Manufacturing sectors, including automotive, aerospace, military, and aviation, are paying close attention to the increasing need for composite materials with better characteristics. Composite materials are significantly used in industry owing to their high-quality, low-cost materials with outstanding characteristics and low weight. Hence, aluminum-based materials are preferred over other traditional materials owing to their low cost, great wear resistance, and excellent strength-to-weight ratio. However, the mechanical characteristics and wear behavior of the Al-based materials can be further improved by using suitable reinforcing agents. The various reinforcing agents, including whiskers, particulates, continuous fibers, and discontinuous fibers, are widely used owing to enhanced tribological and mechanical behavior comparable to bare Al alloy. Further, the advancement in the overall characteristics of the composite material can be obtained by optimizing the process parameters of the processing approach and the amount and types of reinforcement. Amongst the various available techniques, stir casting is the most suitable technique for the manufacturing of composite material. The amount of reinforcement controls the porosity (%) of the composite, while the types of reinforcement identify the compatibility with Al alloy through improvement in the overall characteristics of the composites. Fly ash, SiC, TiC, Al₂O₃, TiO₂, B₄C, etc. are the most commonly used reinforcing agents in AMMCs (aluminum metal matrix composites). The current research emphasizes how different forms of reinforcement affect AMMCs and evaluates reinforcement influence on the mechanical and tribo characteristics of composite material.

Magnesium (Mg) has attracted considerable attention as a biodegradable material for medical implants owing to its excellent biocompatibility, mitigating long-term toxicity and stress shielding. Nevertheless, challenges arise from its rapid degradation and low corrosion resistance under physiological conditions. To overcome these challenges, titanium (biocompatibility and corrosion resistance) has been integrated into Mg. The incorporation of titanium significantly improves mechanical and corrosion resistance properties, thereby enhancing performance in biological settings. Mg–Ti alloys are produced through mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The SPS technique transforms powder mixtures into bulk materials while preserving structural integrity, resulting in enhanced corrosion resistance, particularly Mg80-Ti20 alloy in simulated body fluids. Moreover, Mg–Ti alloy revealed no more toxicity when assessed on pre-osteoblastic cells. Furthermore, the ability of Mg–Ti-based alloy to create composites with polymers such as PLGA (polylactic-co-glycolic acid) widen their biomedical applications by regulating degradation and ensuring pH stability. These alloys promote temporary orthopaedic implants, offering initial load-bearing capacity during the healing process of fractures without requiring a second surgery for removal. To address scalability constraints, further research is necessary to investigate additional consolidation methods beyond SPS. It is essential to evaluate the relationship between corrosion and mechanical loading to confirm their adequacy in physiological environments. This review article highlights the importance of mechanical characterization and corrosion evaluation of Mg–Ti alloys, reinforcing their applicability in fracture fixation and various biomedical implants.

Polymer composites reinforced with nanofillers, synthetic fibers, and inorganic fillers have progressed rapidly, yet recent advances remain fragmented across filler-specific studies and often lack unified mechanistic interpretation. This review addresses this gap by presenting an interphase-centric, mechanism-driven framework linking processing routes, dispersion and functionalization requirements, interphase formation, and the resulting structure–property relationships. Representative quantitative datasets and mechanistic schematics are integrated to rationalize nonlinear mechanical reinforcement, percolation-controlled electrical/thermal transport, and thermal stabilization and barrier effects across major filler families. The review highlights how reinforcement efficiency is governed primarily by interfacial adhesion, filler connectivity, and processing-induced microstructural evolution rather than filler loading alone. Key challenges limiting scalability are critically discussed, including dispersion reproducibility, viscosity and processability constraints, interphase durability, and recycling compatibility. Finally, mechanism-based design rules and future outlook directions are provided to guide the development of high-performance, multifunctional, and sustainability-oriented polymer composite systems.

Polymer–ceramic hybrid composites are emerging as attractive candidates for lightweight, corrosion-resistant absorber components in solar thermal collectors; however, their adoption is constrained by the intrinsically low thermal conductivity of polymers, processing-induced anisotropic heat transport, interfacial thermal resistance at tube/laminate joints, and durability challenges under outdoor exposure. This review provides a collector-centered synthesis of polymer–ceramic hybrid materials, emphasizing the translation of composite properties into collector-level outcomes rather than conductivity enhancement alone. A structure–property–performance mapping approach is presented to connect directional thermal conductivity ((k_in-plane), (k_perp)), thermal diffusivity, heat capacity, coefficient of thermal expansion, and service temperature with collector performance parameters such as heat removal effectiveness, overall heat losses, and stagnation behavior. Ceramic fillers (e.g., boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, alumina) are examined for stable conduction-network formation, coating compatibility, and long-term reliability, while carbon fillers (graphite, graphene nanoplatelets, carbon nanotubes) are evaluated for combined heat spreading and solar absorption benefits, with attention to emissivity penalties. Hybrid ceramic–carbon architectures and multilayer absorber designs are identified as the most promising routes to balance thermal transport, optical selectivity (high solar absorptance and low thermal emittance), manufacturability, and durability under UV, humidity, and thermal cycling.

Carbon/polymer composites are increasingly designed as microstructure-engineered multifunctional materials that combine mechanical reinforcement with electrical/thermal transport, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and sensing. Performance is governed less by filler fraction than by the coupled control of network topology, junction resistance, and interfacial thermal boundary resistance under processing-induced shear and thermal histories. Electrical response follows percolation combined with tunneling/contact-controlled junctions, producing nonlinear σ(φ) behavior and high piezoresistive sensitivity near the percolation threshold. In contrast, thermal transport is commonly limited by Kapitza resistance and filler–filler junction resistance, restricting exploitation of the intrinsic conductivity of CNTs and graphene. Recent advances emphasize hybrid and 3D carbon architectures that densify connectivity, reduce junction losses, and enable programmable anisotropy via scalable routes such as masterbatch extrusion and additive manufacturing. However, translation remains constrained by dispersion-driven variability, transport–toughness trade-offs, and incomplete durability assessment under cycling, humidity, and reprocessing. This review consolidates mechanistic structure–processing–property relationships and provides application-driven design rules for sensors, EMI shielding, and thermal management.