Potentialities of a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Technique in the Study of Polymer Composites.

A laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique was used to evaluate the filler content in particulate epoxy-copper composites. A potential application for a direct and fast measurement of the filler in composites through the LIBS results is suggested using calibrated samples. The methodology used in this work makes possible the incorporation of LIBS as a quantitative technique for the study of particle metal-filled epoxy composites, providing a method to obtain a direct estimation of the filler volume fraction.