Polymer Matrix Composite: Functional Needs and Environmental Challenges

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 1557

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Mechanical Department, Polytechnic University of Milan, 20156 Milan, Italy
Interests: composite materials; nanofibers; mechanical properties; toughening; composite design; additive manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: fracture behavior of composite laminates; nanofibrous membrane thickness; polyaramidic electrospun nanofibers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rate the world evolves at is higher than ever before, and technology must cope with the fast-growing demand for solutions for more challenging, newer, and multidisciplinary problems. Developing new generations of composite materials represents a unique opportunity for engineers and scientists to tackle those problems and to improve existing solutions.

On one end, material innovation aims to unlock new features, capabilities and, eventually, products, by developing new structures with, e.g., higher mechanical property-to-weight ratio, self-sensing or self-repairing capabilities. On the other end, with technical progress and evolution has to correspond an equal attention to crucial environmental issues such as recyclability, sustainability, bio-inspiration and bio-compatibility.

It is within this frame that this Special Issue aims to provide an insight and an overview of the latest and near-future developments on the field of composite materials, with special focus on applications on the most pressing topics of our time: additive manufacturing, environment, space, and vehicle electrification.

Dr. Roberto Palazzetti
Dr. Andrea Zucchelli
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

  • composite materials
  • mechanical properties
  • environment
  • smart composite materials
  • multiscale and multiphysics simulation
  • digital twin
  • functional materials
  • nanocomposites
  • transport
  • automotive
  • aerospace
  • prosthesis
  • machine design
  • mechanical properties
  • fatigue
  • fracture toughness
  • self-sensing
  • self-healing

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1505 KiB  
Article
ZnO NRs/rGO Photocatalyst in a Polymer-Based Microfluidic Platform
by Aini Ayunni Mohd Raub, Ida Hamidah, Asep Bayu Dani Nandiyanto, Jaenudin Ridwan, Mohd Ambri Mohamed, Muhamad Ramdzan Buyong and Jumril Yunas
Polymers 2023, 15(7), 1749; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15071749 - 31 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1240
Abstract
This paper reports the development of ZnO NRs/rGO-based photocatalysts integrated into a tree-branched polymer-based microfluidic reactor for efficient photodegradation of water contaminants. The reactor system includes a photocatalytic reactor, tree-branched microfluidic channels, and ZnO nanorods (NRs) coated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on [...] Read more.
This paper reports the development of ZnO NRs/rGO-based photocatalysts integrated into a tree-branched polymer-based microfluidic reactor for efficient photodegradation of water contaminants. The reactor system includes a photocatalytic reactor, tree-branched microfluidic channels, and ZnO nanorods (NRs) coated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on a glass substrate within an area of 0.6 × 0.6 cm2. The ZnO NRs/rGO acts as a photocatalyst layer grown hydrothermally and then spray-coated with rGO. The microfluidic system is made of PDMS and fabricated using soft lithography (micro molding using SU-8 master mold patterned on a silicon wafer). The device geometry is designed using AutoCAD software and the flow properties of the microfluidics are simulated using COMSOL Multiphysics. The microfluidic platform’s photocatalytic process aims to bring the nanostructured photocatalyst into very close proximity to the water flow channel, reducing the interaction time and providing effective purification performance. Our functionality test showed that a degradation efficiency of 23.12 %, within the effective residence time of less than 3 s was obtained. Full article
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