Assessment of the Ageing and Durability of Polymers II: Procedures and Reliability

Dear Colleagues,

Further to the success of the Special Issue of Polymers “Assessment of the Ageing and Durability of Polymers: Procedures and Reliability”, I am delighted to open a new Special Issue entitled “Assessment of the Ageing and Durability of Polymers II: Procedures and Reliability”. The ageing of polymeric materials, and their stability against external, possibly harsh, agents, represents a fundamental matter for any application involving polymers. Although polymers are believed to be “everlasting materials”, in fact, they experience some type of degradation during their service life, resulting in an appreciable modification in their properties. The durability of a polymeric material can be defined as its average lifetime under the in-service conditions; it depends on several parameters, the most important being the type of polymer, the process used to manufacture and to apply it, the usage and load regime and the kind and level of environmental exposure. Due to the wide selection of polymers (thermoplastic, semi-crystalline and amorphous, cross-linked, thermosettings, elastomers, natural and biodegradable polymers, composites and nano-composites, etc.), to the variety of their applications and utilization and to the variability of exposure regimes, despite the extensive attention devoted to the durability of polymers, several issues are still open, such as the most appropriate methods and procedures to foresee their long-term performance; the reliability of standard accelerated ageing tests; the identification of ageing mechanisms taking place under complex and coupled mechanical-environmental conditions. This Special Issue will provide a platform for the discussion of open issues, challenges, and achievements when analyzing the chemical ageing and durability features of different polymers and the possibility of making reliable previsions for their long-term performance.

Prof. Mariaenrica Frigione
Guest Editor / Editorial Board Member