The realization of microwave's heating ability is a significant discovery in the history of scientific research. The thermal ability of microwave has led to the invention of devices and processes that could replace conventional heating methods and reduce humankind's dependency on fossil fuels. In the early days, microwave heating was limited to food processing and drying. Researchers over the years have examined the utility of microwave in materials processing and showed encouraging outcomes. Currently, microwave-based materials processing research is aligned toward exploring the processing of novel materials and achieving greater reliability and control in the existing processes. This, in turn, requires extensive knowledge of the parameters of the microwave heating processes. This review provides insights into microwave-based heating parameters and their effect on the response parameters of major microwave processing applications. Four significant parameters viz., heating mechanisms, dielectric and magnetic properties, load and applicators have been identified and factors influencing these parameters have been critically examined to understand the requirements of efficient microwave-based materials processing. This review analyzes the existing state of research and identifies the future scope of research in this field. It reveals optimization studies, commercialization of the process at large scale, simulation studies for better understanding of heating mechanisms and innovation in processing set-ups as few of the potential areas with a wide scope for investigation.

Parametric review of microwave-based materials processing and its applications

Search for novel energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and time-saving manufacturing techniques has gained momentum in the recent times. Polymer composites have been increasingly adapted for variety of industrial applications, however, their efficient processing remains challenging. Microwave curing technique has been employed to process thermoset-based composites since 1980, however, processing of thermoplastic-based composites with natural-fibers as reinforcement, calls for additional data and hence investigations. The current work presents an overview of the basics of microwave heating and the physics behind the microwave processing of polymer composites. A state-of-the-art on microwave processing of thermoset and thermoplastic-based composites and developments in microwave joining has been reviewed. The major constraints in adopting microwave technology for curing composites at the industry scale are highlighted. The article also highlights the challenges during microwave processing of sustainable thermoplastic-based polymer composites. Future scope of work to 3D print the polymer matrix composite parts, through microwave scanning route has been indicated. 

Processing of polymer matrix composites using microwave energy: A review

Dielectric polymer composites with high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss are highly demanded for various types of devices. In this work, the core–shell structured polydopamine functionalized silicon carbide whiskers (SiC@PDA) were successfully synthesized. The presence of PDA effectively suppressed the dielectric loss of PVDF/SiC@PDA composites because it could inhibit the connection between fillers and reduce the interfacial polarity. Moreover, the thicker PDA layer contributed to improving dielectric breakdown strength and reducing AC conductivity of PVDF composites. The insulating PVDF/SiC@PDA-a-30 composite containing 30 wt% of SiC@PDA-a had a dielectric constant of 35.1 while the dielectric loss still maintained as low as 0.037 at 1 KHz. Meanwhile, PVDF/SiC@PDA-a-30 achieved the maximum stress of 58.8 MPa with elongation at break of 17.3% due to PDA layer improved the compatibility between SiC@PDA and PVDF. This simple coated PDA shell strategy could be extended to inorganic fillers to develop high performance dielectric polymer composites.

Mussel-inspired polydopamine functionalized silicon carbide whisker for PVDF composites with enhanced dielectric performance

The incessant growth of technology has extensively increased the usage of electronics and telecommunication devices, leading to critical electromagnetic (EM) pollution and affecting the performance of intensely sensitive electronic devices. Herein, graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) were synthesized from the microwave intercalation method, followed by water-bath sonication. The different dosing of synthesized GNP (2, 4, 6, and 8 wt%) is further encapsulated in polyurethane (PU) matrix via solution casting technique to obtain enhanced electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance. It was found that the 6 wt% of GNP (GNP6) having a density of 0.74 g/cc shows excellent stretching mechanical properties (> 400%), mechanical strength (1.4 times PU), electrical conductivity (2.75 S/m) and microwave properties. The maximum EMI shielding efficiency (SE) of 40.9 dB and 70.5 dB is noticed for GNP6 at 1 mm and 2 mm thickness, respectively. The SE is also measured for GNP6 2 mm thick sample after mechanically bending for 500 cycles and observed average variation < 3 dB. The EMI SE is measured after placing the GNP6 inside the waveguide at different bending radii varying from 3 to 9 mm, and 75 dB of SE is observed for a bending radius of 3 mm. The fabricated GNP6 nanocomposite can show stable EMI shielding performance even after immersion in pure water, followed by sonication treatment for 2 h and confirming the capability of the nanocomposite to handle the complex environment. The EMI shielding mechanism for GNP/PU is extensively explained concerning the microstructure and microwave properties. The computational analysis is done by simulating the GNP6 in the CST microwave studio tool over the broad frequency range (1–18 GHz). Thus, the highly stretchable, flexible, and lightweight GNP6 is a favourable nanocomposite providing a high EMI shielding value for next-generation electronic packaging of flexible electronic devices and coating of conformal devices used in aerospace industries. 

Flexible, stretchable and lightweight polyurethane and graphene nanoplatelets nanocomposite for high performance EMI shielding application

Microwave processing of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites is gaining increasing attention as an alternative to conventional thermal processing techniques. It has the potential to re...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0967391120903894

Microwave processing of carbon fibre polymer composites: a review:

Study on dielectric properties of synthesized exfoliated graphite reinforced epoxy composites for microwave processing

Enhanced microwave processing of epoxy nanocomposites using carbon black powders

In this work, the dielectric properties of epoxy-based composites are significantly improved with the help of the silicon carbide (SiC) filler at an operating frequency of 2.45 GHz to make them ideal candidates for microwave curing. The improvement is due to enhancement of the interfacial polarization because of the presence of the SiC filler. The dielectric properties are measured using the microwave cavity perturbation method. The cavity structure is simulated using the COMSOL@Multiphysics software to verify the measured data in terms of the resonant frequency. Finally, all the SiC-based composites including the neat epoxy resin are heated in the 2.45 GHz microwave oven at 300 W for 20 min. The thermal and mechanical properties of all the cured composites are measured, and the data are compared with their room temperature pre-cured counterparts. The dielectric properties of composite samples using SiC as a reinforcing agent in the epoxy are found to be substantially improved compared with those of the pure epoxy sample, which actually leads to better curing of these composite using the 2.45 GHz microwave system.

Microwave-Assisted Curing of Silicon Carbide-Reinforced Epoxy Composites: Role of Dielectric Properties

Microwave heating is the conversion of electromagnetic energy into heat, which basically depends on the dielectric properties of materials being treated. Therefore, the enhancement in dielectric properties of polymer base matrix is necessary for the processing of materials using microwaves. In this work, the dielectric properties of epoxy composites using graphite as filler under various loading (0–30 wt %) are investigated at ∼ 2.45 GHz. The dielectric properties of test specimens are measured using the resonant cavity attached to a network analyzer. The results indicate that both dielectric constant and loss factor increase with the increase in loading of graphite particles in the epoxy resin. To validate the actual measurement condition, the S band rectangular cavity operating at 2.45 GHz is simulated in 3D COMSOL electromagnetic module. The improvement of dielectric properties of epoxy using graphite particles indicates that the graphite can be used as susceptor for microwave processing of epoxy based composites.

Enhancing microwave properties of epoxy resin at 2.45 GHz using graphite particles for microwave processing application

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Ranu Pal

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Study on dielectric properties of synthesized exfoliated graphite reinforced epoxy composites for microwave processing

Enhanced microwave processing of epoxy nanocomposites using carbon black powders

Microwave-Assisted Curing of Silicon Carbide-Reinforced Epoxy Composites: Role of Dielectric Properties

Enhancing microwave properties of epoxy resin at 2.45 GHz using graphite particles for microwave processing application