Enhanced Polymer Composite Thin Films

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 October 2020) | Viewed by 3236

Special Issue Editor

Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Materials Synthesis and Processing Lab, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: Thin Films and Coatings; Sonochemistry; Catalysis, Metal Oxides; Polymer Composites; Phase-Change Materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will provide up-to-date overviews of key developments in the fields of polymeric thin films and composite coatings. Multifunctional soft matter coatings are increasingly common in both research and industry, with applications spanning membranes, filters, food packaging, wearables, sensors and detectors, optical coatings, antimicrobial, and self-cleaning applications, amongst many others. Whether free-standing or substrate-grafted, coating parameters such as morphology and interfacial interactions between layer(s) have a material impact on film physical properties. Contemporary applications often require attributes tailored to desired applications, through surface and/or interface engineering via surface pre-treatment, in situ growth, and/or post-fabrication refinement processes. Topics of interest in this Issue include:

  • Design, modelling, and applications of composite coatings, multilayers, self-organized nano-structures, and hybrid inorganic–organic thin-film materials;
  • Synthesis and manipulation of thin film growth dynamics, microstructure, nano-architectures, and interfaces, including transitions in morphology;
  • Characterization (by both in situ and ex situ methods) of structure–property–activity relationships probing intrinsic mechanical behavior, biocompatibility, film stability, entropic effects, interfacial stress–strain forces, tribological properties, durability characteristics, etc., in order to ascertain optimal performance in application;
  • Computational modelling (both stochastic and deterministic) of thin-film architectures, surface modification, substrate–coatings coupling interactions, synergic behaviors, energy alignment at interfaces, percolation effects, etc.
  • Novel and/or lower-cost manufacturing and processing routes for industrial production capability;

Acknowledging the interdisciplinary nature of the field, we invite contributions from colleagues across academia and industry on the latest research, development, and conceptual reviews spanning the theoretical, experimental, engineering, and scale-up manufacturing applications of polymeric thin films and coatings. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Nuruzzaman Noor
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

  • Coatings
  • Deposition
  • Soft Matter
  • Synergic Composites
  • Macromolecules
  • Plastics

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

12 pages, 4348 KiB  
Article
Enhancement of the Surface Properties on Polypropylene Film Using Side-Chain Crystalline Block Copolymers
by Sho Hirai, Patchiya Phanthong, Hikaru Okubo and Shigeru Yao
Polymers 2020, 12(11), 2736; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12112736 - 18 Nov 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2748
Abstract
The consumption of polypropylene (PP) has significantly increased over that of other materials because of its light weight, easy molding, and high mechanical strength. However, the applications of PP are limited, owing to the lack of surface properties, especially with respect to adhesive [...] Read more.
The consumption of polypropylene (PP) has significantly increased over that of other materials because of its light weight, easy molding, and high mechanical strength. However, the applications of PP are limited, owing to the lack of surface properties, especially with respect to adhesive properties and hydrophilicity. In this study, we developed a surface modification method for enhancing the adhesive properties and hydrophilicity on the PP surface using a side-chain crystalline block copolymer (SCCBC). This method was simple and involved the dipping of a PP film in a diluted SCCBC solution. The optimized modification conditions for enhancing the adhesive properties of PP were investigated. The results revealed that the adhesion strength of PP modified with the SCCBC of behenyl acrylate and 2-(tert-butylamino)ethyl methacrylate was enhanced to 2.00 N/mm (T-peel test) and 1.05 N/mm2 (tensile shear test). In addition, the hydrophilicity of PP modified with the SCCBC of behenyl acrylate and di(ethylene glycol)ethyl ether acrylate was enhanced to a water contact angle of 69 ± 4°. Surface analysis was also performed to elucidate a plausible mechanism for PP modification by the SCCBCs. This surface modification method is facile and enhances desirable properties for the wide application of PP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Enhanced Polymer Composite Thin Films)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop