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Polymers
Special Issues
Sustainable and Eco-Innovative Polymer Materials
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Sustainable and Eco-Innovative Polymer Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 2847

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Józef Flizikowski

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Technical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: strategy of the life cycle innovation; polymers; sustainable, smart growth; raw materials, materials, and product quality; efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, reliability, and operability of processes; life cycle assessment; environmental improvement; waste management/recycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Patrycja Bałdowska Witos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Technical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: sustainability development; renewable energy technologies; power generation; mechanical engineering; energy; solid waste management; electrical engineering; energy saving; energy conservation; energy efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Innovation and knowledge are strategic goals of the European Union. Furthermore, the environmentally friendly use of resources, materials, and energy carriers is a crucial factor in sustainable development. Eco-innovations to improve polymer materials’ lifecycle are based on two pillars of EU development, as well as achievements of contemporary engineering promoting smart and balanced growth. Environmentally friendly growth is strongly focused on the replacement of fossil fuels with alternative, renewable energy sources while limiting or even eliminating the harmful impacts of natural resource exploitation. Currently, there are no materials or processing technologies that do not harm the natural environment in some shape or form. Every stage in the lifecycle of materials—even natural and renewable resources—involves intense consumption of resources, dispersion of action potentials, and the release of harmful emissions to the natural environment, including in the air, water, soils, and living organisms. Eco-innovative engineering solutions to improve polymer materials’ lifecycle encompass valuation, development, design, production, use, operation, support, recycling, and storage phases; this is not only about investments, benefits, effects, and the value of these phases, but also the technological aspects, phenomena, properties, and processes involved. A material’s lifecycle depends on the quality of the raw material, product, and waste; the environmental, energy, and economic efficiency of its use, processing, and utilization; and the environmental friendliness of the storage, processing, and operation procedures for products and waste.

The present Special Issue aims to gather innovative research studies that present analyses of original results performed using innovative methods of integrated lifecycle assessment of polymer materials, from the development of a new material to its implementation and operation to the withdrawal of machines, equipment, and installations from the natural environment.

The most important aspects of this Special Issue include:

  • Environmentally friendly strategies for polymer material innovation;
  • New techniques (methods, means, and procedures) employed in different phases of a material’s lifecycle;
  • Innovative methods, equipment, and instruments used to analyze the quality, processing, and harmfulness of materials;
  • Forecasting and modeling materials processing phenomena and processes;
  • Systems used in the eco-innovative engineering of processing and recycling machinery, equipment, and plants;
  • Analysis, assessment, and development of material, equipment, and product lifecycle.

Prof. Dr. Józef Flizikowski
Dr. Patrycja Bałdowska Witos
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

  • strategies for lifecycle innovation
  • polymers
  • sustainable, smart growth
  • raw materials, materials, and product quality
  • efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, reliability, and operability of processes
  • lifecycle assessment
  • environmental improvement, waste management/recycling

Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 4487 KiB  
Article
Novel Sustainable Composites Incorporating a Biobased Thermoplastic Matrix and Recycled Aerospace Prepreg Waste: Development and Characterization
by José Antonio Butenegro, Mohsen Bahrami, Yentl Swolfs, Jan Ivens, Miguel Ángel Martínez and Juana Abenojar
Polymers 2023, 15(16), 3447; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15163447 - 18 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1399
Abstract
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite materials are widely used in engineering applications, but their production generates a significant amount of waste. This paper aims to explore the potential of incorporating mechanically recycled aerospace prepreg waste in thermoplastic composite materials to reduce the environmental [...] Read more.
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite materials are widely used in engineering applications, but their production generates a significant amount of waste. This paper aims to explore the potential of incorporating mechanically recycled aerospace prepreg waste in thermoplastic composite materials to reduce the environmental impact of composite material production and promote the use of recycled materials. The composite material developed in this study incorporates a bio−based thermoplastic polymer, polyamide 11 (PA11), as the matrix material and recycled aerospace prepreg waste quasi-one-dimensionally arranged as reinforcement. Mechanical, thermal, and thermomechanical characterizations were performed through tensile, flexural, and impact tests, as well as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Compared to previous studies that used a different recycled CFRP in the shape of rods, the results show that the recycled prepregs are a suitable reinforcement, enhancing the reinforcement-matrix adhesion and leading to higher mechanical properties. The tensile results were evaluated by SEM, and the impact tests were evaluated by CT scans. The results demonstrate the potential of incorporating recycled aerospace prepreg waste in thermoplastic composite materials to produce high-performance and sustainable components in the aerospace and automotive industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Eco-Innovative Polymer Materials)
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15 pages, 6019 KiB  
Article
Development of a Novel Surfactant-Based Viscoelastic Fluid System as an Alternative Nonpolymeric Fracturing Fluid and Comparative Analysis with Traditional Guar Gum Gel Fluid
by Mahesh Chandra Patel, Mohammed Abdalla Ayoub, Mazlin Bt Idress and Anirbid Sircar
Polymers 2023, 15(11), 2444; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15112444 - 25 May 2023
Viewed by 1065
Abstract
Surfactant-based viscoelastic (SBVE) fluids have recently gained interest from many oil industry researchers due to their polymer-like viscoelastic behaviour and ability to mitigate problems of polymeric fluids by replacing them during various operations. This study investigates an alternative SBVE fluid system for hydraulic [...] Read more.
Surfactant-based viscoelastic (SBVE) fluids have recently gained interest from many oil industry researchers due to their polymer-like viscoelastic behaviour and ability to mitigate problems of polymeric fluids by replacing them during various operations. This study investigates an alternative SBVE fluid system for hydraulic fracturing with comparable rheological characteristics to conventional polymeric guar gum fluid. In this study, low and high surfactant concentration SBVE fluid and nanofluid systems were synthesized, optimized, and compared. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and counterion inorganic sodium nitrate salt, with and without 1 wt% ZnO nano-dispersion additives, were used; these are entangled wormlike micellar solutions of cationic surfactant. The fluids were divided into the categories of type 1, type 2, type 3, and type 4, and were optimized by comparing the rheological characteristics of different concentration fluids in each category at 25 °C. The authors have reported recently that ZnO NPs can improve the rheological characteristics of fluids with a low surfactant concentration of 0.1 M cetyltrimethylammonium bromide by proposing fluids and nanofluids of type 1 and type 2. In addition, conventional polymeric guar gum gel fluid is prepared in this study and analyzed for its rheological characteristics. The rheology of all SBVE fluids and the guar gum fluid was analyzed using a rotational rheometer at varying shear rate conditions from 0.1 to 500 s−1 under 25 °C, 35 °C, 45 °C, 55 °C, 65 °C, and 75 °C temperature conditions. The comparative analysis section compares the rheology of the optimal SBVE fluids and nanofluids in each category to the rheology of polymeric guar gum fluid for the entire range of shear rates and temperature conditions. The type 3 optimum fluid with high surfactant concentration of 0.2 M cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and 1.2 M sodium nitrate was the best of all the optimum fluids and nanofluids. This fluid shows comparative rheology to guar gum fluid even at elevated shear rate and temperature conditions. The comparison of average viscosity values under a different group of shear rate conditions suggests that the overall optimum SBVE fluid prepared in this study is a potential nonpolymeric viscoelastic fluid candidate for hydraulic fracturing operation that could replace polymeric guar gum fluids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Eco-Innovative Polymer Materials)
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