Green Composites: Challenges and Opportunities (Second Volume)
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 February 2025 | Viewed by 851
Special Issue Editors
Interests: polymeric materials; nanocomposites; green composites; polymer blends; polymer engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: green composites and biocomposites; biodegradable polymers; nanocomposites; polymer blends; polymer processing; mechanical behaviour of polymer-based systems; rheological behaviour of polymer-based systems; aging of polymer-based systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: polymeric materials; nanocomposites; green composites; polymer blends; polymer engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The current global situation has dramatically shown that “unsustainable” development can lead to several unexpected and potentially catastrophic consequences. The new issues around environmental protection cannot be neglected and, from the point of view of materials scientists, this means that we also have a “moral duty” to focus on more environment-friendly materials and systems. Among the possible pathways, the development and utilization of polymer (and biopolymer) composites filled with natural–organic fillers (biodegradable and/or coming from renewable resources) as a replacement for traditional mineral–inorganic fillers can be of significant help in reducing the utilization of petroleum-derived, non-renewable resources and achieving a more intelligent use of environmental and financial resources. These systems, known as “green composites”, are now more promising and interesting than before, in the view of finding strong applicability in several fields (automotive, construction, furnishing, etc.), with a further environmental advantage when the polymer matrix is also biodegradable and/or coming from renewable sources. On the other hand, some typical issues can occur, regarding ductility, dimensional stability, and processability, and must be overcome. For these reasons, efforts from the research community are required, to find the most suitable solutions for these issues, and it is of fundamental importance to investigate new formulations and refine the processing techniques. The market for these composites is already significant in terms of volumes, and this trend will certainly go on, leading to the further reduction of costs and improvements of the quality of the composites, as well as a broadening of the application range if our research is able to find these solutions as well as new ideas and proposals.
Therefore, in this second edition of this Special Issue, we aim to provide an updated and more thorough overview of the recent developments and new proposals in this field. Reviews, full papers, and short communications covering the many aspects of the current research on green composites are all welcome.
Prof. Dr. Roberto Scaffaro
Prof. Dr. Marco Morreale
Dr. Emmanuel Fortunato Gulino
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- processing of green composites
- rheology of green composites
- characterization and structure–property relationships of green composites
- chemical modification of natural–organic fillers
- synthesis and characterization of biodegradable polymer matrices for application in green composites
- polymer–natural organic filler adhesion promoters
- environmental impact and LCA of green composites
- industrial and commercial applications of green composites
- testing of green composites
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