METHOD TO GENERATE AND DISPERSE NANOSTRUCTURES IN A COMPOSITE MATERIAL

1 . A method of making a composite powder comprising:

providing matrix particles in a reactor, the matrix particles comprising a metal oxide, metal carbide, polymer, ceramic, plastic, glass, graphene, graphite, or a combination thereof;

fluidizing the matrix particles;

introducing a nanostructure material into the reactor;

homogeneously dispersing the nanostructure material; and

uniformly depositing the nanostructure material on the matrix particles to form the composite powder.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matrix particles are the polymer selected from polyphenylene, polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyester, polyethylene, polyacrylate, polypropylene, polyamide, polyimide, polybenzoxazole, poly(amino acid), epoxy, polystyrene, polybutadiene, polycarbonate, or a combination thereof.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matrix particles are the ceramic selected from an oxide-based ceramic, nitride-based ceramic, carbide-based ceramic, boride-based ceramic, silicide-based ceramic, or a combination thereof.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the matrix particles are about 0.5 μm to about 500 μm.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructure material comprises nanoparticles, nanotubes, fullerenes, nanowires, nanodots, nanorods, sheets, graphene, nanographite, C1-C4 alkane, C1-C4 alkene, C1-C4 alkyne, benzene, metal, metal oxide, nanodiamonds, polysilsesquioxanes, inorganic nanoparticles, nanoclays, metal nanoparticles, or combinations thereof.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the amount of the nanostructure material on the matrix particles is about 0.001 wt. % to about 50 wt. % based on the weight of the composite powder.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein uniformly depositing the nanostructure material on the matrix particles is a chemical process.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein uniformly depositing the nanostructure material on the matrix particles is a physical process.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating nanostructures on the matrix particles from the deposited nanostructure material.

10 . A method of making a nanostructure-reinforced composite comprising:

providing matrix particles in a reactor, the matrix particles comprising a metal oxide, metal carbide, polymer, ceramic, plastic, glass, graphene, graphite, or a combination thereof;

fluidizing the matrix particles;

introducing a nanostructure material into the reactor;

homogeneously dispersing the nanostructure material;

uniformly depositing the nanostructure material on the matrix particles to form a composite powder;

generating a nanostructure on the matrix particles from the nanostructure material; and

processing the composite powder to form the nanostructure-reinforced composite having a matrix formed from the matrix particles,

wherein the nanostructures are evenly distributed in the matrix of the nanostructure-reinforced composite.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein processing the composite powder comprises mechanical alloying, sintering, hot pressing, spark plasma sintering, extrusion, curing, molding, or a combination thereof.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein processing the composite powder comprises

mechanical alloying the composite powder using a ball mill; and

sintering the composite powder to form the nanostructure-reinforced composite.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the matrix particles are the polymer selected from polyphenylene, polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, polyester, polyethylene, polyacrylate, polypropylene, polyamide, polyimide, polybenzoxazole, poly(amino acid), epoxy, polystyrene, polybutadiene, polycarbonate, or a combination thereof.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein processing comprises

ball milling the matrix particles; and

curing the polymer to form the nanostructure-reinforced composite.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the matrix particles are the ceramic selected from an oxide-based ceramic, nitride-based ceramic, carbide-based ceramic, boride-based ceramic, silicide-based ceramic, or a combination thereof.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the nanostructure material comprises nanoparticles, nanotubes, fullerenes, nanowires, nanodots, nanorods, sheets, graphene, nanographite, C1-C4 alkane, C1-C4 alkene, C1-C4 alkyne, benzene, metal, metal oxide, nanodiamonds, polysilsesquioxanes, inorganic nanoparticles, nanoclays, metal nanoparticles, or combinations thereof.