Rothberg, Hannah SophiaHannah SophiaRothbergPietsch, SwantjeSwantjePietschSchneider, Gerold A.Gerold A.SchneiderHeinrich, StefanStefanHeinrich2020-04-302020-04-302020-04-28Processes 8 (5): 521 (2020)http://hdl.handle.net/11420/5991In nature bio-composites such as nacre show remarkable mechanical properties due to their complex hierarchical structure and high-volume fraction of its hard component. These composites are highly interesting for structural applications in different branches of industries for mechanical engineering and process technology. The aim of this work was to provide a scalable method for the production of highly filled composites by mimicking the structure of bio-composites. Therefore, composites from iron oxide (Fe2O3) and SBC-polymer (styrene-butadiene block copolymer) were fabricated by using a miniaturized spouted bed with an innovative fluidization gap design. Small iron oxide particles (25–45 μm) were fluidized in the spouted bed and coated with a polymer solution via a bottom spray nozzle. Afterwards the coated granules were hot-pressed and the mechanical properties of the obtained composites were tested. By this method composites with a bending strength of up to 6 MPa were fabricated. Although the mechanical properties of these artificial composites are still lower than those of the natural role models, it was shown that the spouted bed is a suitable technique for the fabrication of highly filled composites. For further optimization of the mechanical properties more complex and tailor-made starting materials will be used in following studies.en2227-971720205Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institutehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/miniaturized spouted bedparticle coatinghighly filled compositesthree-point bendingtestmechanical properties of compositesChemieIngenieurwissenschaftenJournal Article2020-04-2810.15480/882.275110.3390/pr805052110.15480/882.2751Journal Article