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Mechanical Behavior of Polymeric Materials: Recent Studies, 3rd Edition

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Analysis and Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 873

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Polymer Engineering Group (GIP), Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: polymer engineering; polymers and plastics; macromolecular chemistry; polymer composites; polyblends and polymer alloys; interphases; environmental polymer science and technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Polymer Engineering Group (GIP), Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: polymer engineering; polymers and plastics; macromolecular chemistry; polymer composites; polyblends and polymer alloys; interphases; environmental polymer science and technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric materials—materials that are either partially or wholly polymer-based—have been routinely used within the last century in a growing number of applications, particularly in the context of a circular economy in the three main sectors of transport, communications, and health. Applications—both old and new—share the need for adequate structural integrity for their respective contexts. Some questions in this regard include how to measure such structural integrity; how to study it; how a crack appears; how and when a failure becomes catastrophic; how the processing determines the mechanical responses of any polymeric material; and how the aging and external environment or the recycled material fraction may affect mechanical behavior. Research works devoted to these and related topics will be welcome in this Special Issue entitled "Mechanical Behavior of Polymeric Materials: Recent Studies, 3rd Edition".

Dr. Jesús-María García-Martínez
Dr. Emilia P. Collar
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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

  • mechanical properties
  • fracture
  • failure
  • standardizations
  • modeling and forecasting
  • mechanical behavior–processing relationship

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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29 pages, 4545 KB  
Article
Mechanically Recycled PLA Films Reinforced with Rice Husk and Carbonized Rice Husk Particles
by Sergio Gonzalez-Serrud, Ana Cristina González-Valoys and Marina P. Arrieta
Polymers 2026, 18(8), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18080982 - 17 Apr 2026
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Abstract
This study investigates the development of mechanically reprocessed poly(lactic acid) (rPLA) films reinforced with rice husk (RH) and rice husk biochar (RHB) to evaluate their processing behavior, key functional properties, and disintegration under composting conditions. rPLA was produced from PLA through an additional [...] Read more.
This study investigates the development of mechanically reprocessed poly(lactic acid) (rPLA) films reinforced with rice husk (RH) and rice husk biochar (RHB) to evaluate their processing behavior, key functional properties, and disintegration under composting conditions. rPLA was produced from PLA through an additional processing cycle to simulate the valorization of industrial PLA waste, while composites containing 1 and 3 wt.% RH or RHB 500 µm sized particles were manufactured by melt extrusion followed by a compression molding process. Reprocessing increased the melt flow index and decreased intrinsic viscosity and viscosimetric molecular weight, evidencing the occurrence of chain scission during mechanical reprocessing. The addition of RH slightly restricted melt flow and promoted higher surface hydrophilicity, whereas RHB showed a filler-loading-dependent effect on melt flow and increased surface hydrophobicity at low content, consistent with its carbonized and less polar nature. Both RH and RHB promote a nucleating effect, with increased crystallinity in RHB-containing films, and tensile tests showing that filler incorporation mainly reduced ductility compared with unfilled rPLA, while stiffness and strength was maintained or exhibited more moderate variations. Despite these contrasting trends in surface properties and thermo-mechanical performance, all formulations achieved complete disintegration within 21 days under composting conditions at laboratory scale level. Overall, RH and RHB provide a viable route to valorize agro-industrial residues in rPLA films and to tune structure–property relationships within the circular economy framework. Full article
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