Fiber and Polymer Composites: Processing, Simulation, Properties and Applications, 3rd Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2025 | Viewed by 2117

Special Issue Editor

Polymers Department, Nanocomposite Group, National Institute for Research and Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry, ICECHIM, Bucharest, Romania
Interests: synthetic/natural nanofillers; synthetic/natural polymer (nano)composites; bio-based thermoplastics; melt processing; polymer masterbatches; automotive/packaging/biomedicine applications
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer composites reinforced with fibers are a promising alternative to metal parts and the solution for light construction materials. Due to their exceptional properties (flexibility, functionality and formability in complicated design parts), fiber-reinforced polymer composites have found applications in many industrial fields (construction, automobile, aerospace), biomedicine, marine and others. The performance of the polymeric composite material mainly depends on the nature of the components, the degree of interaction between the components and the processing technology.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight the latest original results in the development of composite materials based on synthetic and/or natural polymers and synthetic and/or natural fibers, with improved properties imposed by various applications.

Dr. Zina Vuluga
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • synthetic and/or natural fibers
  • synthetic and/or natural polymers
  • polymer composites
  • processing technology
  • modelling, simulation and optimization
  • properties
  • applications

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4657 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Background Materials on the Radiative Cooling Performance of Semi-Transparent and Opaque Textiles: A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis
by Lea Zimmermann, Ablimit Aili, Thomas Stegmaier, Cigdem Kaya and Götz T. Gresser
Polymers 2024, 16(16), 2264; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16162264 - 9 Aug 2024
Viewed by 964
Abstract
This paper investigates the theoretical and experimental cooling performance of textile materials utilizing radiative cooling technology. By applying Kirchhoff’s law, the emissivity of surfaces is determined, revealing that materials with high transmission values can achieve comparable cooling performance to those with high reflection [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the theoretical and experimental cooling performance of textile materials utilizing radiative cooling technology. By applying Kirchhoff’s law, the emissivity of surfaces is determined, revealing that materials with high transmission values can achieve comparable cooling performance to those with high reflection values. Notably, materials exhibiting moderate reflectance and transmittance in the solar range tend to absorb minimal solar radiation, thus offering high theoretical cooling performance. However, practical applications like building envelopes or clothing present challenges due to the impact of background radiation on overall cooling capacity. Despite their intrinsic cooling properties, a significant portion of solar radiation is transmitted, complicating matters as the background can significantly affect overall cooling performance. This study provides a solution that accounts for the influence of background materials. Based on spectral data, various background materials and their impact on different semi-transparent comparison materials can be considered, and cooling performance can be simulated. This enables the simulation of cooling performance for various application scenarios and facilitates comparisons between transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque textile materials. Full article
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21 pages, 2082 KiB  
Article
The Potential Valorization of Corn Stalks by Alkaline Sequential Fractionation to Obtain Papermaking Fibers, Hemicelluloses, and Lignin—A Comprehensive Mass Balance Approach
by Adrian Cătălin Puițel, Georgiana Bălușescu, Cătălin Dumitrel Balan and Mircea Teodor Nechita
Polymers 2024, 16(11), 1542; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16111542 - 30 May 2024
Viewed by 772
Abstract
The current study deals with an examination of strategies for the sequential treatment of corn stalks (CSs) in an integrated manner aiming to obtain papermaking fibers and to recover both lignin and hemicelluloses (HCs). Several pathways of valorization were experimentally trialed, focusing on [...] Read more.
The current study deals with an examination of strategies for the sequential treatment of corn stalks (CSs) in an integrated manner aiming to obtain papermaking fibers and to recover both lignin and hemicelluloses (HCs). Several pathways of valorization were experimentally trialed, focusing on getting information from mass balance analysis in an attempt to reveal the potential outcomes in terms of pulp yield, chemical composition, and papermaking properties such as tensile and burst strength. The raw lignin amounts and purity as well as separated hemicelluloses were also characterized. In this work, pulp yields in the range of 44–50% were obtained from CSs, while lignin and hemicelluloses yielded maximum values of 10 g/100 g of CS and 6.2 g/100 g of CS, respectively. Other findings of mass balance analysis evidenced that besides the papermaking pulp, the lignin and HCs also have interesting output values. The recovered lignin yield values were shown to be less than 50% in general, meaning that even if 67 to 90% of it is removed from CSs, only about half is recovered. The removal rates of hemicelluloses were found to be in the range of approx. 30 to 60%. About 15 to 25% of the original HCs could be recovered, and polysaccharides-based products with 67 to 75% xylan content could be obtained. Some key opinions were developed regarding how the mass balance could turn as a result of the chosen CS valorization set-up. The determined antioxidant activity showed that both lignin and hemicelluloses had interesting values for IC50. Full article
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