Industrial applications of polymer–metal oxide composites: a comprehensive review

Purpose Polymer–metal oxide composites’ (PMCs’) remarkable traits and behaviors have expanded their range of applications. Food packaging, automotive, textile and aerospace industries, as well as the electrical and electronic, paper and military industries, adhesive, coating, paint industries, cement, pharmaceutical, electromagnetic shielding and sensor industries are just a few of the industries that are covered in this review of the different PMC preparation techniques and applications. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the various preparation techniques and diverse industrial applications of polymer–metal oxide composites (PMCs), highlighting their unique properties and multifunctional potential across multiple sectors. Design/methodology/approach PMCs hold remarkable promise for various applications due to their integrated structure, which combines properties not found in either of their component elements independently. PMCs can be manufactured in the required sizes and shapes, allowing researchers to control the particles’ surface area, optical characteristics, magnetic behavior and catalytic activity, among other properties. PMCs’ potential industrial applications have been greatly increased by their low cost and lightweight nature. Findings The superior properties of the PMCs over the parent polymer can be used to explain this. Originality/value This review offers a new, cross-disciplinary look into PMCs. It focuses on the unique features that come from their hybrid structure and looks into how they might be adjusted for different industrial uses. This review is different from others because it brings together both material science and practical engineering points of view from more than ten fields. This makes it a complete plan for the future growth and commercialization of PMCs.