Fillers
“Fillers are particles added to material (plastics, Composite material, Concrete) to lower the consumption of more expensive binder material or to better some properties of the mixtured material. Worldwide more than 50 million tons of fillers with a total sum of ca. 25 billion Euro for different application areas, such as paper, plastics, rubber, paints and adhesives, are consumed annually. As such, fillers, produced by more than 700 companies, rank among the world's major raw materials and are contained in a variety of goods for daily consumer needs”
(Wikipedia, Fillers /Materials, 11/15/2010)
Review Articles
Fillers for polysiloxane (“silicone”) elastomers
(893-901) Progress in Polymer Science 35 #7 (2010)
Paul and Mark of the University of Texas describe fillers that can be used in silicone rubber instead of silica with their advantages and disadvantages. (RDC 11/15/2010)