Announcements

We are pleased to announce that the Young Women in Engineering Award is open for nominations. This award was established to acknowledge the achievements of young women investigators in the field of engineering and to inspire young women to consider research and careers in engineering. All the nominations will be assessed by an Award Evaluation Committee, and winners will be announced online on 8 March 2026.

Prizes:

• CHF 1000;
• An electronic certificate;
• A voucher to waive the article processing charges (APCs) for one submission to a journal within the field of engineering (subject to peer review)—valid for one year.

Number of winners: 2.

Eligibility and requirements:

• This role is designated for female candidates;
• Must have received their Ph.D. no more than 10 years prior to 31 December 2025;
• Must have produced groundbreaking research and made a significant contribution to the advancement of engineering;
• Must be nominated by senior scientists.

List of documents for nomination:

• Detailed curriculum vitae, including an updated publication list and a list of the researcher’s own research grants;
• Scanned copy of doctorate certificate;
• Signed nomination letters from two established senior scientists.

Schedule:

Open for nominations: 23 June 2025;
Nomination deadline: 30 November 2025;
Winner announcement: 8 March 2026.

Nominations and contact:

All nomination materials and award-related communications must be submitted via our official email: ywe-award@mdpi.com.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to receiving your nominations.

Young Women in Engineering Award Team

We are pleased to share that the Materials (ISSN: 1996-1944) was awarded an increased Impact Factor of 3.2 in the 2024 Journal Citation Reports^TM released by Clarivate^TM in June 2025. The journal ranks in Q2 (25 among 96 titles) in the “Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering” category.

The 2024 Journal Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations received in 2024 to all publications in the journal from 2022 and 2023 by the total number of citable publications from those same years.

To learn more, visit our journal statistics website for detailed metrics or check out our new article for general information.

The support and dedication of all the editors, reviewers, authors, and readers are an integral part of the journal’s performance. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have contributed to the journal.

We are pleased to announce that eight new scholars have been appointed as Editorial Board Members (EBMs) of Materials (ISSN: 1996-1944), effective April and May 2025. We wish our new members success in both their research and efforts to develop the journal.

Name: Prof. Dr. Duo Zhang
Affiliation: Wuhan University, China
Interests: concrete; cement; waste utilization; CO₂ sequestration; CO₂ utilization; carbonation; carbonation curing; durability; fiber-reinforced cementitious composites; lifecycle assessment; sustainability

Name: Prof. Dr. Lin Dong
Affiliation: Zhengzhou University, China
Interests: piezotronics and piezophotonics; mechanoluminescence; tactile sensing; diamond-derived thermal management

Name: Prof. Dr. Magdalena Janus
Affiliation: West Pomeranian University of Technology, Poland
Interests: photocatalysis; photoactive building materials; water treatment; titanium dioxide

Name: Prof. Dr. Ruizhi Yang
Affiliation: Soochow University, China
Interests: materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion

Name: Prof. Dr. Yaqiao Wu
Affiliation: Boise State University, USA
Interests: nanoscale structural and chemistry characterization achieved by the combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) techniques; material design, synthesis, property analysis; nanoscale structure and chemistry characterization; establishing critical connections between structure, chemistry and behavior at nanometric to atomic level through combinational TEM and APT techniques in a large range of various material systems from nanostructured magnetic materials, semiconductors, ceramics, quasicrystals, carbon nanotubes, and nuclear materials

Name: Dr. Bin Han
Affiliation: Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
Interests: composites; lattice architectures; advanced and smart Materials; material characterization; mechanical properties; impact and ballistic resistance; vibration attenuation; heat transfer; additive manufacturing; intelligent manufacturing

Name: Dr. Marco Fronzi
Affiliation: The University of Sydney, Australia
Interests: electronic structure theory: materials for energy conversion; magnetic and optical properties of matter; chemical–physical properties of surfaces; machine learning: automatic learning processes applied to condensed matter theory and materials discovery

Name: Dr. Shun Lu
Affiliation: Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Interests: functional materials; electrocatalysis; fluorescent; sensor; enegy storage and conversion

The office is currently still recruiting Editorial Board Members and Guest Editors. Please contact the Editorial Office if you are interested in these positions.

Materials Editorial Office

Conference: The 21st International Conference on Crystal Growth and Epitaxy (ICCGE-21)
Date: 3–8 August 2025
Place: Xi’an, China

MDPI will be attending the 21st International Conference on Crystal Growth and Epitaxy as an exhibitor. This meeting will be held in Xi’an, China, from 3 to 8 August 2025.

The 21st International Conference on Crystal Growth and Epitaxy will be the latest in a series that started with ICCG-1 in Boston, MA, USA in 1966, marking the formation of the crystal growth community as an independent discipline rather than a subsidiary of several other fields. This conference series is sponsored by the International Organization of Crystal Growth (IOCG). The key principle is that the theory and practice of crystal growth are common across a range of materials and applications and that we have much to share with one another.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Crystals;
• Alloys;
• Applied Nano;
• Ceramics;
• Condensed Matter;
• Electronic Materials;
• Inorganics;
• Magnetochemistry;
• Materials;
• Nanomaterials;
• Solids;
• Symmetry.

If you will be attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit https://www.iccge21.com/.

We are pleased to share that Materials (ISSN: 1996-1944) received an increased CiteScore of 6.4 in June 2025. This CiteScore ranks the journal 91 out of 443 titles (Q1) in the “Condensed Matter Physics” category and 132 out of 460 titles (Q2) in the “General Materials Science” category, an impressive achievement for a journal currently running to Volume 18.

You can find more information on our website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials/stats.

The current CiteScore measured the average number of citations within a journal over a four-year window (2021–2024). The Scopus database provides a comprehensive suite of metrics that support informed publishing strategies, research evaluation and enable benchmarking of journal performance.

This achievement reflects the collective efforts of our authors, reviewers, and editors. Together we will continue to contribute to the progress of Materials and its growing impact in materials science and engineering.

Dr. Massabuau has authored 40 peer-reviewed articles cumulating >600 citations, 2 book chapters, and 1 mobile application and is involved with Doctoral Researcher Awards (committee member), SN Applied Sciences (editorial board).

The following is an interview with Dr. Fabien Massabuau:

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your research?

I’m working on wide band gap semiconductors, which is a category of materials which is sensitive to ultraviolet light. I’m interested in their application for ultraviolet light sensing. We do a lot of characterisations of these materials, especially of their luminescence as it helps us understand what is happening inside the material, what are the defects present, and how may they impact the performance of future devices?

2. How did you become interested in the field?

I used to work on other categories of semiconductors which were for visible light applications. When I was finishing my PhD, and I had to think about what could be next and tried to identify where the next challenges were, I thought one of the big challenges in the field was UV light. Because getting materials which are sensitive to shorter and shorter wavelengths is increasingly more difficult. So, I went in that direction of research and well, that paid off. And then I just continued further in that direction. I continued with what works; it was a nice avenue of untapped research and an interesting place where I could do a lot of new stuff.

3. What motivated you to apply for the award?

I applied to it last year!

I'm reaching the end of what can be called a young investigator and got interested in this kind of award as a result. This award was a good opportunity for me to be considered a serious leader in the UK field.

4. As part of the award, you won a free APC voucher. Do you have any ideas about the kind of paper that you would like to publish with the voucher?

The direction of my research now will inform the way that I use the voucher. In general, I am more of a microscopist, but I recently started new activities to produce cost-effective materials. I'm trying to drive my research towards making this technology widely available, and cheap, so that we can give everyone access to safe tap water.

Eventually, I’ll be looking at developing cheap processes for making these materials; so maybe the paper might go in that direction.

5. Do you think that this will be a research topic that will be of increasing interest in your community in the coming years?

I hope so.

I like the idea of being able to make an impact in the world. I hope developing these materials to enter the light sensing markets will help, paving the way to bigger markets in the future.

6. How has open access impacted your research career up to this point?

From my perspective, I think Open Access is actually pretty good because it allows you to be more visible. I feel like the papers are much better read.

I have some collaborators from institutions who don't necessarily have subscription access to some journals. And sometimes you receive an e-mail saying, “Oh, do you have access to that paper? Can you send me the PDF?”. At least with Open Access you don't have this problem and actually you make it really available to everyone.

7. Do you have any advice that you would give to young researchers in your community?

I think a big part is being curious and seeing opportunities.
You shouldn’t be afraid to be the first to try something, to give it a shot. If you’re a young researcher especially you might be inclined to do exactly what your supervisor tells you to. But I say, value the Friday afternoon experiment!

8. Why do you think it is important that researchers are recognised for their work through awards like this?

Researchers often have that imposter syndrome that make us feel we’ve reached that stage of our career by chance. This type of award provides some sort of validation of our worth, that our work is approved by our peers. Being pragmatic, these awards help for your employment, promotion, and funding applications; they are recognitions of leadership which helps increasing success chances.

9. Is there anything you think we could do to benefit young researchers, outside of APWs and the awards that we offer?

A big part of the publisher’s work is being known and attracting the community, which is probably the hardest part because when I was starting to write papers during my PhD, the advice we got was to publish where the community is, typically in the same journals that you are citing.

10. What expertise do you think MDPI can offer to the academic community?

I think it would be great if you could come and talk about AI. The problem that’s coming up at the teaching level is that we have trouble with examinations eventually involving AI. This is an issue for us, but also for the publishing world, I imagine. We should embrace AI as much as we can, but we must make sure we do so in a responsible manner.

Unfortunately, when we see people talking about it, it is the bad cases, e.g., “Dear ChatGPT please write me this paper”.

I feel like there’s a bit of a stigma on using AI. We shouldn’t be so ashamed of using it though; we just have to make sure we use it the right way. Part of my future job here will involve teaching students how to make AI work for them in the right way. For example, they could start their early literature reviews using AI to find the right overview to help you when you come to write the review out properly.

We should end the stigma around AI so that publishers, researchers, and the wider learning community can make good use of AI, ensuring good practice.

MDPI is pleased to announce our participation in the 7th International Conference on Nanoenergy and Nanosystems (NENS 2025), which will be held on from 28 to 30 June 2025, in Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention & Exhibition Center, Beijing, China.

NENS 2025 is intended to stimulate discussions at the forefront of research in nanoenergy and nanosystems. Starting from 2014, NENS has been organized once every two years by the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences (BINN, CAS). The conference has attracted high-profile scholars worldwide to deliver plenary and invited talks. The average number of participants is over 700 attendees per event. In 2025, this conference will provide a platform for scientists to exchange scientific information, build relationships, and possibly establish collaborations with a focus on the following topics:

Symposia: 
Symposium 1: Nanogenerators;
Symposium 2: Self-Powered Sensors and Systems;
Symposium 3: Piezotronics and Semiconductor Devices;
Symposium 4: Energy Storage and Self-Charging Power Systems;
Symposium 5: Self-Powered Bioelectronics;
Symposium 6: Contact-Electro-Catalysis, Electrocatalysis, and Photocatalysis;
Symposium 7: Wearable Electronics and AI;
Symposium 8: Blue Energy and Marine Science.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Energies;
• Nanoenergy Advances;
• Micromachines;
• Nanomaterials;
• Materials;
• Nanomanufacturing.

If you are attending NENS 2025, we invite you to visit us at booth #B11. Our representatives look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

World Environment Day is an urgent call to action as nature suffers from the devastating impacts of human activity. Annual plastic production exceeds 400 million tons, half of which is single-use plastic, with under 10% recycled. 11 million tons of plastic (equal to 2,200 Eiffel Towers) pollute waterways yearly. Microplastics contaminate our food, water, and air, with humans ingesting over 50,000 particles annually. This pollution harms health and ecosystems globally. A solution does exist, however. Governments, businesses, and individuals must adhere to the 5Rs—Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink. Join #BeatPlasticPollution this World Environment Day to create a sustainable future.

On this significant day, we are proud to present a curated collection of articles and initiatives dedicated to groundbreaking research and innovative solutions for protecting the environment and beating plastic pollution. We invite readers to explore these resources and join us in our shared mission of a sustainable vision of the future. Together, we can pave the way for a cleaner, healthier planet.

“Enhanced Separation of Palladium from Nuclear Wastewater by the Sulfur-Rich Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework”
by Junli Wang, Chen Luo, Wentao Wang, Hui Wang, Yao Liu, Jianwei Li and Taihong Yan
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(10), 714; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15100714

“Prevention of Biofouling Due to Water Absorption of Natural Fiber Composites in the Aquatic Environment: A Critical Review”
by Cristiano Fragassa, Sara Mattiello, Martina Fronduti, Jo’ Del Gobbo, Radmila Gagic and Carlo Santulli
J. Compos. Sci. 2024, 8(12), 532; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs8120532

“Testing the Effectiveness of an Ecomedia Literacy Environmental Education Lesson”
by Ludovica Lo Iacono, Ludovica Lo Iacono and Emilio Paolo Visintin
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(12), 645; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13120645

“Airborne Microplastics: Challenges, Prospects, and Experimental Approaches”
by Alexey R. Rednikin, Yulia A. Frank, Artem O. Rozhin, Danil S. Vorobiev and Rawil F. Fakhrullin
Atmosphere 2024, 15(11), 1380; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15111380

“Emerging Technologies for Remote Sensing of Floating and Submerged Plastic Litter”
by Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy, Victor Martínez-Vicente, Heidi M. Dierssen, Valentina Raimondi, Erio Gandini, Robert Foster and Ved Chirayath
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(10), 1770; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16101770

“The Other Side of Fire in a Changing Environment: Evidence from a Mediterranean Country”
by Dimitrios Kalfas, Stavros Kalogiannidis, Fotios Chatzitheodoridis and Nikolaos Margaritis
Fire 2024, 7(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7020036

“A Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: Technologies, Sustainability, and Open Issues”
by Alessandra Zanoletti, Eleonora Carena, Chiara Ferrara and Elza Bontempi
Batteries 2024, 10(1), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries10010038

“A Comparative Analysis of Different Hydrogen Production Methods and Their Environmental Impact”
by Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife, Caleb Kwasi Darko, Precious Chineze Obiako, Boyu Kuang, Xiaoxiao Sun and Karl Jenkins
Clean Technol. 2023, 5(4), 1344-1380; https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol5040067

“Screening of Microplastics in Aquaculture Systems (Fish, Mussel, and Water Samples) by FTIR, Scanning Electron Microscopy–Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro-Raman Spectroscopies”
by Kleopatra Miserli, Christos Lykos, Angelos G. Kalampounias and Ioannis Konstantinou
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(17), 9705; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13179705

“Microplastics, Additives, and Plasticizers in Freshwater Bivalves: Preliminary Research of Biomonitoring”
by Giulia Cesarini, Fabiana Corami, Beatrice Rosso and Massimiliano Scalici
Water 2023, 15(14), 2647; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15142647

“Advancements and Applications of Nanomaterials for Removal of Organic Compounds in Aquatic Environment” Guest Editors: Dr. Ramona Riedel and Prof. Dr. Giulio Malucelli Submission deadline: 20 August 2025	“Novel Sources, Designs and After-Use Pathways for Plastics in a Circular Economy” Guest Editor: Dr. María José Arévalo-Caballero Submission deadline: 31 August 2025
“Airborne Micro and Nanoplastics: Detection, Dynamics, and Exposure Assessment” Guest Editor: Dr. Yangyang Liu Submission deadline: 30 September 2025	“Aquatic Microplastic Pollution: Occurrence and Removal” Guest Editor: Dr. Lixin Zhu Submission deadline: 25 October 2025
“Innovative Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of Mining” Topic Editors: Prof. Dr. Chongchong Qi, Dr. Qiusong Chen and Dr. Danial Jahed Armaghani Submission deadline: 31 October 2025	“Enabling Strategies and Policies Toward a Sustainable Environment, 2nd Edition” Topic Editors: Dr. Abdul Majeed, Prof. Dr. Yuantao Xie and Prof. Dr. Judit Oláh Submission deadline: 31 October 2025

Dr. Eng. Pamela Miśkiewicz is one of the authors of the Title Story Article entitled “Evaluation of the Thermal Insulation Properties of Composites with ZrO₂/Al Coatings Intended for the Construction of Protective Gloves”, published in Materials (ISSN: 1996-1944).

Authors’ Introduction:

Based on the positive evaluations by the reviewers and academic editors for Dr. Eng. Miśkiewicz’s group article, we have selected their article as the Title Story for display on the Materials website.

“Evaluation of the Thermal Insulation Properties of Composites with ZrO₂/Al Coatings Intended for the Construction of Protective Gloves”
by Pamela Miśkiewicz, Adam K. Puszkarz and Marcin Makówka
Materials 2025, 18(2), 242; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18020242

The following is an interview with Dr. Eng. Pamela Miśkiewicz:

1. Congratulations on your published paper. Could you please briefly introduce the main research content of the published paper?

Thank you very much for your interest in our research and for inviting us to an interview for your journal. I would also like to thank my colleagues from the team: DSc. Adam Puszkarz and Dr. Eng. Marcin Makówka for their professional and fruitful cooperation, without which this article would not have been possible.

The main objective of the research presented in the article was to produce new textile composites with potential use in thermal protective gloves intended for steelworkers. The construction of gloves, similarly to thermal protective clothing, is characterized by a layered structure, where each layer plays a special role in ensuring the user's safety against external threats and providing them with thermal comfort. When selecting a material for special steelworkers’ clothing, it is necessary to take into account such parameters as mechanical or chemical resistance; however, the most obvious in the case of work in conditions of elevated temperature and fire environment are thermal resistance and thermal insulation. Each layer of clothing intended for steelworkers should demonstrate resistance to high temperatures and hot factors. It should be realized that in the case of gloves, these requirements are higher compared to the rest of the protective clothing.

In order to meet the above requirements, all components from which the composites presented in the article were made were characterized by resistance to high temperatures and at the same time retained their functional properties affecting the safety and ergonomics of the user in a typical work environment.

The composite consisted of four layers made of different types of materials (basalt fiber fabric, HT silicone sealant, polyester foil, ceramic-metallic coating). The manufacturing process itself requires several manufacturing techniques and modifications to the individual components of the composite so that they can fully cooperate in the form of the finished product. A large part of the work was, therefore, devoted to finding and testing technological solutions to enable its manufacture, and the research question thus solved is presented in this thesis.

Due to the conditions of the working environment, which is a source of heat on all sides and would consistently increase the temperature of both the glove itself and the hand placed in it, the key issue was to give the right properties to the outermost layers of the composite, counteracting both heat transfer, inhibition of heat flow and heat reflection. The well-known techniques used in surface engineering to impart such varied properties to the surfaces of materials are vapor phase coating deposition, physical deposition, and chemical deposition. In our work, I have used the method of reactive magnetron sputtering, which, due to its technological flexibility, the possibility of producing materials of virtually any chemical composition, is a very popular technique for surface modification. Based on our research, we have selected a hybrid solution in the form of a coating composed of two layers: ZrO₂ and Al, where the outer, metallic one of Al acts as a radiation reflector, while ZrO₂ is a material that significantly reduces heat diffusion and consequently lowers the temperature of the inner layers of the composite. Both were deposited on a polyester foil, which is a kind of flexible ‘coating carrier’. The use of thin PVD coatings of materials such as ZrO₂ made it possible to achieve their high relative mechanical flexibility, which cannot be achieved by using ZrO₂ as a bulk material. The key factor in this case is to obtain the right stoichiometry of oxygen to zirconium, to obtain a stable structure and an adequate thickness, sufficient to effectively inhibit heat flow, but on the other hand to allow good adhesion to the substrate, flexibility of the coating, with reduced stress levels in the coating and reduced susceptibility to cracking and delamination from the substrate. These parameters were controlled by, among other things, examining the cross-section and structure of the proposed solution using the SEM-EDX technique. On the basis of the results obtained, the process parameters were adjusted to obtain the best possible solution.

The structure of the composites produced was examined using high-resolution X-ray microtomography (micro-CT), the task of which was to examine the effect of morphology on the thermal insulation properties of the composites. The porosity of each layer of the composites was calculated, as well as the thickness and uniformity of the ZrO₂/Al coating deposited on the polyester foil. The finished composites were first examined for resistance to contact heat, radiant heat, and flame heat, according to applicable safety standards. Based on these tests, the composites were classified in terms of their intended use in steelwork gloves.

2. Was there a specific experience or event in your research career that led you to focus on your current field of research?

When I was a student of textile engineering at the Lodz University of Technology, I was particularly interested in protective clothing, i.e., clothing that, due to its unique purpose, had to meet higher requirements than civilian clothing. Therefore, it had to be characterized by special properties, which were associated with the use of special materials, raw materials, and original construction solutions in its production. In the case of thermal protective clothing, used by firefighters, steelworkers, and welders, its most important role is, of course, the safety of its users, as well as ensuring an appropriate thermal balance between their body and the environment in which they work. In addition, a significant problem of protective clothing is providing its user with ergonomic support. The raw materials used and the construction of protective clothing should not limit the efficiency and precision of the work performed (e.g., due to too much weight or improper fit to the body). Therefore, current research on the production of protective clothing focuses on finding a combination of these two important factors: safety and ergonomics. In my research work, I decided to focus on gloves, which are part of the protective clothing responsible for protecting the hands, i.e., our natural most precise work tools that humans have at their disposal, which, due to their purpose, are the object of the most common injuries of all parts of the human body.

3. Could you describe the difficulties and breakthrough innovations encountered in your current research?

Research on composites that are to act as an insulating barrier in protective clothing against the harmful effects of a hot work environment, enable proper thermal balance between the user and this environment, and not negatively affect the ergonomics of the work they perform, is a challenge. As I mentioned earlier, these composites usually have a layered structure. Therefore, not only the selection of appropriate raw materials but also the appropriate spatial configuration of individual layers performing different functions and their mutual permanent connection is crucial. The subject of my research is textile composites based on fabrics made of fibers resistant to high temperatures and mechanical impacts (basalt, aramid, para-aramid, meta-aramid). As the basic raw material of the main thermal insulation layer, I used various types of silicones and aerogels, which, due to their porous structure, constitute an effective barrier to the contact heat flux.

This led to the conclusion that it was necessary to achieve synergism between all the components of such a product and to obtain stable properties of the whole composite. Furthermore, it was necessary to develop a process for combining all the components of such a composite into one durable product that fulfills very specific functions, with the ability to be used in a very demanding working environment. It follows that its manufacturing process can be very complex, and from a practical approach, it is required to simplify it as much as possible, with the possibility of implementing it in industry. This required a lot of work, a lot of trials, looking for the right solutions, the right manufacturing techniques, and optimizing them, but in the end, this was achieved. A technological process was created, based on both surface modification using deposition techniques, appropriate preparation of materials and their surfaces prior to integration, but also adhesive bonding of materials with completely different structures, types of bonds, and therefore problematic in terms of adhesion to each other. Each of the zones, layers of our development, has a different function, being, for example, the base of the composite, durable, and stable at high temperatures (basalt fabric). Another element is the polyester foil, which is a carrier for coatings that act as a reflector for electromagnetic radiation, primarily in the IR range, as well as a barrier for heat transfer from the environment. The proposed solution is described in more detail in patent P.440908: “Composite based on basalt fabric intended in particular for the palm part of a protective glove and method of producing this composite”.

To produce composites, I also used the unique technology of chemical deposition of Parylene C coatings (CVD). This technology proved to be particularly useful in forming composites in which the thermal insulation layer was made of aerogels. The deposited Parylene C not only ensured a permanent connection of the aerogel layer with the adjacent composite layers but also caused better mutual connection of the aerogel microgranules and thus improved the mechanical durability of this composite layer.

Over time, my research was extended to include the modeling of thermal properties of composites based on heat transport simulations performed on three-dimensional models of real composites using the finite volume method. This method allowed me not only to predict the thermal insulation properties of the produced composite based on knowledge of its structure but also to examine the effectiveness of each of its layers in the process of inhibiting heat transfer. The process of designing models reflecting the structure of real composites was possible thanks to the use of high-resolution X-ray tomography. This technique, based on the contrast of X-ray absorption by individual components of composites differing in density, enables quantitative and qualitative analysis of the materials tested on a microscale. Microtomography allowed me to learn and visualize the spatial geometry of the composites produced and to examine their porosity, an important material parameter that determines their thermal insulation properties. In summary, the possibility of using new materials, modern technologies, and analytical methods is a very significant contribution to my research on composites.

4. What is your experience publishing with Materials?

All three members of our team—the authors of the article that is the subject of this interview—have published a total of 19 papers in the journal Materials. We greatly appreciate the efficiency of the editorial team, which ensures a fast and very transparent publication process from the moment of submission of the article to its online publication. Open Access offered by the journal makes the article published in Materials available to everyone. A useful factor is the article view counter, which informs about the popularity of published research among the readers of the journal. We assure you that the article discussed in this interview will certainly not be the last one that we submit to Materials.