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Polymers
Special Issues
Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Sustainable and Recyclable Polymers
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Sustainable and Recyclable Polymers

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 2291

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Antonio Pizzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LERMAB, Laboratoire d’Etude et de Recherche sur le MAteriau Bois, Université de Lorraine, 27 rue Philippe Seguin, CS60036, 88021 Epinal, France
Interests: polycondensation; resins; adhesives; thermosetting polymers for adhesives; natural polymers for industrial use; fibrous and wood composites; polymeric wood constituents (cellulose, lignin, tannins)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable polymers are materials derived from renewable, recycled, and waste carbon resources and their combinations, which can be either recycled, biodegraded or composted at the end of their useful service life. Their reduced environmental impact throughout their service life and their recyclability are crucial aspects of sustainable polymers. Thus, polymers such as bioplastics, polylactic acid, poly(ethylene 2,5-furan dicarboxylate), cellulose-based plastics, starch and starch-blend-based plastics, cellulose and other carbohydrate derivatives, alginates, pectins, chitin and chitosan, animal-based proteins, such as silk, gelatin or collagen, plant-based proteins and lipids, thermoplastics and even some thermosetting materials can be considered in this category, including lignin from different sources, tannins, and others. A variety of sustainable material applications are already commercially available, such as starch-based plastic sacks, thermoplastic lignin objects, and polyfuranics; indeed, their applicative scope is expanding and is bound to increase even more.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The preparation, characterization, properties, and application of sustainable polymers, blends, and composites prepared using renewable resources;
  • The synthesis, properties, and application of renewable and biodegradable polymers;
  • The recycling of waste polymers using novel approaches;
  • The discovery of new functional materials from waste polymers.

Prof. Dr. Antonio Pizzi
Guest Editor

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

  • cellulose bioplastics
  • starch-blend bioplastics
  • chitosan and chitin
  • poly(lactic acid)
  • thermoplastic lignin polymers
  • thermosetting lignin blends
  • thermoplastic polyfuranics
  • thermosetting furanic blends
  • animal and plant-proteins-based bioplastics
  • lipids bioplastics
  • tannins and their blended bioplastics
  • sustainable polymers/polymer composites
  • biodegradable polymers
  • polymer recycling
  • recycled polymers

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3317 KiB  
Article
Effect of Protein Surface Hydrophobicity and Surface Amines on Soy Adhesive Strength
by Heikko Kallakas, Nayomi Plaza, Casey Crooks, Derek Turner, Mathew Gargulak, Matthew A. Arvanitis, Charles R. Frihart and Christopher G. Hunt
Polymers 2024, 16(2), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16020202 - 10 Jan 2024
Viewed by 918
Abstract
Soy is considered one of the most promising natural materials for manufacturing wood adhesives due to its low cost, high protein content, and ready availability. However, more cost-effective ways of improving its wet shear strength are needed to achieve wider market acceptance. Protein [...] Read more.
Soy is considered one of the most promising natural materials for manufacturing wood adhesives due to its low cost, high protein content, and ready availability. However, more cost-effective ways of improving its wet shear strength are needed to achieve wider market acceptance. Protein adhesive wet strength depends on the use of (typically expensive) crosslinking additives as well as the processing/denaturation of the protein. It has been commonly stated in the literature that protein denaturation leads to higher bond strength by activating the surface and exposing the reactive groups. Therefore, we investigated how differences in surface reactive groups (surface hydrophobicity and reactive amine groups) brought on with different denaturation treatments relate to bonding performance. Fourteen soy protein isolates (SPIs) with different denaturation histories were investigated. Characterization of the SPIs included surface hydrophobicity, surface amine content, extent of protein hydrolysis, and bond strength (wet and dry, with and without polyamidoamine epichlorohydrin (PAE) crosslinking agent) by ASTM D7998. The molecular weight patterns showed that proteins denatured by extensive hydrolysis had very low bond strengths. Adding the crosslinker, PAE, improved all the shear strength values. We found that the number of water-accessible reactive amine groups on protein surfaces had no impact on the adhesive strength, even with the amine-reactive crosslinker, PAE. Conversely, increased surface hydrophobicity was beneficial to adhesive strength in all cases, though this correlation was only statistically significant for wet strength without PAE. While, in general, denatured proteins are typically thought to form better bonds than native state proteins, this work suggests that it matters how proteins are denatured, and what surfaces become exposed. Denaturation by hydrolysis did not improve bond strength, and extensive hydrolysis seemed highly detrimental. Moreover, exposing hydrophobic surface groups was beneficial, but exposing covalent bond-forming reactive amine groups was not. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Sustainable and Recyclable Polymers)
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11 pages, 7155 KiB  
Article
Curing Behavior of Sucrose with p-Toluenesulfonic Acid
by Shunsuke Sakai, Shuoye Chen, Miyuki Matsuo-Ueda and Kenji Umemura
Polymers 2023, 15(23), 4592; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15234592 - 30 Nov 2023
Viewed by 974
Abstract
With respect to the fossil resources shortage, the development of bio-based wood adhesives is an important research topic in wood science. There has been research on using sucrose for bio-based adhesives. However, a high acid catalyst content and a high hot-pressing temperature are [...] Read more.
With respect to the fossil resources shortage, the development of bio-based wood adhesives is an important research topic in wood science. There has been research on using sucrose for bio-based adhesives. However, a high acid catalyst content and a high hot-pressing temperature are required when manufacturing particleboards. In this study, to explore the possibility of p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) as a promising acid catalyst for sucrose-based adhesives, the curing behavior of sucrose with PTSA (Suc-PTSA) was clarified. The thermal analysis results showed that the thermal properties of sucrose decreased significantly with the addition of PTSA. Based on the results of the insoluble matter rate, the optimal mixture ratio and heating conditions were determined to be 95:5 and 180 °C for 10 min, respectively. According to the results of FT−IR, the heat-treated Suc-PTSA contained furan compounds. In the context of the dynamic viscoelasticity, the onset temperature at which the storage modulus (E′) begins to rise was significantly lower than those of the other sucrose-based adhesives. PTSA has the potential to cure sucrose more efficiently and at lower temperatures than previous sucrose-based adhesives, making it a promising acid catalyst for sucrose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Sustainable and Recyclable Polymers)
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