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Polymers
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Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II
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Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 16193

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Gianluca Cicala

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Interests: additive manufacturing; polymers; composites; recycling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Pietro Russo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials Institute, Via Campi Flegrei 34, CNR, 80078 Pozzuoli, NA, Italy
Interests: recycling of polymer-based formulations and nanocomposites; green polymer composites involving bio-based matrix and/or natural reinforcing fibers; polymer materials with improved functional properties; mechanical and damage behavior of composite laminated structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Further to the success of the Special Issue of Polymers “Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications”, we are delighted to reopen the Special Issue, now entitled “Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II”.

The composites market is projected to grow from USD 72.58 billion in 2016 to USD 115.43 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 8.13% between 2017 and 2022. The scientific and technological innovations of polymer matrix composites may further drive and sustain the application of composites. Environmental concerns, rather than limiting the use of composites, pushed the identification of novel solutions like the development of cleavable thermosets, which can be easily transformed into thermoplastics or the development of novel approaches to produce carbon fibers from lignin. In the field of multifunctional composites, many examples of composites exist, with built-in functions like: Energy harvest and storage, chemical reactions for self-healing, control of thermal conduction, sensing of internal and external threats, and altering of structural shape on demand. Many of these approaches rely on novel polymer matrix composites. Recently, the development of novel additive manufacturing (AM) technologies has also allowed polymer matrix composites to be used in the AM field.

As Guest Editors of the Special Issue entitled “Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II” of Polymers, is our great pleasure to invite you to contribute to this issue with your most recent results in such a fascinating field of research. Reviews and research articles on the topics of interest are both accepted for this Special Issue.

The official deadline for submission is 31 July 2020. We look forward to receiving your contribution for the “Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications” Special Issue in Polymers.

Dr. Pietro Russo
Prof. Gianluca Cicala
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

  • composites
  • ecocompatible
  • nanoparticles
  • recycling
  • multifunctional composites
  • additive manufacturing
  • life cycle analysis

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 5587 KiB  
Article
Flexural Properties and Low-Velocity Impact Behavior of Polyamide 11/Basalt Fiber Fabric Laminates
by Libera Vitiello, Pietro Russo, Ilaria Papa, Valentina Lopresto, Davide Mocerino and Giovanni Filippone
Polymers 2021, 13(7), 1055; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13071055 - 27 Mar 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2070
Abstract
Environmentally friendly composite plates intended for load-bearing applications were prepared and systematically characterized in terms of mechanical performances and morphological features. Sample plates combining two extrusion grades of bio-polyamide 11, one of which is plasticized, and two basalt fiber fabrics (plain weave and [...] Read more.
Environmentally friendly composite plates intended for load-bearing applications were prepared and systematically characterized in terms of mechanical performances and morphological features. Sample plates combining two extrusion grades of bio-polyamide 11, one of which is plasticized, and two basalt fiber fabrics (plain weave and twill architectures) were obtained by film stacking and hot pressing, and their mechanical properties were investigated by quasi-static flexural and low-velocity impact tests. The comparative analysis of the results, also interpreted by the bending damage analysis, through optical microscope observations, and impact damage analysis through visual inspection and indentation measurements demonstrate that, besides interfacial adhesion issues, the mechanical performance of the laminates need to be optimized through a careful selection of the constituents in the light of the final application. In particular, if the goal is a gain in impact strength, the use of the plasticized matrix is beneficial, but it brings about a loss in stiffness and strength that can be partially compensated by properly selecting a more performing fiber fabric architecture. The latter must also be easily permeated by the matrix to enhance the efficiency of stress transfer from the matrix. Overall, our results can be exploited for the development of bio-composites for particularly demanding applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II)
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20 pages, 3386 KiB  
Article
Influence of the Processing Conditions on the Mechanical Performance of Sustainable Bio-Based PLA Compounds
by Antonella Patti, Domenico Acierno, Alberta Latteri, Claudio Tosto, Eugenio Pergolizzi, Giuseppe Recca, Mirko Cristaudo and Gianluca Cicala
Polymers 2020, 12(10), 2197; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12102197 - 25 Sep 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2994
Abstract
Cellulose/PLA-based blends (up to 77 vol./vol.% of the added fibers) for applications in extrusion-based technology were realized in an internal mixer by setting different operating conditions. In particular, both the mixing time and temperature were increased in order to simulate a recycling operation [...] Read more.
Cellulose/PLA-based blends (up to 77 vol./vol.% of the added fibers) for applications in extrusion-based technology were realized in an internal mixer by setting different operating conditions. In particular, both the mixing time and temperature were increased in order to simulate a recycling operation (10 or 25 min, 170 or 190 °C) and gain information on the potential reuse of the developed systems. The torque measurements during the compound’s preparation, and the compound’s mechanical tensile features, both in the static and dynamic mode, were evaluated for each investigated composition. The final results confirmed a reduction of the torque trend over time for the PLA matrix, which was attributed to a possible degradation mechanism, and confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. The mechanical behaviour of the pristine polymer changed from elastoplastic to brittle, with a significant loss in ductility going from the lower mixing temperatures up to the higher ones for the longest time. Through the addition of cellulose fibers into the composite systems, a higher stabilization of the torque in the time and an improvement in the mechanical performance were always verified compared to the neat PLA, with a maximum increase in the Young modulus (+100%) and the tensile strength (+57%), and a partial recovery of the ductility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II)
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13 pages, 3738 KiB  
Article
Curing Behaviors of Alkynyl-Terminated Copolyether with Glycidyl Azide Polymer in Energetic Plasticizers
by Jinghui Hu, Yina Liu, Kun Cong, Jiyu He and Rongjie Yang
Polymers 2020, 12(5), 1199; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12051199 - 25 May 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2691
Abstract
Alkynyl-terminated polyethylene oxide−tetrahydrofuran (ATPET) and glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) could be linked through click-chemistry between the alkynyl and azide, and the product may serve a binder for solid propellants. The effects of the energetic plasticizers A3 [1:1 mixture of bis-(2,2-dinitropropy) acetal (BDNPA) and [...] Read more.
Alkynyl-terminated polyethylene oxide−tetrahydrofuran (ATPET) and glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) could be linked through click-chemistry between the alkynyl and azide, and the product may serve a binder for solid propellants. The effects of the energetic plasticizers A3 [1:1 mixture of bis-(2,2-dinitropropy) acetal (BDNPA) and bis-(2,2-dinitropropyl) formal(BDNPN)] and Bu-NENA [N-butyl-N-(2nitroxyethyl) nitramine] on the curing reaction between ATPET and GAP have been studied. A diffusion-ordered nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (DOSY-NMR) approach has been used to monitor the change in the diffusion coefficient of cross-linked polytriazole polyethylene oxide−tetrahydrofuran (PTPET). The change in the diffusion coefficient of PTPET with A3 plasticizer is significantly higher than that of PTPET with Bu-NENA. Viscosity analysis further highlighted the difference between A3 and Bu-NENA in the curing process—the curing curve of PTPET (A3) with time can be divided into two stages, with an inflection point being observed on the fourth day. For PTPET (Bu-NENA), in contrast, only one stage is seen. The above methods, together with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis, revealed distinct effects of A3 and Bu-NENA on the curing process of PTPET. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that Bu-NENA has little effect on the valence oxidation of copper in the catalyst. Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis indicated that Bu-NENA helps to improve the thermal stability of the catalyst. After analysis of several possible factors by means of XPS, modeling with Material Studio and TG, the formation of molecular cages between Bu-NENA and copper is considered to be the reason for the above differences. In this article, GAP (Mn = 4000 g/mol) was used to replace GAP (Mn = 427 g/mol) to successfully synthesize the PTPET elastomer with Bu-NENA plasticizer. Mechanical data measured for the PTPET (Bu-NENA) sample included ε = 34.26 ± 2.98%, and σ = 0.198 ± 0.015 MPa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II)
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11 pages, 3970 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Glycidyl Azide Polymer Grafted Tetrafunctional Isocyanate on Polytriazole Polyethylene Oxide-Tetrahydrofuran Elastomer and its Propellant Properties
by Jinghui Hu, Weiqiang Tang, Yonghui Li, Jiyu He, Xiaoyan Guo and Rongjie Yang
Polymers 2020, 12(2), 278; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12020278 - 31 Jan 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3170
Abstract
A new energetic curing reagent, Glycidyl azide polymer grafted tetrafunctional isocyanate (N100-g-GAP) was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and GPC approaches. Polytriazole polyethylene oxide-tetrahydrofuran (PTPET) elastomer was prepared by N100-g-GAP and alkynyl terminated polyethylene oxide-tetrahydrofuran (ATPET). The resulting PTPET [...] Read more.
A new energetic curing reagent, Glycidyl azide polymer grafted tetrafunctional isocyanate (N100-g-GAP) was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and GPC approaches. Polytriazole polyethylene oxide-tetrahydrofuran (PTPET) elastomer was prepared by N100-g-GAP and alkynyl terminated polyethylene oxide-tetrahydrofuran (ATPET). The resulting PTPET elastomer was fully characterized by TGA, DMA, FTIR and mechanical test. The above analysis indicates that PTPET elastomers using N100-g-GAP as curing reagent have the potential for use in propellants. The overall formulation test of the composite propellants shows that this curing system can effectively enhance mechanical strength and bring a significant improvement in the interface interaction between the RDX & AP particles and binder matrix. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II)
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10 pages, 2699 KiB  
Article
Modification of Rigid Polyurethane Foams with the Addition of Nano-SiO2 or Lignocellulosic Biomass
by Qinqin Zhang, Xiaoqi Lin, Weisheng Chen, Heng Zhang and Dezhi Han
Polymers 2020, 12(1), 107; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12010107 - 05 Jan 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4474
Abstract
Many achievements have been made on the research of composite polyurethane foams to improve their structure and mechanical properties, and the composite foams have been widely utilized in building insulation and furniture. In this work, rigid polyurethane foams (RPUFs) with the addition of [...] Read more.
Many achievements have been made on the research of composite polyurethane foams to improve their structure and mechanical properties, and the composite foams have been widely utilized in building insulation and furniture. In this work, rigid polyurethane foams (RPUFs) with the addition of different fillers (nano-SiO2, peanut shell, pine bark) were prepared through the one-step method. The effects of inorganic nano-SiO2 and organic biomass on foam properties were evaluated by means of physical and chemical characterization. The characterization results indicate that the compressive strength values of prepared foams could fully meet the specification requirement for the building insulation materials. The inorganic and organic fillers have no effect on the hydrogen bonding states in composite RPUFs. Furthermore, compared to the biomass fillers, the addition of nano-SiO2 greatly influenced the final residual content of the fabricated foam. All composite foams exhibit closed-cell structure with smaller cell size in comparison with the parent foam. The prepared composite foams have the potential for utilization in building insulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications II)
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