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Polymers
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Advances in the Thermal Characterization of Polymers and Plastic Waste
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Advances in the Thermal Characterization of Polymers and Plastic Waste

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2025 | Viewed by 1086

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Stefano Vecchio Ciprioti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento S.B.A.I., Sapienza Università di Roma, Via del Castro Laurenziano 7, I-00161 Rome, Italy
Interests: thermal behavior; decomposition; pyrolysis; solid-state kinetics; thermodynamics of phase transitions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Material science with particular reference to polymers, polymer composites and plastic materials (waste or innovative newly synthesized ones) is usually characterized using thermal analysis techniques. Many researchers focus their interests on the study of their thermal behavior, often trying to assess a thermal stability scale among a class of different materials with related structures.

This Special Issue aims to provide a useful platform for distinguished and younger scholars to share their most recent developments on the synthesis, structural, morphological and thermal characterization of innovative and end-of life polymer-based materials, in which thermal analysis techniques (thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis) play a significant role in combination with spectroscopic, structural and computational techniques.

In particular, I address those colleagues who wish to provide deeper insights into the physico-chemical processes directly connected to the thermal treatment of polymers and/or polymer-based materials, with the aim to deliver information of utmost importance for their future innovative applications.

Dr. Stefano Vecchio Ciprioti
Guest Editor

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

  • thermal behavior
  • thermal stability
  • glass transitions
  • crystallization
  • pyrolysis
  • pyrolysis kinetics
  • plastic waste
  • polymer fibers
  • physical aging

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 10309 KiB  
Article
Chemical Recycling of PLA and Its Copolyesters with Poly(Ethylene Azelate) via Microwave-Assisted Alkaline Hydrolysis and Enzymatic Hydrolysis
by Rafail O. Ioannidis, Nikolaos D. Bikiaris, Evangelia Vouvoudi, Alexandra Zamboulis, Nikolaos Nikolaidis and Dimitrios N. Bikiaris
Polymers 2025, 17(10), 1374; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17101374 - 16 May 2025
Viewed by 140
Abstract
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a widely used biobased polyester which can be derived from renewable resources. Due to its excellent properties, it has already been adopted in various industrial sectors. While PLA is compostable, its degradation to the environment is very slow, necessitating [...] Read more.
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a widely used biobased polyester which can be derived from renewable resources. Due to its excellent properties, it has already been adopted in various industrial sectors. While PLA is compostable, its degradation to the environment is very slow, necessitating the development of efficient recycling methods. This study focuses on the chemical recycling via microwave-assisted alkaline hydrolysis of PLA and its copolymers with poly(ethylene azelate) (PEAz), aiming to recover both carboxylic acid monomers: lactic acid and azelaic acid. Moreover, our method tunes the degradation of PLA via the synthesis of the novel aliphatic PLA-based copolyesters, targeting engineering-like applications, specifically in the field of printed electronics. Various process parameters were analyzed, including the temperature and the duration of the experiments as well as different phase transfer catalysts. Complete degradation was achieved at low temperatures (110–125 °C) and short times (12–15 min) for the PLA-based copolyesters, offering significant environmental benefits, as considerably less energy is consumed compared to chemical conventional methods. So, by changing the composition of the copolyesters through the incorporation of PEAz blocky segments, the ester bonds became more susceptible to hydrolysis under alkaline conditions assisted with microwave irradiation. Additionally, enzymatic hydrolysis was also studied in parallel for comparative purposes, revealing low degradation rates, thus establishing the microwave-assisted alkaline hydrolysis as a solid and reliable method for tuning the degradation of PLA-based materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Thermal Characterization of Polymers and Plastic Waste)
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31 pages, 7533 KiB  
Article
Quantitative DSC Assessment of the Polymorph-Specific Crystallinity of Poly(Lactic Acid) and the Impact of a Self-Assembling Nucleating Agent and PEG Plasticizer
by Maarten Colaers, Wim Thielemans and Bart Goderis
Polymers 2025, 17(9), 1267; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17091267 - 6 May 2025
Viewed by 173
Abstract
This study examines the temperature-resolved, polymorph-specific crystallinity of poly(lactic acid), PLA, during cooling and heating at 10 °C/min, with a focus on the effects of N, N-bis(benzoyl) hexanedioic acid dihydrazide (BHAD, commercially known as TMC306) as nucleating agent and PEG 1000 as plasticizer. [...] Read more.
This study examines the temperature-resolved, polymorph-specific crystallinity of poly(lactic acid), PLA, during cooling and heating at 10 °C/min, with a focus on the effects of N, N-bis(benzoyl) hexanedioic acid dihydrazide (BHAD, commercially known as TMC306) as nucleating agent and PEG 1000 as plasticizer. A semicrystalline (PLA-1) and amorphous (PLA-2) PLA grade were investigated. The study emphasizes the importance of using temperature-dependent, polymorph-specific transition enthalpies to accurately calculate crystallinities from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Polymorphism is independently confirmed using Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction (WAXD). Pure PLA-1 reached an α′ crystallinity of 2% during cooling, which increased to 38% through cold crystallization upon heating. At BHAD concentrations of at least 0.4%, α crystallites formed instead of α′, reaching a maximum crystallinity of 38% during cooling. The addition of 10 wt% PEG to PLA-1 facilitated primary α crystallization during cooling, followed by secondary intraspherulitic α′ crystallization upon heating, resulting ultimately in a crystallinity of 34%. Adding 1 wt% BHAD into PLA-1 with 10 wt% PEG shifted the crystallization temperature upward by 40 °C and enhanced the α crystallinity to 44%, highlighting the synergistic effect of PEG and BHAD on crystallization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Thermal Characterization of Polymers and Plastic Waste)
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Graphical abstract

12 pages, 4568 KiB  
Article
Influence of Molecular Weight and Temperature on the Pyrolysis Behavior of Polyethylene
by Eunji Chae and Sung-Seen Choi
Polymers 2025, 17(5), 576; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17050576 - 21 Feb 2025
Viewed by 594
Abstract
The pyrolysis technique is a useful recycling method for waste polyethylene (PE). Various PEs with different molecular weights have been produced and are widely used. The major pyrolysis products of PE include alkadienes (CnH2n−2), alkenes (CnH2n [...] Read more.
The pyrolysis technique is a useful recycling method for waste polyethylene (PE). Various PEs with different molecular weights have been produced and are widely used. The major pyrolysis products of PE include alkadienes (CnH2n−2), alkenes (CnH2n), and alkanes (CnH2n+2). In this study, the differences in pyrolysis behavior of PE based on its molecular weight and the pyrolysis temperature (423–764 °C) were investigated using four types of PEs, with Mw = 2.0 × 103, 16.0 × 103, 28.3 × 103, and 56.8 × 103 g/mol. More specifically, the pyrolysis products were compared in terms of their type (alkanes, alkenes, and alkadienes) and size (the number of carbon atoms). The order of production was alkenes > alkanes > alkadienes. The alkadiene/alkene ratios tended to increase with the PE molecular weight and size of the pyrolysis products. The alkadiene/alkene ratio increased until the pyrolysis temperature reached 670 °C. The alkane/alkene ratios tended to decrease as the PE molecular weight increased; however, they increased with the increasing size of the pyrolysis products. The alkane/alkene ratio decreased as the pyrolysis temperature increased, until it reached 670 °C. The formation of alkenes was more favorable than that of alkadienes and alkanes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Thermal Characterization of Polymers and Plastic Waste)
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