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Polymers and Plastic Waste: Properties, Mechanics, Chemical and Thermal Recycling

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymeric Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 1398

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dabrowskiego 69, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Interests: mechanical properties; thermomechanical properties; polymer materials; composites; thermal analysis; TG/DTG; DTA; DSC; QMS; computer simulation of processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Czestochowa University of Technology, Dabrowskiego 69, 42-201 Czestochowa, Poland
Interests: fuels; waste; polymer materials; composites; combustion; pyrolysis; thermal analysis; TG/DTG; DTA; DSC; QMS; emission of pollutants; recycling; thermomechanical properties of materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to present research papers that focus on the characteristics and thermomechanical processes of polymers and their modifications. Recognizing the role of different modifiers in polymers is crucial for developing new materials and enhancing existing ones. Progress in the engineering of polymer materials, particularly in the quest for innovative polymers with tailored properties, has broadened their application scope, especially in automotive, construction, energy, packaging, and healthcare sectors. The effective use of new polymer materials necessitates an understanding of their mechanical and thermal properties, as well as awareness of how these properties change during use and degradation. Environmental considerations are also significant, encompassing the pyrolysis and combustion of polymers, the thermal recovery of energy from polymer waste, and other applications of recycled polymer materials. It is essential to carry out model studies on the property changes in polymer materials and to employ computer simulations to analyze the exploitation and thermal behavior of polymers.

Dr. Adam Gnatowski
Prof. Dr. Agnieszka Kijo-Kleczkowska
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Materials 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 2600 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

  • thermomechanical properties of polymers and composites
  • structure of polymeric materials
  • combustion and pyrolysis of polymeric materials
  • recycling of polymeric materials
  • co-combustion and co-pyrolysis of polymeric materials with fuels and waste
  • thermal analysis of polymers and composites
  • TG/DTG
  • DTA
  • DSC
  • QMS
  • modeling and computer simulation of polymeric materials’ property changes

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 142 KB  
Editorial
Polymers and Plastic Waste: Properties, Mechanics, Chemical and Thermal Recycling
by Adam Gnatowski and Agnieszka Kijo-Kleczkowska
Materials 2025, 18(17), 4113; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18174113 - 1 Sep 2025
Viewed by 630
Abstract
Progress in the production technologies of polymeric materials, including the search for innovative synthesis and production methods of polymers with specific properties, has resulted in an expansion of their application areas [...] Full article

Research

Jump to: Editorial

21 pages, 8401 KB  
Article
Computational Study of Stress Distribution in Polyethylene Elements Due to Metal Components of Knee and Hip Implants Made from Different Metal Alloys
by Michał Sobociński and Marcin Nabrdalik
Materials 2025, 18(16), 3924; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18163924 - 21 Aug 2025
Viewed by 539
Abstract
The complexity of the processes occurring in both natural and artificial joints necessitates carrying out the analysis on a 3D model based on already existing mathematical models. All the presented numerical calculations define qualitative conclusions about the influence of certain parameters of endoprostheses [...] Read more.
The complexity of the processes occurring in both natural and artificial joints necessitates carrying out the analysis on a 3D model based on already existing mathematical models. All the presented numerical calculations define qualitative conclusions about the influence of certain parameters of endoprostheses on the values of stresses and strains arising in polyethylene parts of hip and knee endoprostheses. The obtained results make it possible to reveal “weak points” in the studied models and thus counteract the later effects resulting from premature wear of the endoprosthesis components. The study included a numerical analysis of the stress and strain distribution of polyethylene components of hip and knee endoprostheses working with the most commonly used material associations in this type of solution. The most common are metal alloys and ceramics. The analyses were carried out using ADINA and Autodesk Simulation Mechanical software. Geometric models were designed based on current solutions used by leading endoprosthesis manufacturers. The load models adopted are based on models commonly used in musculoskeletal biomechanics. Particular attention was paid to modeling the resistance due to friction at the hip endoprosthesis node. To build the hip endoprosthesis model, eight-node 3D solid elements were used. Due to the axisymmetric geometry of the model, the resulting discrete model consisted of 10,000 cubic elements described by 10,292 nodes. In the case of the knee endoprosthesis, a finite element mesh was adopted for the calculations, which was built with 3600 3D solid cubic elements and 4312 nodes. The accuracy of the adopted numerical model did not differ from the generally used solutions in this field. Full article
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