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Polymers
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Characteristics and Applications of Natural Fiber Composites III
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Characteristics and Applications of Natural Fiber Composites III

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 October 2023) | Viewed by 17325

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sergio Neves Monteiro

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Guest Editor
Instituto Militar de Engenharia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Interests: less common natural fibers; thermorigid composites; mechanical properties; fabric reinforced composites; fracture mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fabio Da Costa Garcia Filho

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
Interests: natural fiber composites; dynamic behavior of materials; ballistic resistant materials; mechanical properties; impact properties
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fernanda Santos da Luz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Military Institute of Engineering, Rio de Janeiro 22290-270, Brazil
Interests: thermal properties; natural fiber composites; statistical analysis; fiber/matrix interface; microstructural characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research and applied publications on green materials associated with sustainable issues have thrived in recent decades. In particular, there has been a renewed interest in natural fibers, in substitution of synthetic ones, as polymer composite reinforcements. Indeed, a scaling number of publications has been reported by ISI Knowledge, from only three papers in 1990 with the keyword “natural fiber composite” to 1530 just in 2018. New natural fibers and fabric-reinforcing novel composites are constantly being disclosed, with their characteristics and properties examined. Furthermore, technological applications, from automotive to industrial commodities, are almost continuously being added to the market. To follow the pace, this Special Issue intends to update the characteristics, properties, and applications of natural fiber/fabric polymer composites.

Prof. Dr. Sergio Neves Monteiro
Dr. Fabio Da Costa Garcia Filho
Dr. Fernanda Santos da Luz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural fiber
  • natural fiber composite
  • mechanical properties
  • thermal properties
  • impact properties
  • surface modification
  • fiber–matrix interface
  • microstructural characterization

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3873 KiB  
Article
Microfibrillated Cellulose with a Lower Degree of Polymerization; Synthesis via Sulfuric Acid Hydrolysis under Ultrasonic Treatment
by Yuriy N. Malyar, Irina G. Sudakova, Valentina S. Borovkova, Anna I. Chudina, Elena V. Mazurova, Sergey A. Vorobyev, Olga Yu. Fetisova, Eugene V. Elsufiev and Ivan P. Ivanov
Polymers 2023, 15(4), 904; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15040904 - 11 Feb 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2191
Abstract
A new approach is being considered for obtaining microfibrillated cellulose with a low degree of polymerization by sulfuric acid hydrolysis with simultaneous ultrasonic treatment under mild conditions (temperature 25 °C, 80% power control). Samples of initial cellulose, MCC, and MFC were characterized by [...] Read more.
A new approach is being considered for obtaining microfibrillated cellulose with a low degree of polymerization by sulfuric acid hydrolysis with simultaneous ultrasonic treatment under mild conditions (temperature 25 °C, 80% power control). Samples of initial cellulose, MCC, and MFC were characterized by FTIR, XRF, SEM, DLS, and TGA. It was found that a high yield of MFC (86.4 wt.%) and a low SP (94) are observed during hydrolysis with ultrasonic treatment for 90 min. It was shown that the resulting microfibrillated cellulose retains the structure of cellulose I and has an IC of 0.74. It was found that MFC particles are a network of fibrils with an average size of 91.2 nm. ζ-potential of an aqueous suspension of MFC equal to −23.3 mV indicates its high stability. It is noted that MFC has high thermal stability, the maximum decomposition temperature is 333.9 °C. Simultaneous hydrolysis process with ultrasonic treatment to isolate MFC from cellulose obtained by oxidative delignification of spruce wood allows to reduce the number of stages, reduce energy costs, and expand the scope. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics and Applications of Natural Fiber Composites III)
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Review

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19 pages, 1864 KiB  
Review
Replacing Plastic with Bamboo: A Review of the Properties and Green Applications of Bamboo-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites
by Dandan Xu, Sheng He, Weiqi Leng, Yuhe Chen and Zaixing Wu
Polymers 2023, 15(21), 4276; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15214276 - 31 Oct 2023
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 8889
Abstract
Natural fiber composites are receiving more and more attention because of their greenness and low cost. Among natural fibers, bamboo is characterized by fast growth, a short cultivation period, high strength and good toughness, and is one of the strongest natural fibers in [...] Read more.
Natural fiber composites are receiving more and more attention because of their greenness and low cost. Among natural fibers, bamboo is characterized by fast growth, a short cultivation period, high strength and good toughness, and is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world. A bamboo-fiber-reinforced polymer composite (BFRPC) has the characteristics of high mechanical strength, low density, degradability, etc. It has the industrial applicability comparable to metal materials, the same strong corrosion resistance as composites such as glass and carbon fibers, and the same immunity to electromagnetic interference and low thermal conductivity as natural materials. Its unidirectional specific strength and unidirectional specific modulus is higher than that of glass fiber, second only to the extremely high price of carbon fiber, which is playing an increasingly important role in the field of composite materials, and can be widely used in the fields of wind power, construction, aviation, automotive, medical care and so on. At present, it has been initially used in packaging, automotive and transportation fields, and is expected to replace petroleum-based plastics in various fields. In addition to their environmental protection and green production, they have excellent physical properties. This paper provides an overview of the mechanical properties of bamboo-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites and thermoset composites that have been developed so far, such as tensile strength, flexural properties and impact strength. In addition, the prospects of bamboo-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites for automotive, packaging and agricultural applications are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics and Applications of Natural Fiber Composites III)
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31 pages, 23954 KiB  
Review
Fabric Impregnation with Shear Thickening Fluid for Ballistic Armor Polymer Composites: An Updated Overview
by Matheus Pereira Ribeiro, Pedro Henrique Poubel Mendonça da Silveira, Fábio de Oliveira Braga and Sergio Neves Monteiro
Polymers 2022, 14(20), 4357; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14204357 - 16 Oct 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5197
Abstract
As destructive power of firearms raises over the years, ballistic armors are in continuous need of enhancement. For soft armors, this improvement is invariably related to the increase of stacked layers of high-strength fiber fabrics, which potentially restrains wearer mobility. A different solution [...] Read more.
As destructive power of firearms raises over the years, ballistic armors are in continuous need of enhancement. For soft armors, this improvement is invariably related to the increase of stacked layers of high-strength fiber fabrics, which potentially restrains wearer mobility. A different solution was created in the early 2000s, when a research work proposed a new treatment of the ballistic panels with non-Newtonian colloidal shear thickening fluid (STF), in view of weight decreasing with strength reinforcement and cost-effective production. Since then, databases reveal a surge in publications generally pointing to acceptable features under ballistic impact by exploring different conditions of the materials adopted. As a result, several works have not been covered in recent reviews for a wider discussion of their methodologies and results, which could be a barrier to a deeper understanding of the behavior of STF-impregnated fabrics. Therefore, the present work aims to overview the unexplored state-of-art on the effectiveness of STF addition to high-strength fabrics for ballistic applications to compile achievements regarding the ballistic strength of this novel material through different parameters. From the screened papers, SiO2, Polyethylene glycol (PEG) 200 and 400, and Aramid are extensively being incorporated into the STF/Fabric composites. Besides, parameters such as initial and residual velocity, energy absorbed, ballistic limit, and back face signature are common metrics for a comprehensive analysis of the ballistic performance of the material. The overview also points to a promising application of natural fiber fabrics and auxetic fabrics with STF fluids, as well as the demand for the adoption of new materials and more homogeneous ballistic test parameters. Finally, the work emphasizes that the ballistic application for STF-impregnated fabric based on NIJ standards is feasible for several conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics and Applications of Natural Fiber Composites III)
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