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Polymers
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Plastic and Natural Fiber Materials
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Plastic and Natural Fiber Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 January 2023) | Viewed by 12067

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Le Quan Ngoc Tran

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
Interests: thermoplastic composites; natural fiber composites; composites manufacturing; lightweight sandwich structures; hybrid composites
Dr. Carlos A. Fuentes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Materials Research and Technology Department, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, L-4940 Hautcharage, Luxembourg
Interests: composite interfaces; wettability; advanced hierarchical composites; natural fibre composites; adhesion; wetting behaviour of fibres and thermoplastic melts; natural and synthetic fibres mechanical behaviour; damage and failure modes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thermoplastics, natural fibers and natural fiber thermoplastic composites are among the sustainable materials which have recently received great interest in both research and industry development for applications in many sectors, including automotive, sports and aerospace. The materials provide a wide range of advantages such as high specific mechanical properties, recyclability, renewability (in the case of natural fibres), short processing cycle and ability of post-forming. However, there remain challenges in both manufacturing and product performance when using the materials, which include high viscosity of the thermoplastic during composite processing, poor fiber–matrix compatibility and adhesion, low thermal stability and mechanical properties.

This Special Issue aims to present the latest scientific and technical advances in materials development, processing, characterizations and applications development of thermoplastics and natural-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics. Sustainability aspects related to the materials and their applications are highly welcome.

Dr. Le Quan Ngoc Tran
Dr. Carlos A. Fuentes
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

  • high-performance thermoplastics
  • natural fiber composites
  • sustainable composites
  • thermoplastic composite processing
  • recycled polymers/composites
  • thermoplastic foams

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 28639 KiB  
Article
Utilisation of Paunch Waste as a Natural Fibre in Biocomposites
by Clement Matthew Chan, Darren Martin, Emilie Gauthier, Paul Jensen, Bronwyn Laycock and Steven Pratt
Polymers 2022, 14(18), 3704; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14183704 - 6 Sep 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2063
Abstract
Paunch is a fibrous solid residue consisting of partially digested feed from the stomachs of processed cattle. It is the largest untapped solid waste stream from animals at meat processing plants, and potentially a valuable source of fibres for the production of sustainable [...] Read more.
Paunch is a fibrous solid residue consisting of partially digested feed from the stomachs of processed cattle. It is the largest untapped solid waste stream from animals at meat processing plants, and potentially a valuable source of fibres for the production of sustainable and potentially higher-value natural biocomposite materials. Paunch was obtained from the waste effluent of a red meat processing plant, and the fibre characteristics of the as-obtained material were studied and benchmarked against wood flour and ground buffel grass, with a view to evaluating the potential of paunch as a fibre for polymer composites. The ground paunch possessed a rough fibrous surface and fibre-like characteristics that were comparable to both wood flour and ground buffel grass, demonstrating their potential for use in composites. Without any pre-treatment or compatibilisation, composites of a representative biopolymer, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and ground paunch were successfully produced for the first time via extrusion, with up to 50 wt% paunch content. Mechanical property analysis showed that, at 30 wt% content, PHBV/ground paunch composites yielded mechanical properties that were comparable to those of composites with ground buffel grass. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plastic and Natural Fiber Materials)
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16 pages, 8532 KiB  
Article
Processing and Mechanical Properties of Basalt Fibre-Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites
by Xinying Deng, Ming Shun Hoo, Yi Wen Cheah and Le Quan Ngoc Tran
Polymers 2022, 14(6), 1220; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061220 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3154
Abstract
Basalt fibre is derived from volcanic rocks and has similar mechanical properties as glass fibre. However, poor fibre-matrix compatibility and processing issues are the main factors that have restricted the mechanical performance of basalt fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites (BFRTP). In this work, basalt continuous [...] Read more.
Basalt fibre is derived from volcanic rocks and has similar mechanical properties as glass fibre. However, poor fibre-matrix compatibility and processing issues are the main factors that have restricted the mechanical performance of basalt fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites (BFRTP). In this work, basalt continuous fibre composites with polypropylene (PP) and polycarbonate (PC) matrices were studied. The composites were processed by compression moulding, and a processing study was conducted to achieve good quality composites. For the BF-PC composites, the optimisation of material preparation and processing steps allowed the polymer to impregnate the fibres with minimal fibre movements, hence improving impregnation and mechanical properties. For BF-PP composites, a compatibiliser was required to improve fibre-matrix compatibility. The compatibiliser significantly improved the tensile and impact strength values for short BF-PP composites and continued to increase at 40 wt%. Furthermore, the analytical modelling of the Young’s moduli indicated that the induced fibre orientation during processing for short BF-PP composites and unidirectional (UD) BF-PC composites had better stress transfer than that of UD BF-PP composites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plastic and Natural Fiber Materials)
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12 pages, 4186 KiB  
Article
Thermal Degradation Kinetics Analysis of Polymer Composite Electrolyte Membranes of PEVOH and PBT Nano Fiber
by Sheng-Jen Lin and Gwomei Wu
Polymers 2022, 14(3), 537; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14030537 - 28 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2744
Abstract
The thermal degradation kinetics of high-performance polymer composite electrolyte membranes were investigated by thermal gravimetric analysis in this study. The novel porous polymer composite membranes were fabricated by crosslinking poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) with polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) nano fiber. The PBT nano-scale fiber [...] Read more.
The thermal degradation kinetics of high-performance polymer composite electrolyte membranes were investigated by thermal gravimetric analysis in this study. The novel porous polymer composite membranes were fabricated by crosslinking poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) with polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) nano fiber. The PBT nano-scale fiber non-woven cloth was first prepared by the electrospinning method to form a labyrinth-like structure, and the crosslinking was carried out by filtering it through a solution of EVOH and crosslinking agent triallylamine using the Porcelain Buchner funnel vacuum filtration method. The PBT–EVOH composite membranes with various crosslinking agent ratios and ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate (EC/DMC) immersion times were investigated for their thermal stability and ionic conductivity. The results showed that the higher crosslinking agent content would lower the crystallinity and enhance thermal stability. The thermal degradation activation energy was dramatically increased from 125 kJ/mol to 340 kJ/mol for the 1.5% crosslinking agent content sample at 80% conversion. The triallylamine crosslinking agent was indeed effective in improving thermal degradation resistivity. The best ionic conductivity of the polymer composite membranes was exhibited at 5.04 × 10−3 S cm−1 using the optimal weight ratio of EVOH/PBT composite controlled at 1/2. On the other hand, the EC/DMC immersion time was more effective in controlling the Rb value, thus the ionic conductivity of the membranes. A higher immersion time, such as 48 h, not only gave higher conductivity data but also provided more stable results. The triallylamine crosslinking agent improved the membrane ionic conductivity by about 22%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plastic and Natural Fiber Materials)
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26 pages, 5368 KiB  
Article
Contribution to a Circular Economy Model: From Lignocellulosic Wastes from the Extraction of Vegetable Oils to the Development of a New Composite
by Ivan Dominguez-Candela, Daniel Garcia-Garcia, Aina Perez-Nakai, Alejandro Lerma-Canto, Jaime Lora and Vicent Fombuena
Polymers 2021, 13(14), 2269; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13142269 - 10 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2738
Abstract
The present works focuses on the development of a novel fully bio-based composite using a bio-based high-density polyethylene (Bio-HDPE) obtained from sugar cane as matrix and a by-product of extraction of chia seed oil (CO) as filler, with the objective of achieving a [...] Read more.
The present works focuses on the development of a novel fully bio-based composite using a bio-based high-density polyethylene (Bio-HDPE) obtained from sugar cane as matrix and a by-product of extraction of chia seed oil (CO) as filler, with the objective of achieving a circular economy model. The research aims to revalorize an ever-increasing waste stream produced by the growing interest in vegetable oils. From the technical point of view, the chia seed flour (CSF) was chemically modified using a silane treatment. This treatment provides a better interfacial adhesion as was evidenced by the mechanical and thermal properties as well as field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The effect of silane treatment on water uptake and disintegration rate was also studied. On the other hand, in a second stage, an optimization of the percentage of treated CSF used as filler was carried out by a complete series of mechanical, thermal, morphological, colour, water absorption and disintegration tests with the aim to evaluate the new composite developed using chia by-products. It is noteworthy as the disintegration rate increased with the addition of CSF filler, which leads to obtain a partially biodegradable wood plastic composite (WPC) and therefore, becoming more environmentally friendly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plastic and Natural Fiber Materials)
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