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Polymers as a Springboard in Material Sciences: From Insulating Protective Coatings to Conducting Smart Films

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2021) | Viewed by 25992

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: electrochemistry; conductive polymers; chiral molecular materials; solar energy devices; photoelectrochemistry; polymeric coatings; sustainable materials; electrolytic plasma; corrosion science; recovery and remediation processes
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: electrochemistry; electroanalysis; bipolar electrochemistry; conductive polymers; chiral materials; (chiral) ionic liquids; (chiral) deep eutectic solvents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue deals with polymers for thin coatings and films. Attention will be equally divided between insulating and conductive polymers, both objects of very lively research fields, where strong multidisciplinarity matches with several promising applications. Listing the employment of polymeric coatings and films would be very hard. On the one hand, there are insulating, waterproof coatings for protection of the underlying substrate, and, on the other hand, there are conductive, high-porous films for sensoristics and energetics. Notwithstanding several possible applications, some issues are still far from being understood and solved, from the working mechanism (e.g., for conductive polymers) to the long-term stability, high synthetic costs, processability on large scale, etc. For these reasons, this Special Issue aims to improve both the fundamental knowledge and the practical applicability of polymeric coatings and films by collecting both original research papers, characterized by a strong push towards innovation, and review articles, able to summarize the available knowledge.

The Special Issue will explore polymeric films/coatings based on novel materials (possibly sustainable and green) and/or be employed in innovative applications (including renewable energy ones, biomedical and sensing devices). A non-exhaustive list of acceptable topics may include the following:

  • Polymeric films in devices (photoelectrochemical ones, smart windows, etc.)
  • Polymers as chemically active surfaces (e.g., electrocatalysis, photo(electro)catalysis)
  • Polymer films in sensors (e.g., electrochemical ones);
  • Polymeric coatings for corrosion protection;
  • Polymeric coatings in the food industry;
  • Smart polymeric coatings (self-healing, superhydrophobic, self-cleaning, fluorescent, etc.);
  • Polymer composite films/coatings;
  • Molecularly imprinted polymer films;
  • Chiral conductive polymers;
  • Polymers in spintronics;
  • Polymer films in bipolar electrochemistry (e.g., actuators);
  • Polymers in medical and biomedical devices

This Special Issue will be a valuable collection of interesting ideas, novel materials, and smart applications that could be helpful for the broad chemistry community working on polymeric coatings and films.

Dr. Mirko Magni
Dr. Serena Arnaboldi
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • conductive polymer
  • protective coating
  • polymeric semiconductor
  • polymer composite
  • chiral polymeric film
  • polymeric sensor
  • electrochemistry

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 3100 KiB  
Article
Antifouling Membranes Based on Cellulose Acetate (CA) Blended with Poly(acrylic acid) for Heavy Metal Remediation
by Ibtissem Ounifi, Youssef Guesmi, Claudia Ursino, Sergio Santoro, Selim Mahfoudhi, Alberto Figoli, Ezzedin Ferjanie and Amor Hafiane
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(10), 4354; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11104354 - 11 May 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2686
Abstract
Fouling has been widely recognized as the Achilles’ heel of membrane processes and the growing perception about the relevance of this critical issue has driven the development of advanced antifouling strategies. Herein, novel fouling-resistant ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for Cadmium (Cd) remediation were developed [...] Read more.
Fouling has been widely recognized as the Achilles’ heel of membrane processes and the growing perception about the relevance of this critical issue has driven the development of advanced antifouling strategies. Herein, novel fouling-resistant ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for Cadmium (Cd) remediation were developed via a blending method by combining the flexibility of cellulose acetate (CA) with the complex properties of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). A systematic characterization, based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), confirmed the homogeneity of the blend favored by hydrogen interconnections between CA and PAA polymeric chains. The concentration of PAA with respect to CA played a key role in tuning the morphology and the hydrophilic character of the novel UF membranes prepared via non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS). UF experiments revealed the tremendous advantages of the blend since CA/PAA membranes showed superior performance with respect to the neat CA membrane in terms of (i) water permeability; (ii) Cd rejection; and (iii) antifouling resistance to humic acid (HA). Concisely, the increasing of the concentration of PAA in the casting solution was found to be beneficial to improve the flux recovery ratio (FRR) coupled with the decline of the total fouling ratio (Rt). Overall, PAA is an effective additive to prepare CA membranes with enhanced antifouling properties exploitable for the remediation of water bodies contaminated by heavy metals via UF process. Full article
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18 pages, 4745 KiB  
Article
Effect of Urea-Formaldehyde (UF) with Waterborne Emulsion Microcapsules on Properties of Waterborne Acrylic Coatings Based on Coating Process for American Lime
by Xiaoxing Yan, Wenting Zhao and Xingyu Qian
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(18), 6341; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10186341 - 11 Sep 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2317
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of urea-formaldehyde (UF) with waterborne emulsion microcapsules on the optical, mechanical and aging resistance properties of waterborne coatings from the perspective of coating process. In this paper, the microcapsules were prepared with UF [...] Read more.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of urea-formaldehyde (UF) with waterborne emulsion microcapsules on the optical, mechanical and aging resistance properties of waterborne coatings from the perspective of coating process. In this paper, the microcapsules were prepared with UF resin as the wall materials and waterborne emulsion as the core materials. Based on the coating process, the optical, mechanical and aging resistance properties of the waterborne acrylic coatings with microcapsules for American lime were tested. The good coating process is three layers of primer, two layers of topcoat, and adding microcapsules into primer. The results showed that the coating process had little effect on the color difference of the paint film with microcapsules, the gloss of the paint film prepared by the good coating process was basically not changed, and the mechanical properties of the paint film were good. At this time, the hardness grade of the paint film was 3H, the adhesion was grade 0, the impact resistance was 110.0 N·cm−2, and the elongation at break was 29.7%. The microcapsules added to the primer had better liquid resistance than those added to the topcoat. The paint film had good stability and aging resistance, and could inhibit the generation of microcracks to a certain extent. The paint film prepared by the good coating process had better comprehensive performance. This work provides a technical reference for self-healing of the waterborne coatings on American lime. Full article
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17 pages, 4072 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Characterization of Electrosprayed Nanocapsules Containing Coconut-Oil-Based Alkyd Resin for the Fabrication of Self-Healing Epoxy Coatings
by Roya Malekkhouyan, Saied Nouri Khorasani, Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany, Reza Torkaman, Mohammad Sadegh Koochaki and Oisik Das
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(9), 3171; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10093171 - 1 May 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3348
Abstract
In the present study, the preparation of nanocapsules using the coaxial electrospraying method was investigated. Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) was used as a shell material and coconut-oil-based alkyd resin (CAR) as a core. Chemical structure, thermal stability, and morphology of nanocapsules were characterized by Fourier [...] Read more.
In the present study, the preparation of nanocapsules using the coaxial electrospraying method was investigated. Poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) was used as a shell material and coconut-oil-based alkyd resin (CAR) as a core. Chemical structure, thermal stability, and morphology of nanocapsules were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. In addition, the formation of the core–shell structure was approved by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and FE-SEM micrographs of the fractured nanocapsules. Furthermore, differential scanning calorimetry tests (DSC) were carried out to investigate the reactivity of released healing agents from the nanocapsules. The prepared nanocapsules were then incorporated into the epoxy resins and applied on the surfaces of the steel panels. The effect of capsule incorporation on the properties of the coating was evaluated. The self-healing performance of the coatings in the salty and acidic media was also assessed. The FTIR results revealed the presence of both shell and core in the prepared nanocapsules and proved that no reaction occurred between them. The morphological studies confirmed that the electrosprayed nanocapsules’ mean diameter was 708 ± 252 nm with an average shell thickness of 82 nm. The TGA test demonstrated the thermal stability of nanocapsules to be up to 270 °C while the DSC results reveal a successful reaction between CAR and epoxy resin, especially in the acidic media. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) test results demonstrate that the best self-healing performance was achieved for the 2 and 1 wt.% nanocapsules incorporation in the NaCl, and HCl solution, respectively. Full article
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Review

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20 pages, 28952 KiB  
Review
On the Use of PEDOT as a Catalytic Counter Electrode Material in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Edoardo Marchini, Stefano Caramori, Carlo Alberto Bignozzi and Stefano Carli
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 3795; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11093795 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3531
Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) emerged in the early 1990s as a promising alternative to the classic silicon-based solar cell due to their unique combination of low cost, ease of fabrication, color palette for building integration, and high efficiency in indoor applications. This review [...] Read more.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) emerged in the early 1990s as a promising alternative to the classic silicon-based solar cell due to their unique combination of low cost, ease of fabrication, color palette for building integration, and high efficiency in indoor applications. This review article describes the fabrication and the properties of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)-based catalytic counter electrodes (CEs) for DSSCs. In particular, the electrochemical reactivity PEDOT CEs used in conjunction with alternative redox mediators for DSSCs is outlined. Among alternative redox shuttles, cobalt and copper complexes, as well as totally organic thiolate/disulfide, have been considered. Finally, PEDOT can also be used as a hole conductor material in electrolyte-free solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. This review clearly shows that the progress in DSSCs development is strongly linked to the introduction of PEDOT as a new counter electrode material. Full article
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18 pages, 2298 KiB  
Review
Environmentally Friendly Anticorrosive Polymeric Coatings
by Mirko Faccini, Lorenzo Bautista, Laura Soldi, Ana M. Escobar, Manuela Altavilla, Martí Calvet, Anna Domènech and Eva Domínguez
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(8), 3446; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11083446 - 12 Apr 2021
Cited by 83 | Viewed by 13235
Abstract
This paper provides a synthetic and comprehensive overview on environmentally friendly anticorrosive polymeric coatings. Firstly, the economic and environmental impact of corrosion is presented to highlight the need of anticorrosive polymeric coatings as a flexible and effective solution to protect a metal. Secondly, [...] Read more.
This paper provides a synthetic and comprehensive overview on environmentally friendly anticorrosive polymeric coatings. Firstly, the economic and environmental impact of corrosion is presented to highlight the need of anticorrosive polymeric coatings as a flexible and effective solution to protect a metal. Secondly, the implementation of regulations together with the consumer awareness for environmental considerations and protection of health are the driving force for a progressive but significant change in the sector. Therefore, within the protective organic coatings market, this article provides a review of the most recent developments in environmentally friendly solutions, including bio-based and water-borne epoxy, hyperbranched polyester for low- volatile organic compounds (VOC) coatings, waterborne polyurethane and non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs), and graphene or bio-based fillers for acrylics. Moreover, this paper outlines new trends such as smart additives, bio-based corrosion inhibitors, and functional antibiocorrosive coatings as superhydrophobics. Finally, industrially relevant applications of environmentally friendly anticorrosive polymeric coatings including solutions for marine and off-shore industries are summarized. Full article
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