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Sustainable Development of Composite Materials: From Smart Production to Optimal Operation

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 August 2025 | Viewed by 1805

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanics of Materials and Constructions, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, BE-1050 Brussels, Belgium
Interests: composite materials; non-destructive testing; acoustic emissions; advanced testing; fracture and damage of materials
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Composite materials are nowadays broadly used across various engineering applications and continuous efforts are being made by research centres and industries worldwide to optimize their performance. In addition to mechanical perspectives, the sustainable production and operation of composites has come to be seen as being of great importance, in order to allow for the wider absorption of composite materials into different domains and the replacement of more traditional materials.

With this in mind, this Special Issue aims to gather innovative research papers related to the sustainability of all types of composite materials, including green approaches to their production, development, and usage in different applications. Topics that fall within the scope of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, issues dealing with renewable energy systems, energy-efficient manufacturing, sustainable materials, waste reduction and recycling, the Internet of Things (IoT), AI and machine learning approaches, digital twins, circular economy solutions, and non-destructive testing towards proactive maintenance and limited-energy-consuming repair methods. Review papers, as well as numerical, experimental, and analytical works, are welcome.

The purpose of the Special Issue is to join forces towards creating a collection of novel research works related to the sustainability of composite materials. These can be used as reference for further research and integration in real applications from various industries. Moreover, the benefits of composite materials and their great potential for further development and investment will be showcased.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Kalliopi-Artemi Kalteremidou
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • thermoset composite materials
  • thermoplastic composite materials
  • cement composite materials
  • sustainable production
  • digital twins
  • non-destructive testing
  • recycling of composites

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 2195 KiB  
Article
Experimental Analysis of Mechanical Property Enhancement of Paper-Pulp-Based Packaging Materials Using Biodegradable Additives
by Amalka Indupama Samarathunga, Watagoda Gedara Chathura Madusanka Kulasooriya, Horawala Mahawaththage Dona Umesha Sewwandi, Vimukthi Vithanage, Ashan Induranga, Buddhika Sampath Kumara and Kaveenga Koswattage
Sustainability 2024, 16(23), 10310; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310310 - 25 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1331
Abstract
Generally, paper-pulp-based materials are emerging in the packaging industry due to their high degree of biodegradability. Along with agricultural byproducts as an alternative, using additive or secondary materials in various processes and products has been a solution for implementing sustainability in material utilization. [...] Read more.
Generally, paper-pulp-based materials are emerging in the packaging industry due to their high degree of biodegradability. Along with agricultural byproducts as an alternative, using additive or secondary materials in various processes and products has been a solution for implementing sustainability in material utilization. However, biodegradable materials still need to be improved due to the lack of properties which are essential for their use as packaging material. Currently, a number of research attempts have focused on enhancing the mechanical and thermal properties to increase the effectivity of those biodegradable materials for use as packaging material. The objective of this study is to analyze the effectivity of using sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) and wheat flour (starch) as a strengthening and thermal resistive additive. Due to its proven nano range particle size and fibrous nature, this material could positively affect the material properties. A total of twelve samples were prepared by varying the weight fraction of SCBA, white flour, and paper pulp. A compression molding method was used to prepare cylindrical samples with a diameter of 50 mm and a height of 55 mm under a compression load of 2 tonnes. Wet molded cylindrical blocks were oven-dried at 105 °C for 48 h to remove excessive moisture from the samples. Subsequently, all the samples were dried further until no significant weight loss was observed after the drying process to ensure their uniform moisture conditions. The prepared samples were tested for compressive strength using a Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Both load and compressive stress acting on each sample were plotted against the deflection of the sample. For the analysis, the deflection of each sample was measured at 8.6 kN load and the sample with 10% SCBA and 12.5% starch exhibited the least displacement among all additives. The results show that the samples with 10% SCBA and 12.5% starch also had the highest compressive strength compared to the other samples. Further, samples with the same amount of SCBA were analyzed for thermal resistivity and to obtain the thermal behavior of samples which is crucial in food packaging.Overall, most of the SCBA and starch mixed samples showed superior compressive strength compared to the pure paper-pulp-based sample. Full article
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