Progress in Rubber Blends and Composites Technology

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer science recently celebrated its 100th birthday. For over a century, diverse polymers have been synthesized, characterized, and materialized to develop different kinds of goods and products ranging from general-purpose to engineering polymers. At the same time, the development of polymer blends and composites, followed by that of polymer nanocomposites, has paved the way to innovation and engineering materials and systems for advanced applications. Elastomers are the “parents” of numerous polymer composites born throughout the century that polymer science has existed. Thanks to their high elasticity, low Young’s modulus, and high yield strain compared to those of thermoplastics, elastomers are known as amorphous polymers at ambient temperature, which is well above their glass transition temperature. Elastomers are mainly thermosets requiring vulcanization to be cross-linked. Nevertheless, thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) have also found themselves at the center of attention in past decades, and recycling of thermoset elastomers has also become of importance in tackling environmental issues caused by cross-linked elastomer networks. For over 80 years, a great amount of energy has been spent by researchers and engineers alike to reinforce rubbers and elastomers via blending them together or via the addition of additives, fillers, and nanofillers. In this regard, a variety of elastomer blends and composites have been developed to rely on as high-performance materials. This Special Issue shall collect papers from experts on recent progress in the knowledge, application, and technology of rubber blends and composites. Original research papers (4000–6000 words), reviews, either short or mini-reviews (2000–3000 words) or comprehensive reviews (8000–12,000 words), short communications (1500–2500 words), and notes (1000–1500 words) are all possible types of papers this Special Issue will consider, all of which will be reviewed by experts in the field.

The followings areas are some but not all of the potential topics manuscripts may focus on:

• Blending of elastomers;
• Additive selection for elastomers;
• Compatibilization of rubber blends;
• Thermal and rheological properties of polymer blends;
• Mechanical properties of polymer blends;
• Structure–property relationship in rubber blends;
• Development of rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Compatibilization of rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Structure–property relationship in rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Recycling of rubber blends;
• Recycling of rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Green elastomer blends;
• Green rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Flame-retardant properties of elastomer blends;
• Flame-retardant properties of rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Modeling properties of elastomer blends;
• Modeling properties of rubber composites and nanocomposites;
• Recent advances in rubber blend technology;
• Recent advances in rubber composites and nanocomposites.

Dr. Mohammad Reza Saeb
Prof. Ghasem Naderi
Dr. Krzysztof Formela
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. Journal of Composites Science is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1800 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.