Patent ID: 8889761

Claim:
A method for making a composite material with non-spherical reinforcing particles embedded in a non-conducting matrix, wherein in a first step magnetic and/or superparamagnetic nano-particles are attached to the non-spherical reinforcing particles, in a second step the resulting reinforcing particles are introduced into a liquid matrix material and/or a liquid matrix-precursor material, and in a third step the material of the matrix is solidified and/or polymerized and/or cross-linked wherein prior to and/or during solidification and/or polymerization and/or cross-linking of the matrix material or the matrix precursor material, respectively, a magnetic field is applied so as to align the reinforcing particles in the matrix and this alignment is fixed in the matrix after the third step, wherein the weight ratio of the nano-particles to the non-spherical reinforcing particles is 0.0001-0.05, and wherein the non-spherical reinforcing particles are selected from alumina platelets, gibbsite platelets, clay platelets, talc platelets, mica platelets, glass platelets, silicon carbide platelets, aluminum boride platelets, graphite platelets, aluminum platelets, copper platelets, glass fibres, polymer fibres, carbon fibers, silicon carbide whiskers and silicon nitride whiskers, with the proviso that in case of fibres or whiskers the average diameter (d) is in the range of 1 μm-100 μm.