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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Heidis Cano

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universidad de la Costa, Calle 58#55-66, Barranquilla 080002, Atlántico, Colombia
Interests: materials; degradation and corrosion; circular economy; atmospheric pollutants and sustainability

Dr. Joaquín Hernández-Fernández

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Chemistry Program, Department of Natural and Exact Sciences, San Pablo Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena 130015, Colombia
Interests: polypropylene; pyrolysis; sustainable additives; polyolefin synthesis; circular economy; ecodesign; green chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of plastics is high, and in the majority of cases the plastic produced is designed for single-use purposes. It is known that one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute and then thrown away, producing that the carbon footprint of polymeric materials increases. Recent developments in materials science, especially polymers materials, have brought new perspectives and applications. The transition towards polymeric materials is necessary to reduce environmental impacts. Polymer materials sustainability presents an important step toward the production process knowledge of these materials, characterization, structure-property relationships, degradation process and strategies to improve their recycling within the above-mentioned Circular Economy that constitutes a highly interdisciplinary and complex field.

The primary aim of this Special Issue is the presentation of the relationships between polymer materials and sustainability, in particular about the process of economy circular. Manuscripts focused on characterization, structure-property relationships and degradation processes with less environmental impacts are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Heidis Cano
Dr. Joaquín Hernández-Fernández
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.

Keywords

polymer materials
sustainability
circular economy
environment
engineering and product
structure-properties
characterization
degradation

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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30 pages, 10388 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Circular Production, Designing, and Mechanical Testing of Polypropylene-Based Reinforced Composite Materials: Statistical Analysis for Potential Automotive and Nuclear Applications

by Abrar Hussain, Vitali Podgursky, Dmitri Goljandin, Maksim Antonov, Fjodor Sergejev and Illia Krasnou

Polymers 2023, 15(16), 3410; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15163410 - 15 Aug 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1431

Abstract

The circularity of polymer waste is an emerging field of research in Europe. In the present research, the thermal, surface, mechanical, and tribological properties of polypropylene (PP)-based composite produced by injection molding were studied. The pure PP matrix was reinforced with 10, 30, and 40% wt. of pure cotton, synthetic polyester, and polyethylene terephthalate post-consumer fibers using a combination of direct extrusion and injection molding techniques. Results indicate that PP-PCPESF-10% wt. exhibits the highest value of tensile strength (29 MPa). However, the values of tensile and flexural strain were lowered with an increase in fiber content due to the presence of micro-defects. Similarly, the values of modulus of elasticity, flexural modulus, flexural strength, and impact energy were enhanced due to an increase in the amount of fiber. The PP-PCCF-40% wt. shows the highest values of flexural constant (2780 MPa) and strength (57 MPa). Additionally, the increase in fiber loadings is directly proportional to the creation of micro-defects, surface roughness, abrasive wear, coefficient of friction, and erosive wear. The lowest average absolute arithmetic surface roughness value (R_a) of PP and PP-PCCF, 10% wt., were 0.19 µm and 0.28 µm. The lowest abrasive wear value of 3.09 × 10⁻⁶ mm³/Nm was found for pure PP. The erosive wear value (35 mm³/kg) of PP-PCCF 40% wt. composite material was 2 to 17 times higher than all other composite materials. Finally, the single-step analysis of variance predicts reasonable results in terms of the p-values of each composite material for commercial applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Relationships of Polymer Materials and Sustainability)

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Review

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26 pages, 2868 KiB

Open AccessReview

Pyrolysis of Waste Tires: A Review

by Wenwen Han, Deshang Han and Hongbo Chen

Polymers 2023, 15(7), 1604; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15071604 - 23 Mar 2023

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 8501

Abstract

Waste tires are known as “black pollution”, which is difficult to degrade. The safe handling and recycling of waste tires have always been the focus of and difficulty for the global rubber industry. Pyrolysis can not only solve the problem of environmental pollution but also completely treat the waste tires and recover valuable pyrolysis products. This paper summarizes research progress on the pyrolysis of waste tires, including the pyrolysis mechanism; the important factors affecting the pyrolysis of waste tires (pyrolysis temperature and catalysts); and the composition, properties, and applications of the three kinds of pyrolysis products. The composition and yield of pyrolysis products can be regulated by pyrolysis temperature and catalysts, and pyrolysis products can be well used in many industrial occasions after different forms of post-treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Relationships of Polymer Materials and Sustainability)

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