Epoxy-based polymer composites are used in the aerospace industry due to high strength, less
shrinkage and ready availability. However, they are brittle and this limitation is usually
addressed by using additives. Soft additives typically increase the toughness at the cost of
stiffness and are usually not preferred for high strength applications. Rigid additives such as
carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and nano-clay on the contrary increase the stiffness and tensile
strength, but at the expense of strain at failure, indicating embrittlement. Also, these additives
are expensive and this adds up to the overall product cost, limiting its application. Thus, this
study aims to introduce a new low-cost, high aspect ratio additive that toughens epoxy
without compromising on its strength. However, this enhancement is achieved only if the
additives/particles are uniformly dispersed. Thus, for accomplishing this uniform dispersion,
one part of the study focuses on development of a quantitative technique, which will be used
for choosing an effective processing technique. The remaining part of the study comprises of
studying the effects of the new low-cost, high aspect ratio additive on the mechanical
properties of epoxy-based particulate composite.