Study of the Effect of Cryogenic Grinding on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Polymer Composites

The paper presents data on the synthesis of polymer composites based on a fluoroplastic matrix and ground titanium hydride. The possibility of mixing the initial components using cryogenic grinding has been studied. The uniformity of distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. For comparison, composites were made in which the mixing of the components was carried out manually in an agate mortar. It is shown in the work that when using cryogenic grinding of components, their distribution is much more uniform than when manually mixing. It has been established that cryogenic milling will prevent the agglomeration of highly dispersed titanium hydride particles obtained during milling, ensuring high homogeneity of the polymer composite. Data on the mechanical properties of the obtained composites are presented. Annealing at 350 ℃ significantly increased the microhardness of all the samples under study. For pure fluoroplastic, this value increased by 35.7%, and for composites by 35.5% and 30.7% when using grinding in a mortar and cryogenic grinding, respectively.