A Study on Particulate Release when Machining Nano-structured Polymeric Composites.

This paper presents a quantitative assessment of particles released when machining nanostructured composite materials. Two different nanocomposite materials (graphene/epoxy and halloysite nanoclay/polyester) were micro machined using carbide end mills under various cutting conditions. A portable particulate monitor (Turnkey Dustmate, laser light scattering monitor) was used at different locations at a distance from the machining zone (starting from 10 cm to 1 m) to measure the released PM10, PM2.5, PM1 concentrations (diameter <10, <2.5 and <1 µm, respectively, with a lower limit of 0.5 µm). DustMate results showed that concentrations across the three size categories were well below workplace exposure limits.