Composite Materials: New Design Trends, Interphase Characterization and Lifecycle

Dear Colleagues,

According to the IUPAC, a composite is defined as a multicomponent material comprising multiple different (non-gaseous) phase domains in which at least one type of phase domain is a continuous phase. In addition, a composite is characterized by the existence of an interphase between its components. In combining the best of the worlds that is multicomponent materials and interphases, one can design composites with vastly superior physicochemical and mechanical properties compared to those of their individual components. This is the reasoning that has led to the massive industrial development of composites for several purposes, such as in medicine, the household, automobiles, and aerospace, to name but a few. With the rapid development of technology and analytical methods, it soon became possible to understand the structure of natural and synthetic composites at the molecular level. Additionally, the plethora of available design strategies permit the production of new materials with outstanding features.

New trends emphasize the development of composites that mimic nature. The efforts that have been made toward producing composite-like wood are awaiting success. In this SI, we thus warmly welcome interdisciplinary research papers, particularly those devoted to biomimetic composites. As a matter of fact, future R&D should be performed with respect for nature. This could be achieved by minimizing the use of synthetic compounds, reducing energy for production, and considering the lifecycle of composite materials and their fate if intentionally or accidentally discharged in soils or water (sea, river, lake). Therefore, we do welcome research papers and reviews on utilization/recycling of polymer composites and also contamination of water and ground by microplastics that has been induced by the skyrocketing increase in consumption worldwide.

The Special Issue entitled “Composite Materials: New Design Trends, Interphase Characterization and Lifecycle” welcomes all papers that cover the most important up-to-date problems in the development of composite materials:

• Progress in the design of new, innovative composite materials, e.g., biomimetic composites and self-healing materials;
• New methods, techniques for studying the mechanisms of interactions at interfaces/interphases;
• Structure and spatial arrangement of composite components at the molecular level;
• Understanding, e.g., thermomechanical, dielectric, and utilitarian properties of the final products at the molecular level and, in this respect, the discussion of computational methods such as multiscale modeling is important;
• Ecological aspects of the composites, such as their recycling and environmental pollution by microplastics are especially desirable.

We anticipate that this Special Issue will be valuable to experts and newcomers in the field of composites and those interested in the design and characterization of composites as well as their interface chemistry and physicochemical/mechanical characterization.

Dr. Beata Strzemiecka
Dr. Łukasz Klapiszewski
Dr. Mohamed Mehdi Chehimi
Guest Editors

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