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Carbon-Based Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites: Innovations and Emerging Trends

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1062

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymers have long been associated with carbon materials as reinforcing fillers. However, following the discovery of graphene and related materials, polymer composites have found applications in advanced mechanical, electrical, and thermal engineering. Recently, carbon materials in various forms can be synthesized or modified on an industrial scale. The diversity and potential applications of these materials can be further expanded by forming composites with various functionalized polymers. Interestingly, the unique properties of polymer composites can be tuned or altered through different functionalizations of a single-carbon material.

Currently, carbon materials can also be synthesized in eco-friendly ways from renewable resources, although their promising applications are still under development. Carbon-based polymer composites are expected to offer advanced structural, mechanical, electrical, thermal, and energy-related performance.

In this Special Issue, we have compiled extensive knowledge on the fabrication, properties, performance, and applications of carbon-based polymer composites. As this field is rapidly advancing, it requires continual updates. With this in mind, we are now focusing on the processing, properties, and advanced applications of these novel polymer composites. We invite you to contribute to this Special Issue with your original research articles—both theoretical and experimental—as well as review papers and short communications.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in C.

Dr. Md Najib Alam
Prof. Dr. Sang-Shin Park
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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

  • carbon materials
  • polymer composites
  • mechanical properties
  • electrical properties
  • thermal properties
  • energy harvesting
  • smart materials
  • multifunctional materials

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 12546 KB  
Article
Enhancing Processability and Multifunctional Properties of Polylactic Acid–Graphene/Carbon Nanotube Composites with Cellulose Nanocrystals
by Siting Guo, Evgeni Ivanov, Vladimir Georgiev, Paul Stanley, Iza Radecka, Ahmed M. Eissa, Roberta Tolve and Fideline Tchuenbou-Magaia
Polymers 2026, 18(1), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010099 - 29 Dec 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 637
Abstract
The growing accumulation of plastic and electronic waste highlights the urgent need for sustainable and biodegradable polymers. However, developing intrinsically conductive biodegradable polymers remains challenging, particularly for packaging and sensing applications. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is intrinsically non-conductive, and enhancing its functionality without compromising [...] Read more.
The growing accumulation of plastic and electronic waste highlights the urgent need for sustainable and biodegradable polymers. However, developing intrinsically conductive biodegradable polymers remains challenging, particularly for packaging and sensing applications. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is intrinsically non-conductive, and enhancing its functionality without compromising structural integrity is a key research goal. In this study, PLA-based filaments were developed using melt extrusion, incorporating cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), individually and in hybrid combinations with total filler contents between 1 and 5 wt%. The inclusion of CNC enhanced the dispersion of GNP and CNT, promoting the formation of interconnected conductive networks within the PLA matrix, allowing the percolation threshold to be reached at a lower fillers concentration. Hybrid formulations showed a balance melt strength and processability suitable for fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3D printing and prototypes successfully made. This study also provides the first systematic evaluation of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity of PLA-based composites at multiple temperatures (25, 5, and −20 °C), relevant to typical food and medical supply chains conditions. Full article
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