Tendencies in the development of the technology of composite materials based on glass/glass-ceramic matrices and discrete fillers

Present-day scientific and patent literature concerned with ways and problems of obtaining glass/glass-ceramic composite materials with discrete fillers are reviewed. Theoretical aspects of developing materials of this kind are considered, and the most widely used and alternative technologies are described. It is shown that there is a tendency toward application of powder technology due to the simplicity of its implementation. The problem of providing a homogeneous distribution of fillers within a matrix and ways of its solution are considered. The closest attention is given to composite materials based on carbon nanotubes. Various ways to mold and thermally treat composite materials are described, their advantages and disadvantages are considered. It is shown that the spark-plasma sintering (SPS) technique, named electropulse method by domestic authors, is the most promising. The main presently existing problems in the technology of glass/glass-ceramic composite materials are presented.