxy is used as a hybrid material in the upper part of the fuselage of the Airbus A380 aircraft. Besides structural applications, food packaging materials are also considered as hybrid materials. As an example, milk packages are composed of polymer (low-density polyethylene), paperboard and aluminum. In this work, it was aimed to give an interdisciplinary overview to the world of hybrid materials transferring the view from chemistry to the applied engineering science by focusing on different material aspects and trends.

Keywords: Polymer blends; Janus particles; Supramolecular additives; Polymer foams; Composites