The Role of Microstructural Design in Polymer Properties

Dear Colleagues,

The use of polymers has now reached a certain maturity and most application areas can source at least one type of polymer to meet their specifications. Within a context of increasing resource constraints and the need to recycle used products, obtaining these supplies is becoming more difficult, and thus, it is imperative to optimize the properties of current polymers and to obtain sufficient properties for new types of polymers such as those from biomass or more easily recyclable polymers. In this Special Issue, we address the problems of the optimization and control of microstructures in order to obtain target properties. The design of these microstructures can be realized at several scales in pure polymers or blends, with or without the addition of inorganic compounds. Many approaches are possible to bring about progress in this field, such as theoretical or numerical approaches, particularly by molecular dynamics at different scales or by the finite element method for the treatment of multiscale or multiphysics problems. Experimental approaches and, more particularly, in situ experiments demonstrating how microstructures achieve the expected targets in terms of properties of use will be appreciated. The aim is to optimize and control the microstructures in order to obtain various properties, including thermal and mechanical properties, barriers, biocompatibilities, etc. By focusing on studies ranging from the process to the properties will allow us to clearly validate the contribution of the obtained microstructures’ properties.

Prof. Dr. Olivier Lame
Guest Editor

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• pure polymer or composites
• new process approaches
• designed microstructure
• multiscale approaches
• in situ experiments
• numerical simulations