Polymers

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Fahmi Zaïri

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Civil Engineering and Geo-Environmental Laboratory (LGCgE), Lille University, 59000 Lille, France
Interests: annulus fibrosus; intervertebral disc; lumbar spine; hyperelastic material; elastomers; rubber; polyethylenes; tensile deformation; wide-angle X-ray scattering; mechanics of polymers; damage mechanics; fracture mechanics; constitutive modelling
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Prof. Dr. Matthias Ballauff

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Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Takustrasse 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Interests: physics of colloids and macromolecules; chemistry and physics of colloidal systems; scattering methods and structural research on battery systems was done mainly by using small-angle X-ray and neutro
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Dr. Ulrich Maschke

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Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET), UMR 8207, Université Lille, CNRS, INRAE, Centrale Lille, 59000 Lille, France
Interests: photochemistry and radiochemistry of organic materials; polymerization/crosslinking processes; static and dynamical properties of polymers (blends, networks,...); polymer/liquid crystal systems; recycling of materials from WEEE
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Prof. Dr. Rufina G. Alamo

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Department of Chemical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
Interests: polymer crystallization; polymorphism; crystallization and melting of polyethylenes and polypropylenes; morphological and structural studies in polyolefins; blends of polyolefins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce this Collection titled "Editorial Board Members' Collection Series: Polymer Physics and Theory—2nd Edition", which will be a collection of papers invited for publication by the Editorial Board Members.

This Special Issue is designed to publish high-quality reviews or article papers dealing with the different issues covered by the journal. The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following:

The development of multiscale modeling methodologies, constitutive equations, and new theories;
The implementation of efficient algorithms and machine learning schemes for structure–property relationship quantification;
Experimental studies for the preparation and characterization of new polymeric materials, including instrumentation and the development of new measuring devices;
Developments in view of potential applications in batteries, memory devices, and solar energy;
Sustainability challenges: polymer materials designed for waste management (bio-based, linear, and crosslinked).

Prof. Dr. Fahmi Zaïri
Prof. Dr. Matthias Ballauff
Dr. Ulrich Maschke
Prof. Dr. Rufina G. Alamo
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. 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.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

24 pages, 12524 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Plasticization/Annealing on Thermal, Dynamic Mechanical, and Rheological Properties of Poly(Lactic Acid)

by Lina Benkraled, Assia Zennaki, Latifa Zair, Khadidja Arabeche, Abdelkader Berrayah, Ana Barrera, Zohra Bouberka and Ulrich Maschke

Polymers 2024, 16(7), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16070974 - 03 Apr 2024

Viewed by 390

Abstract

This study investigates the use of low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a plasticizer for poly(lactic acid) (PLA). PLA/PEG blend films were prepared using the solvent casting method with varying mixing ratios. The films were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and dynamic rheological analysis. The results indicate that the addition of PEG as a plasticizer affects the thermal and mechanical properties of the PLA/PEG blend films. The study found that the glass transition and cold crystallization temperatures decreased with increasing PEG content up to 20 wt%, while the crystallinity and crystallization rate increased. The blends with up to 20 wt% PEG were miscible, but phase separation occurred when the plasticizer content was increased to 30 wt%. Subsequently, amorphous samples of neat PLA and PLA plasticized with 10 wt% of PEG underwent annealing at various temperatures (T_a = 80–120 °C) for durations t_a of 1 and 24 h. The samples were then analyzed using DSC and DMA. The addition of PEG to PLA altered the content of α′ and α crystalline forms compared to neat PLA at a given (T_a; t_a) and favored the formation of a mixture of α′ and α crystals. The crystallinity achieved upon annealing increased with increasing T_a or t_a and with the incorporation of PEG. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members' Collection Series: Polymer Physics and Theory—2nd Edition)

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