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Polymers
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Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials
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Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 5259

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Md Najib Alam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-Ro, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 38541, Korea
Interests: vulcanization; rubber nanocomposites; energy harvesting; sensors and actuators; magnetorheological elastomers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Vineet Kumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 712-749, Republic of Korea
Interests: rubber nanocomposites; graphene; carbon nanotube; mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites; hybrid fillers; elastomers; magneto-rheological elastomers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of polymer composites can be traced back to the 20th century. However, at that time, research on these polymer composites was mainly focused on strength and low weight as the main themes. In the coming decades, with an advancement in technology related to material science and engineering, the emergence of new materials was reported. During this time, the continued emergence of new materials and deeper understanding of new materials as fillers like those at micro- and nano-levels are established. Then, the foundation of the emergence of next-generation multifunctional applications came into existence at the beginning of the 21st century. The key materials of interest were carbon-based materials like carbon nanotubes, and graphene-based polymer composites dominated the literature research for almost two decades of the 21st century. Then, the emergence of the MXene family makes the path of functionalities like strain sensors and wearable technologies more appealing. Finally, among the various polymer composites, the elastomer family has been extensively explored for these applications. It is due to their ability to stretch, be light in weight, easy to process, cheap, naturally available, and wearable. These elastomers are mixed with electrically conducting materials to make them flexible and intelligently usable for both academic and industrial research.

Keeping these aspects in mind, this Special Issue will focus on the development of polymer composites, mainly from the elastomer family. These composites needed to be reinforced with new-generation nanofillers that can make them electrically conducting, mechanically tough, and stretchable. Moreover, further advancements in the literature and industries need further attention to develop the next frontiers for multifunctional applications from these polymer composites. So key aspects of this Special Issue include the following:

  • Next frontiers for multifunctional applications like strain sensors, wearable electronic technologies, self-healing mechanisms, stimuli-responsive behaviors, and biological toxicity.
  • New types of sensors like sensing aquatic life, real-time monitoring sensors like health monitoring, physical activity sensors, humidity sensors, breathing as respiratory sensors, organic gas sensors, and finally smart textile sensors and plant-pulse monitoring sensors.
  • Self-powered wearable energy generators like piezoelectric and triboelectric mechanisms.
  • Theoretical modeling and simulations based on their multiscale and multifunctional aspects.
  • New frontiers for polymer composites, such as elastomers, thermoplastics, and thermosets, and new fabrication processes like 3D and 4D printing.

Dr. Md Najib Alam
Dr. Vineet Kumar
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

  • strain sensors
  • polymer composites
  • energy harvesting
  • carbon nanomaterials

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 6624 KiB  
Article
Laser-Induced Silver Nanowires/Polymer Composites for Flexible Electronics and Electromagnetic Compatibility Application
by Il’ya Bril’, Anton Voronin, Yuri Fadeev, Alexander Pavlikov, Ilya Govorun, Ivan Podshivalov, Bogdan Parshin, Mstislav Makeev, Pavel Mikhalev, Kseniya Afanasova, Mikhail Simunin and Stanislav Khartov
Polymers 2024, 16(22), 3174; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16223174 - 14 Nov 2024
Viewed by 522
Abstract
Nowadays, the Internet of Things (IOT), electronics, and neural interfaces are becoming an integral part of our life. These technologies place unprecedentedly high demands on materials in terms of their mechanical and electrical properties. There are several strategies for forming conductive layers in [...] Read more.
Nowadays, the Internet of Things (IOT), electronics, and neural interfaces are becoming an integral part of our life. These technologies place unprecedentedly high demands on materials in terms of their mechanical and electrical properties. There are several strategies for forming conductive layers in such composites, e.g., volume blending to achieve a percolation threshold, inkjet printing, lithography, and laser processing. The latter is a low-cost, environmentally friendly, scalable way to produce composites. In our work, we synthesized AgNW and characterized them using Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Selective area electron diffraction (SAED). We found that our AgNW absorbed in the UV-vis range of 345 to 410 nm. This is due to the plasmon resonance phenomenon of AgNW. Then, we applied the dispersion of AgNW on the surface of the polymer substrate, dried them and we got the films of AgNW.. We irradiated these films with a 432 nm laser. As a result of the treatment, we observed two processes. The first one was the sintering and partial melting of nanowires under the influence of laser radiation, as a consequence of which, the sheet resistance dropped more than twice. The second was the melting of the polymer at the interface and the subsequent integration of AgNW into the substrate. This allowed us to improve the adhesion from 0–1 B to 5 B, and to obtain a composite capable of bending, with radius of 0.5 mm. We also evaluated the shielding efficiency of the obtained composites. The shielding efficiency for 500–600 nm thick porous film samples were 40 dB, and for 3.1–4.1 µm porous films the shielding efficiency was about 85–90 dB in a frequency range of 0.01–40 GHz. The data obtained by us are the basis for producing flexible electronic components based on AgNW/PET composite for various applications using laser processing methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials)
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15 pages, 5316 KiB  
Article
Study of Polysulfone-Impregnated Hydroxyapatite for Ultrafiltration in Whey Protein Separation
by Tutik Sriani, Muslim Mahardika, Budi Arifvianto, Farazila Yusof, Yudan Whulanza, Gunawan Setia Prihandana and Ario Sunar Baskoro
Polymers 2024, 16(21), 3079; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16213079 - 31 Oct 2024
Viewed by 511
Abstract
Polysulfone (Psf) ultrafiltration flat-sheet membranes were modified with hydroxyapatite (HA) powder during preparation using the wet-phase inversion method. HA was incorporated to enhance the protein separation capabilities. The asymmetric Psf membranes were synthesized using NMP as the solvent. Through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) [...] Read more.
Polysulfone (Psf) ultrafiltration flat-sheet membranes were modified with hydroxyapatite (HA) powder during preparation using the wet-phase inversion method. HA was incorporated to enhance the protein separation capabilities. The asymmetric Psf membranes were synthesized using NMP as the solvent. Through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis, it was revealed that HA was distributed across the membrane. Incorporating HA led to higher flux, the improved rejection of protein, and enhanced surface hydrophilicity. The permeability flux increased with HA concentration, peaking at 0.3 wt.%, resulting in a 38% improvement to 65 LMH/bar. Whey protein separation was evaluated using the model proteins BSA and lysozyme, representing α-Lactalbumin. The results of protein rejection for the blend membranes indicated that the rejection rates for BSA and lysozyme increased to 97.2% and 73%, respectively. Both the native and blend membranes showed similar BSA rejection rates; however, the blend membranes demonstrated better performance in lysozyme separation, indicating superior selectivity compared to native membranes. The modified membranes exhibited improved hydrophilicity, with water contact angles decreasing from 66° to 53°, alongside improved antifouling properties, indicated by a lower flux decline ratio value. This simple and economical modification method enhances permeability without sacrificing separation efficiency, hence facilitating the scalability of membrane production in the whey protein separation industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials)
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19 pages, 10502 KiB  
Article
Effects of BET Surface Area and Silica Hydrophobicity on Natural Rubber Latex Foam Using the Dunlop Process
by Danvanichkul Assadakorn, Gongxu Liu, Kuanfa Hao, Lichen Bai, Fumin Liu, Yuan Xu, Lei Guo and Haichao Liu
Polymers 2024, 16(21), 3076; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16213076 - 31 Oct 2024
Viewed by 525
Abstract
To reinforce natural rubber latex foam, fumed silica and precipitated silica are introduced into latex foam prepared using the Dunlop process as fillers. Four types of silica, including Aerosil 200 (hydrophilic fumed silica), Reolosil DM30, Aerosil R972 (hydrophobic fumed silica), and Sipernat 22S [...] Read more.
To reinforce natural rubber latex foam, fumed silica and precipitated silica are introduced into latex foam prepared using the Dunlop process as fillers. Four types of silica, including Aerosil 200 (hydrophilic fumed silica), Reolosil DM30, Aerosil R972 (hydrophobic fumed silica), and Sipernat 22S (precipitated silica), are investigated. The latex foam with added silica presents better mechanical and physical properties compared with the non-silica foam. The hydrophobic nature of the fumed silica has better dispersion in natural rubber compared to hydrophilic silica. The specific surface area of silica particles (BET) also significantly influences the properties of the latex foam, with larger specific surface areas resulting in better dispersity in the rubber matrix. It was observed that exceeding 2 phr led to difficulties in the foaming process (bulking). Furthermore, higher loading of silica also affected the rubber foam, resulting in an increased shrinkage percentage, hardness, compression set, and crosslink density. The crosslink density increased from 11.0 ± 0.2 mol/cm3 for non-silica rubber to 11.6 ± 0.6 mol/cm3 for Reolosil DM30. Reolosil DM30 also had the highest hardness, with a hardness value of 52.0 ± 2.1 IRHD, compared to 45.0 ± 1.3 IRHD for non-silica foam rubber and 48 ± 2.4 IRHD for hydrophilic fumed silica Aerosil 200. Hydrophobic fumed silica also had the highest ability to return to its original shape, with a recovery percentage of 88.0% ± 3.5% compared to the other fumed silica. Overall, hydrophobic fumed silica had better results than hydrophilic silica in both fumed and precipitated silica. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials)
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15 pages, 5505 KiB  
Article
Design and Characterization of Poly(ethylene oxide)-Based Multifunctional Composites with Succinonitrile Fillers for Ambient-Temperature Structural Sodium-Ion Batteries
by Vasan Iyer, Jan Petersen, Sebastian Geier and Peter Wierach
Polymers 2024, 16(19), 2806; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16192806 - 3 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1186
Abstract
A new approach to developing structural sodium batteries capable of operating in ambient-temperature conditions has been successfully achieved. The developed multifunctional structural electrolyte (SE) using poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a matrix integrated with succinonitrile (SN) plasticizers and glass-fiber (GF) reinforcements identified as GF_PEO-SN-NaClO [...] Read more.
A new approach to developing structural sodium batteries capable of operating in ambient-temperature conditions has been successfully achieved. The developed multifunctional structural electrolyte (SE) using poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as a matrix integrated with succinonitrile (SN) plasticizers and glass-fiber (GF) reinforcements identified as GF_PEO-SN-NaClO4 showed a tensile strength of 32.1 MPa and an ionic conductivity of 1.01 × 10−4 S cm−1 at room temperature. It displayed a wide electrochemical stability window of 0 to 4.9 V and a high sodium-ion transference number of 0.51 at room temperature. The structural electrode (CF|SE) was fabricated by pressing the structural electrolyte with carbon fibers (CFs), and it showed a tensile strength of 72.3 MPa. The fabricated structural battery half-cell (CF||SE||Na) demonstrated good cycling stability and an energy density of 14.2 Wh kg−1, and it retained 80% capacity at the end of the 200th cycle. The cycled electrodes were observed using scanning electron microscopy, which revealed small dendrite formation and dense albeit uniform deposition of the sodium metal, helping to avoid a short-circuit of the cell and providing more cycling stability. The developed multifunctional matrix composites demonstrate promising potential for developing ambient-temperature sodium structural batteries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials)
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23 pages, 5202 KiB  
Article
Multifunctional Aspects of Mechanical and Electromechanical Properties of Composites Based on Silicone Rubber for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Systems
by Vineet Kumar, Md. Najib Alam, Manesh A. Yewale and Sang-Shin Park
Polymers 2024, 16(14), 2058; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16142058 - 18 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 884
Abstract
Energy harvesting systems fabricated from rubber composite materials are promising due to their ability to produce green energy with no environmental pollution. Thus, the present work investigated energy harvesting through piezoelectricity using rubber composites. These composites were fabricated by mixing titanium carbide (TiC) [...] Read more.
Energy harvesting systems fabricated from rubber composite materials are promising due to their ability to produce green energy with no environmental pollution. Thus, the present work investigated energy harvesting through piezoelectricity using rubber composites. These composites were fabricated by mixing titanium carbide (TiC) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as reinforcing and electrically conductive fillers into a silicone rubber matrix. Excellent mechanical and electromechanical properties were produced by these composites. For example, the compressive modulus was 1.55 ± 0.08 MPa (control) and increased to 1.95 ± 0.07 MPa (6 phr or per hundred parts of rubber of TiC) and 2.02 ± 0.09 MPa (6 phr of MoS2). Similarly, the stretchability was 133 ± 7% (control) and increased to 153 ± 9% (6 phr of TiC) and 165 ± 12% (6 phr of MoS2). The reinforcing efficiency (R.E.) and reinforcing factor (R.F.) were also determined theoretically. These results agree well with those of the mechanical property tests and thus validate the experimental work. Finally, the electromechanical tests showed that at 30% strain, the output voltage was 3.5 mV (6 phr of TiC) and 6.7 mV (6 phr of MoS2). Overall, the results show that TiC and MoS2 added to silicone rubber lead to robust and versatile composite materials. These composite materials can be useful in achieving higher energy generation, high stretchability, and optimum stiffness and are in line with existing theoretical models. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials)
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Review

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52 pages, 2318 KiB  
Review
Machine Learning in 3D and 4D Printing of Polymer Composites: A Review
by Ivan Malashin, Igor Masich, Vadim Tynchenko, Andrei Gantimurov, Vladimir Nelyub, Aleksei Borodulin, Dmitry Martysyuk and Andrey Galinovsky
Polymers 2024, 16(22), 3125; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16223125 - 8 Nov 2024
Viewed by 870
Abstract
The emergence of 3D and 4D printing has transformed the field of polymer composites, facilitating the fabrication of complex structures. As these manufacturing techniques continue to progress, the integration of machine learning (ML) is widely utilized to enhance aspects of these processes. This [...] Read more.
The emergence of 3D and 4D printing has transformed the field of polymer composites, facilitating the fabrication of complex structures. As these manufacturing techniques continue to progress, the integration of machine learning (ML) is widely utilized to enhance aspects of these processes. This includes optimizing material properties, refining process parameters, predicting performance outcomes, and enabling real-time monitoring. This paper aims to provide an overview of the recent applications of ML in the 3D and 4D printing of polymer composites. By highlighting the intersection of these technologies, this paper seeks to identify existing trends and challenges, and outline future directions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional Polymer Composite Materials)
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