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This article researches a superhydrophobic anti‐fouling material that can be used for agricultural medicine boxes, aiming to solve the problems of residual medicine, difficult recovery, and low reuse rate in medicine boxes. Double modification (volume and surface modification) is carried out on the ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) matrix, and the high fluidity of melted snow wax is connected to UHMWPE and gas‐phase silica (SiO2) to prepare superhydrophobic composite materials U‐C‐WSiO2, achieving multiple combinations of superhydrophobicity, high mechanical properties, and high stability. The high‐strength bonding between snow wax and UHMWPE matrix acts as an adhesive, strengthening the bonding degree between silica particles and the matrix, achieving excellent superhydrophobicity, static contact angle reaches 157.0° on its surface while maintaining a relatively stable hydrophobic surface after multiple droplet impacts. In addition, unique surface modification methods endow U‐C‐WSiO2 composite materials with high stability, which can resist pesticide erosion and maintain surface corrosion resistance. This superhydrophobic composite material can solve the problem of pesticide residue in medicine boxes and has broad prospects for agricultural applications. Its surface water repellent and drug repellent properties further expand the application of thermoplastic engineering plastics in agricultural production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an epoxy structural adhesive was fabricated by using the high‐performance thermoplastic engineering plastic phenolphthalein‐based polyaryletherketone (PEK‐C) as tougheners, and 4,4′‐diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) and 4,4‐diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) as the curing agents. The effect of PEK‐C on the mechanical properties, microstructure, and adhesive properties of the modified epoxy resin system was investigated. Epoxy structural adhesive with 20 phr PEK‐C exhibited excellent bonding performance and thermal stability. The PEK‐C toughened adhesive presented high shear strength of 31.6 MPa and 27.6 MPa at 120°C and 150°C, respectively. The PEK‐C toughened epoxy structural adhesive was then used to bond CF/PEEK composites, and the effects on the bonding properties of CF/PEEK were investigated. By the combined treatment of sandpaper grinding and corona discharge (80 mesh sandpaper sanding + corona treatment for 30 s), the shear strength of the composite joints is increased to 18.73 MPa. And the shear strength retention rate of the joint was 99.8%. The strategy can be used to fabricate sandwich structures with CF/PEEK as the skin with excellent performance. Therefore, PEK‐C toughened modified epoxy resin is conducive to the enhancement of adhesive properties and has a better performance for the bonding of CF/PEEK materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incremental sheet forming has emerged as an excellent alternative to other material forming procedures, incrementally deforming flat metal sheets into complex three-dimensional profiles. The main characteristics of this process are its versatility and cost-effectiveness; additionally, it allows for greater formability compared to conventional sheet forming processes. Recently, its application has been extended to polymers and composites. The following review aims to present the current state of the art in the incremental sheet forming of polycarbonate, an outstanding engineering plastic, beginning with initial studies on the feasibility of this process for polymers. Attention is given to the advantages, drawbacks, and main applications of incrementally formed polycarbonate sheets, as well as the influence of process parameters and toolpath strategies on features such as formability, forming forces, deformation and failure mechanisms, geometric accuracy, surface quality, etc. Additionally, new hybrid forming methods for process optimisation are presented. Finally, a discussion is provided on the technical challenges and future research directions for incremental sheet forming of polycarbonate and, more generally, thermoplastics. Thus, this review aims to offer an extensive overview of the incremental forming of polycarbonate sheets, useful to both academic and industrial researchers working on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyimide (PI) is one of the most important engineering plastics, but its stability in aqueous environments is insufficient, which limits its anti‐corrosion efficiency. In this study, a novel P(VDF‐HFP)/SMT‐RS@BNNSs/PI composite coating is prepared by incorporating poly(vinylidene fluoride‐hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF‐HFP)) and the exfoliated boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) which were highly co‐functionalized with two kinds of materials of the rosin and the soy‐maleic anhydride‐tannic acid adhesive molecules (SMT‐RS@BNNSs). The coatings are characterized in detail by using the XRD, FT‐IR, XPS, and SEM technologies. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization curve tests further evaluated the corrosion resistance of the coating. As results, the obtained P(VDF‐HFP)/SMT‐RS@BNNSs/PI coating with good adhesion (grade 1) to the low‐carbon steel plate displays a larger water contact angle of 93.10° compared to blank PI (75.5°) and SMT‐RS@BNNSs/PI (83.2°). The dispersed distribution and interaction of SMT‐RS@BNNSs can effectively reduce the phase separation between P(VDF‐HFP) and PI. Even after soaking in electrolyte for 15 days, the impedance modulus, corrosion current, and corrosion voltage of the P(VDF‐HFP)/SMT‐RS@BNNSs/PI coating are 1.568 × 1010 Ω cm2, 4.612 × 10−12 A cm−2, and 0.325 V, respectively. These properties are superior to those of the PI and SMT‐RS@BNNSs/PI coatings. It is believed that the excellent anti‐corrosive performance of this PI‐based composite will broaden the application fields of PI materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethersulfone (PES) is distinguished by its exceptional comprehensive properties, making it a highly valued engineering plastic employed in various cutting‐edge fields. However, the high cost of PES limits its wider application in industrial fields. Considering the cost‐reduction advantages of polymer foaming, PES foams were successfully prepared in this work using microcellular injection molding (MIM) and micro‐opening microcellular injection molding (MOMIM) foaming methods. Compared with the MIM foaming method, the PES foam samples prepared by the MOMIM foaming method have better microcellular structure and surface quality. As the micro‐opening distance increased, the cell density of the PES foam samples showed a gradual rise before plateauing, with the cell size remaining relatively constant. As a result, the density of the PES foam sample dropped to 1.07 g/cm3, which is 80.5% of the solid PES sample. Meanwhile, the mechanical properties of the PES foam samples remained robust, with both the specific flexural modulus and the specific flexural strength showing increases as the micro‐opening distance increased. The knowledge obtained from this study provides a method for preparing high‐performance PES foam materials, which will facilitate the application of PES in more civilian fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly ether ether ketone (PEEK) is a premier engineering plastic, which has gained considerable attention in recent years. Our prior research investigated crystallization template techniques and pore formation mechanisms within the PEEK/poly (ether imide) system, paving the way for the development of hierarchically porous membranes (HPMs). Compared to single‐porous membranes, HPMs demonstrate enhanced flux and high mass transfer efficiency simultaneously, effectively mitigating the trade‐off effects. In this study, we focused on fabricating PEEK HPMs through precise manipulation of a polymer ternary blend system. The meticulous tuning enables intricate control of the hierarchical pore morphology of PEEK at two distinct scales. The finite element simulations not only underscored the crucial role of hierarchical pores in bolstering separation efficiency, but also exhibited strong concordance with the experimental findings. This study provides guidance for future optimization of HPMs with superior separation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing has the advantages of a simple molding principle, convenient operation, and low cost, making it suitable for the production and fabrication of complex structural parts. Moving forward to mass production using 3D printing, the major hurdle to overcome is the achievement of high dimensional stability and adequate mechanical properties. In particular, engineering plastics require precise dimensional accuracy. In this study, we overcame the issues of FDM 3D printing in terms of ternary material compounds for polyamides with gradient structures. Using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and boron nitride (BN) as fillers, polyamide 6 (PA6)-based 3D-printed parts with high dimensional stability were prepared using a single-nozzle, two-component composite fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing technology to construct a gradient structure. The ternary composites were characterized via DSC and XRD to determine the optimal crystallinity. The warpage and shrinkage of the printed samples were measured to ensure the dimensional properties. The mechanical properties were analyzed to determine the influence of the gradient structures on the composites. The experimental results show that the warpage of pure polymer 3D-printed parts is as high as 72.64%, and the introduction of a gradient structure can reduce the warpage to 3.40% by offsetting the shrinkage internal stress between layers. In addition, the tensile strength of the gradient material reaches up to 42.91 MPa, and the increasing filler content improves the interlayer bonding of the composites, with the bending strength reaching up to 60.91 MPa and the interlayer shear strength reaching up to 10.23 MPa. Therefore, gradient structure design can be used to produce PA6 3D-printed composites with high dimensional stability without sacrificing the mechanical properties of PA6 composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plastic hinge region length is the critical parameter to determine the deformation capacity of a reinforced concrete (RC) column. The foregoing researches showed that many factores should be included to accurately access the length of plastic hinge, which could be found in the existing formulas. However, the effect of the tension shift of longitudinal rebar was not paid enough attention in these publications. In order to consider the tension shift effect, a novel model of the plastic hinge length was established based upon the equivalent principle of plastic rotation. The quasi-static tests of seven RC columns were carried out to quantify the undetermined parameters in the proposed formula. To eveluate the rationallity of the suggested model, several existing formulas were applied to calculate the plastic hinge length of the tested columns. The comparison between test and calculation shows that the proposed model can predict more accurately the hinge length of 30 columns in the literature with less discreteness than the existing formulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction of biomass-based nanofillers into the polyamide matrix may represent a sustainable approach for the development of high-performance engineering plastics. From this standpoint, nanocellulose, derived from various cellulosic sources, has attracted a great deal of attention because of is exceptional mechanical properties, lightweight nature, and biodegradability, which presents significant advantages over conventional inorganic fillers. However, a technical challenge arises in the industrially favorable melt processing of polyamides and nanocellulose. This challenge is associated with the thermal degradation of nanocellulose at high processing temperatures, as well as the strong tendency of nanocellulose to aggregate within the polymer matrix. This review examines recent developments to address these issues. Key approaches based on the surface treatment of nanocellulose as well as optimization of processing conditions are discussed in detail, which can provide insights on the development of nanocellulose-reinforced polyamide composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The saturated impulse is a special phenomenon in the dynamic plastic behavior of engineering structures under intensive pulse loading, such as slamming loading. In this study, slamming experiments were performed on steel plates to investigate their slamming pressure and dynamic plastic responses, as well as the saturation phenomenon, and elucidate the effect of the plate thickness and material properties on the dimensionless saturated deflection and saturated impulse in combination with the published test data. The results show that the dimensionless saturated deflection and saturated impulse of the test plates gradually increased as the dimensionless stiffness decreased. After being validated against the experimental results, a numerical method that considered the fluid–structure interaction (FSI) effect was then employed to provide comprehensive insight into the transient plastic responses and saturated impulse of the flat plates under slamming impact. Numerical simulations revealed that the compressed air layer always existed during the effective process of the flat slamming impact. Through the numerical prediction of the dynamic plastic deflection and slamming pulse loading, it was observed that the saturated impulse phenomenon always took place after the time instant of the peak value of the pressure pulse. Furthermore, the analysis of the saturated impulse based on the numerical simulations indicated that the saturation phenomenon was more likely to be achieved as the water impact velocity increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hard carbon, characterized by high ion storage capacity, low operating voltage, and excellent cycling stability, is considered an ideal negative electrode material for sodium‐ion batteries. However, the high cost and low carbon yield of thermosetting precursors limit their practical application in SIBs, while low‐cost and high‐yield raw materials exhibit highly ordered carbon structures and narrow interlayer spacing under high‐temperature carbonization. Discarded polyimide materials are inexpensive, which offer a high carbon yield and possess good thermal stability and thermoplasticity, with functional groups of imide rings (−CO−N−CO−) on their main chains. This study recycled and converted polyimide materials into hard carbon materials from discarded engineering plastics, investigating the influence of carbonization temperature on the degree of graphitization, interlayer spacing, and pore structure of the materials to achieve high reversible sodium storage capacity. After carbonization at 1300 °C, the polyimide material exhibited 319 mAh g−1 reversible capacity and excellent electrochemical performance (with a capacity retention of 91.92 % after 100 cycles at a 0.5 C current rate) and rate performance (up to 242.5 mAh g−1 at 2 C). This study provided a simple, high‐yield, and effective method for the reuse of discarded organic polymers, promoting the sustainable utilization of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread use of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) from packaging to engineering applications seems to follow the current global trend. The development of high-performance PLA-based blends has led to the commercial introduction of various PLA-based resins with excellent thermomechanical properties. The reason for this is the progress in the field of major PLA limitations such as low thermal resistance and poor impact strength. The main purpose of using biobased polymers in polymer blends is to increase the share of renewable raw materials in the final product rather than its possible biodegradation. However, in the case of engineering applications, the focus is on achieving the required properties rather than maximizing the percentage of biopolymer. The presented review article discusses the current strategies to optimize the balance of the key features such as stiffness, toughness, and heat resistance of PLA-based blends. Improving of these properties requires molecular structural changes, which together with morphology, crystallinity, and the influence of the processing conditions are the main subjects of this article. The latest research in this field clearly indicates the high potential of using PLA-based materials in highly demanding applications. In the case of impact strength modification, it is possible to obtain values close to 800 J/m, which is a value comparable to polycarbonate. Significant improvement can also be confirmed for thermal resistance results, where heat deflection temperatures for selected types of PLA blends can reach even 130 °C after modification. The modification strategies discussed in this article confirm that a properly conducted process of selecting the blend components and the conditions of the processing technique allows for revealing the potential of PLA as an engineering plastic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facile fabrication, low material complexity and closed‐loop recycling are essential for polymer plastics to alter their linear product economy towards a cradle‐to‐cradle one. Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) are one way to achieve that, which intrinsically exhibit decent mechanical properties like the thermosets but could also be easily recycled like the thermoplastics. In this work, we introduce rigid ester structural motifs into dynamic poly(disulfide)s to form a series of dual polymer networks. Owning to the coherence of soft/rigid segments and the reversible sacrificial crosslinking, they exhibit tailorable mechanical properties and good resistance towards different chemicals. Their closed‐loop recycling is achieved via mild solvolysis, maintaining materials' mechanical integrities. It offers a solution as a sustainable replacement for engineering plastics which are massively under production but hard to be recycled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the comprehensive properties of polybutylene furandicarboxylate (PBF), 2,5‐furandicarboxylic acid (2,5‐FDCA), and aliphatic chain diol 1,8‐octanediol and 1,4‐butanediol were used as monomers to synthesize a series of bio‐based polybutylene glycol‐octanediol 2,5‐furandicarboxylate (PBOF). The results showed that the chemical composition of PBOF could be controlled through the molar ratio of monomers. Compared with PBF, as the proportion of octanediol segments gradually increased, PBOF could gradually transform from semi‐crystalline thermoplastic to amorphous form, and the glass transition temperature (Tg) gradually decreased. The crystallization ability reduced but a part of the crystal area was still retained. The copolyesters still has a decomposition temperature above 370°C, indicating excellent thermal stability. The introduction of the octanediol segment significantly improved the tensile mechanical properties and flexibility of the POBF copolyester. These meet the requirements for the preparation of bio‐based engineering plastics. The water absorption rate of PBOF showed that it may have certain degradable potential. PBOF copolyesters have potential application prospects in bio‐based medical plastics and biodegradable packaging polymer materials after copolymerization modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,4-Butanediol, an important chemical raw material, especially as the monomer of engineering plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PBT), plays a pivotal role in contemporary chemicals. A promising parallel approach is the linear-selective hydroformylation of inexpensive allyl acetate, which is economical yet challenging. Herein, we describe an atom-economic approach characterized by high selectivity for synthesizing 4-oxobutyl acetate through rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation using allyl acetate. This protocol affords the intermediate of valuable 1,4-butanediol in excellent yield (up to 95%) and exhibits excellent regioselectivity (linear/branched up to 164) under mild conditions (60 °C, 10 bar of syngas), effectively minimizing the formation of decomposed byproducts. The success of this protocol hinges on the use of a "Rh/POP-type ligand" in combination with either acetic acid or bulky anionic salts as additives. Preliminary mechanism studies show that the use of CH3COOH facilitates the formation of a tridentate κ3-P,O,P-coordination, which prevents the coordination of carbonyl with the Rh center, leading to the relatively high linear selectivity of 4-oxobutyl acetate. Furthermore, the successful application of this protocol in synthesizing 4-oxobutyl acetate at a scale of 3.8 g, employing low Rh-loading (0.05 mol%), highlights its potential for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this research was creation and validation of a methodology for the development of production systems of suppliers of the automotive industry. The theoretical starting points analyze the available literary sources and point to the insufficient treatment of the issue by a comprehensive industry standard representing a gap in the current state of knowledge. The practical part of the research is divided into two stages. The subject of the first stage is the standardization of the methodology through a structured scientific procedure in intensive cooperation with a panel of experts. The subject of the second stage is testing the methodology on authentic projects of the application sector using case studies. The results of the testing showed that in all projects managed using the proposed methodology there was an increase in performance compared to projects managed in a traditional way. The successful confrontation of the proposed solution with reality (practice) is underlined by the confrontation with the current state of knowledge (theory). The practical benefits of the research are the possibility of implementing the methodology into the pedagogical process at training workplaces and, above all, its application into engineering practice to develop new production systems of suppliers of the automotive industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the low‐temperature toughness and resistance of the engineering plastic polyamide PA12, this study introduces novel PA12/MVQ@POE‐g‐MAH ternary composites using a two‐step process and dynamic curing. Analytical results indicate that incorporating MVQ@POE‐g‐MAH into the PA12 matrix markedly enhances its toughness and heat resistance. As the MVQ@POE‐g‐MAH content increases, the elongation at break of PA12 composites significantly expands from 52.83% to 204.69%, and the notch impact strength escalates from 8.69 to 74.34 kJ m−2. In addition, the brittleness temperature of PA12 decreases from −59.5 to −67.0 °C. Experimental findings confirm that POE‐g‐MAH is dispersed at the interface between MVQ and PA12, creating an encapsulated structure of MVQ@POE‐g‐MAH. This enhancement significantly broadens the potential applications of PA12 by improving its toughness, and resistance to both low and high temperatures, as well as impact endurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) boosted its technological applications because of its piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties, together with mechanical, chemical, and thermal resistance. In this review, we address the PVDF chemical structure and its synthesis procedure, also describing the occurrence of polymorphism (alpha (α), beta (β), gamma (γ), and delta (δ) of this semicrystalline polymer, and the processes involved in phase transformation that govern the adaptability of the PVDF crystalline phases and properties for several industrial uses. It can be used as a component of implants and sutures, as engineering plastic to play a structural role in aggressive environments, acting in the field of process control as a component of transducers and sensors, as well as in the synthesis of separation membranes, fuel cells, and a long list of new applications that include an important role in robotics. The main physicochemical techniques used for PVDF characterization, i.e., differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy, that highlight its unique properties, are also discussed, showing the versatility of PVDF for a range of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of multifunctional bio‐based materials with closed‐loop chemically recyclable plastics can be a paramount response to the worldwide plastic waste predicament. However, the trade‐off dilemma between the high performance and easy recycling performance of these materials still encounters huge challenges. In this contribution, inspired by the significant contribution of the hydrogen bonding networks to enhanced mechanical and gas barrier performance as well as the cosolvents to enhance recycling performance, a novel polyester material (PBHyF) synthesized by bio‐based monomers that integrate high‐performance and efficient chemical closed‐loop is presented. PBHyF show ultra‐high mechanical properties (83.2 MPa, 233.9%) and barrier properties (CO2 0.0157 barrer, O2 0.0071 barrer, H2O 5.518E‐15 g·cm/cm2·s·Pa) that are greater than bio‐based materials and most engineering plastics of previous work. More significantly, PBHyF also exhibits multifunctionality with excellent ultraviolet shielding properties, solvent‐resistant properties, and easy recycling performance. The initial monomers of PBHyF can be obtained in exceptional yields (>90.0%) and purity (>99.0%) under mild conditions by a simple energy‐efficient rapid chemical‐solvolysis strategy, even with polyolefin blend plastics. Further possesses similar high‐performance repolymerized polyester comparable to the polyester before recycling. Hence, these state‐of‐art high‐performance and easy‐recycling bio‐based materials provide a new approach for a green, sustainable material economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new procedure for determining the degree of crystallinity (DOC) has been recently proposed, and it has been verified using experimental and computer‐generated powder diffractometry data [Toraya (2023). J. Appl. Cryst.56, 1751–1763]. As an application to real materials like engineering plastics, this procedure is here applied to the DOC determination of plate‐like polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) samples, composited with crystalline and non‐crystalline fillers. The coexistence of partially crystallized polymer with non‐crystalline fillers in target materials makes it difficult to separate the non‐crystalline part of the partially crystallized polymer. This problem is here solved by the inverse application of the direct derivation (DD) method for quantitative phase analysis (QPA). The intensity–composition (IC) formula used in the DD method can derive the weight fractions of the individual components from just the total sums of observed intensities and the chemical composition data for these components [Toraya (2016). J. Appl. Cryst.49, 1508–1516]. For the present purpose, the IC formula has been inversely applied to calculate the relative intensity ratios of individual components under the assumption that the chemical compositions and weight fractions of the respective components are known. The total halo intensity could then be separated into the non‐crystalline part of the polymer and the non‐crystalline filler. Analyzed results of PPS composites in four different DOCs are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabrication of ultra-tough biodegradable nanocomposite films with antibacterial activity and antioxidant properties remains a huge challenge. Herein, we developed a super-tough antibacterial biodegradable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite film by simply introducing highly effective antibacterial agent PDA@LS-Ag into PVA matrix. The antibacterial agent PDA@LS-Ag was synthesized from the mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) and green biomass sodium lignosulfonate (LS) via a facile microwave-assisted reduction strategy, in which PDA played the role of reducing agent and LS performed as the dispersant. The tensile strength of the PVA nanocomposite film with 5 wt% addition of PDA@LS-Ag reached up to 131.7 MPa, which was far higher than most of engineering plastics. The excellent mechanical performance was resulted from the synergistic effect of the unique nanoscale phase-separation structure and the dense hydrogen bonds between the PDA@LS-Ag nanoparticles and PVA matrix. Owing to the existence of silver nanoparticles and rich phenolic hydroxyl groups, the PDA@LS-Ag nanoparticles also endued the composite film with good antibacterial activity, outstanding antioxidant activity, and UV-shielding properties. As the biomass LS, PDA, and the PVA matrix are all biodegradable, this work provides a feasible way for preparing highly strong and super-tough biodegradable nanocomposite films with antibacterial and antioxidant properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an urgent need for new approaches to reduce the environmental impact of plastics. One approach is to enhance recyclability. Covalent adaptable networks (CANs), where crosslinks are chemically reversible, offer an attractive alternative to thermoset materials. Another option is to strengthen polymers using nanofillers, to reduce the amount of material needed. In this regard, single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are excellent candidates as fillers due to their extreme strength‐to‐weight ratio and dimensionality. Here, SWNTs functionalized as mechanically‐interlocked derivatives (MINTs) are shown to significantly improve the mechanical properties of polyimine (PI) CANs, with close to optimal efficiency. Enhancements in both stiffness and ultimate strength, approaching 100% load transfer considering the SWNT loading, are observed for PI MINT, while composites made with pristine SWNTs exhibit poor improvement. The PI MINT CANs can be recycled both thermally and chemically without compromising their mechanical properties. Finally, prototype carbon fiber PI MINT laminar composites are also fabricated and characterized, demonstrating a significant increase in their mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) blends are widely used as engineering plastic alloys; however, they have a low fire safety level. To improve the flame-retardant property of PC/ABS, a zirconium-based metal-organic framework material (UiO-66) was synthesized with zirconium chloride and terephthalic acid and used as a flame-retardant cooperative agent. Its flame-retardant performance and mode of action in the PC/ABS blends were carefully investigated. The results showed that UiO-66 had good thermal stability and delayed the pyrolysis of the materials, thus significantly enhancing the efficiency of intumescent flame retardants. By compounding 7.0 wt% hexaphenyloxy-cyclotri-phosphazene (HPCTP) with 3.0 wt% UiO-66, the PC/ABS blends reached a limiting oxygen index value of 27.0% and V0 rating in the UL-94 test, showing significantly improved resistance to combustion dripping. In addition, UiO-66 enhanced the smoke and heat suppression characteristics of the intumescent flame-retardant materials. Finally, the flame-retardant mode of action in the blends was indicative of UiO-66 having a cooperative effect on the flame-retardant performance of PC/ABS/HPCTP materials. This work provides good ideas for further development of the flame-retardant ABS/PC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly Ether Ether Ketone (PEEK) is a kind of special engineering plastic with excellent properties such as high-temperature resistance, self-lubrication, wear resistance, and high mechanical strength. However, its blending or composite modification applications still face numerous challenges. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the friction and wear performance of a three-layer self-lubricating bearing bush, which was made from a modified material containing short carbon fiber and Poly Ether Ether Ketone (SCF/PEEK). The bearing bush is used as a surface contact layer on the pistons of a hydraulic motor in the interface with the cam roller. The bearing bush was processed using a 15% SCF-modified PEEK material, and the friction and wear test was conducted using a self-built friction test machine. This study aimed to assess the frictional and wear characteristics of the SCF/PEEK-modified material in the bearing bush. The results show that as the experimental pressure rises from 15 MPa to 25 MPa, the friction coefficient of the SCF-modified bearing bush experiences a significant decrease from 0.420 to 0.296. Furthermore, the stability of the frictional morphology of carbon fibers indicates its effective adaptability to low speed and high load conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review addresses the environmental challenges arising from the proliferation of plastic and electronic waste (E‐waste), driven by global economic and demographic expansion. Since the 1950s, the mass production of plastics has seriously threatened global sustainability, lacking effective post‐use management. E‐waste worsens the issue due to low recyclability and high toxicity. Resolving this requires improving biodegradability. The paper explores eco‐friendly biodegradable materials for a zero‐e‐waste society, focusing on multifunctional plastics in electronics, providing a comprehensive guide to material selection, and illustrating novel concepts through recent trials. The goal is fully biodegradable electronics, but transitioning from conventional material systems is complex. Notably, rendering engineering plastics in electronics biodegradable surpasses simply substituting conventional plastics. Thus, it is delved into various research initiatives focused on biodegradable materials for electronics, highlighting a systematic approach toward creating a fully integrated, biodegradable electronic system. This includes exploring the mechanisms of biodegradation and the integration of printed circuit boards (PCBs), a critical component in electronics. Achieving this represents a challenging but promising step toward a sustainable electronic future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxy resins‐based engineering plastics are indispensable in the global economy, but they have created a serious waste crisis caused by their chemical cross‐linked networks. To solve this problem, current strategies often require the assistance of catalysts or solvents at the expense of thermal and mechanical performance. In this work, a high‐performance epoxy resin featuring dynamic ester and disulfide bonds (TDS) is reported, which exhibits higher thermal and mechanical properties than common engineering plastics, i.e., tensile strength and modulus of 66.6 MPa and 2.63 GPa, flexural strength and modulus of 103.2 MPa and 3.52 GPa, and glass transition temperature (Tg) of 133 °C. Moreover, the reversible transformation between aromatic disulfide bonds and thiyl radicals endows TDS epoxy resin with autonomous visualization of damage and healing. In addition, the harmonious interplay between disulfide and ester bonds‐promoted by tertiary amine accelerated the topological network rearrangements, enabling TDS to easily reshape and weld. Specifically, TDS can be completely degraded in pure water at 200 °C without any catalyst, and the degraded products can be directly re‐polymerized to achieve green closed‐loop recycling. This work proposes a simple and economical strategy for the development of epoxy resin‐based cutting‐edge engineering plastics that are both functional and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the five major engineering plastics, polycarbonate (PC) has been applied in many industrial fields. However, its poor wear‐ and UV‐ resistance greatly limit its further promotion. Inspired by the dual benefits of inorganic–organic hybrid filler, in this study, we developed a novel type of catechol group‐ and nano silica‐containing reinforcing filler (CFNS) for the preparation of wear‐ and UV‐resistant PC‐based composite films. With a low level of filler content (1%), the coefficient of friction (COF) was distinctly reduced from 0.14 (neat PC film) to 0.06 (composite film), benefiting from a wear‐resistant surface layer. On the basis of ensuring high and stable transmittance for visible light, the composite films also exhibit strengthened capacity of UV shielding for the waveband from 293 to 400 nm. In addition, the general performance of composite films including tensile strength, tensile modulus, and thermal stability have also been improved in different degrees. Therefore, the composite films reinforced by CFNS are highly promising for a wide range of applications, ascribed to their improved general properties as well as two additional functions of wear‐ and UV‐resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a high‐performance engineering plastic, the acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS) resin possesses excellent heat resistance, chemical resistance, and toughness. However, there is a lack of flow properties of the ABS resin for many processing operations. With the aim of enhancing the flowability of the ABS resin, the effect of N,N′‐ethylene bis oleamide (EBO) as a new lubricant on the melt flow rate (MFR), torque value, and rheological behavior of the ABS resin was investigated. The result showed the MFR of the ABS resin with 2.0 wt% EBO was 22.1 g/10 min, which was improved by 49% compared with the pure ABS resin (14.8 g/10 min). The torque value of the ABS resin, including 2.0 wt% EBO (1.69 N m) was lower than that of the pure ABS resin (2.03 N m). The rheological study further indicated that EBO can reduce the complex viscosity of the ABS resin. The above results indicated that EBO was an effective lubricant for the ABS resin. A possible lubrication mechanism was proposed based on the consequences of the rotational rheometry, dynamic mechanical analysis, and molecular dynamics simulation. EBO decreased the entanglement density of the polystyrene‐acrylonitrile (SAN) molecular chains and increased the mobility of the SAN molecular chain segments. On the other hand, EBO increased the free space of motion of the SAN molecular chain segments due to the free‐volume effect thereby increasing the mean square displacement of the system. This work will provide a new way to achieve the high‐flow ABS resin and provide new insights into the lubrication mechanism of lubricants in the ABS resin thereby expanding the applications of the ABS resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyimide (PI) is a special engineering plastic, widely involved in mechanical components, instruments, and petrochemicals. However, single PI material is inevitably subject to wear and tear in practice, which leads to weakened material properties. In this work, Ti3C2Tx@SiO2 was prepared to enhance the wear resistance and lubrication properties of PI by intercalating SiO2 into the interlayer of Ti3C2Tx sheets. Ti3C2Tx@SiO2/PI composites were fabricated in two steps to test the tribological performances. SiO2 particles change the form of interfacial friction from sliding to rolling, thus relieving direct friction between material and steel ball. So, the composites have a minimum COF (COF = 0.33) when the content of Ti3C2Tx@SiO2 is 0.80 wt%. Moreover, the average value of wear rate was 0.24 × 10−5 mm3/(N·m) when Ti3C2Tx@SiO2 content was 1.60 wt%, which was 91.0% lower compared to the PI matrix. During the friction process, the abrasive chips of the material migrate to the surface of the steel ball to form a transfer film, which protects the material and thus reduces the wear rate. Therefore, the hybrids Ti3C2Tx@SiO2 are effective and important wear‐resistant agents and solid lubricants to improve the wear resistance and lubricity of PI or other polymer materials. Highlights: SiO2 insert Ti3C2Tx is a key factor in changing sliding friction into rolling friction, effectively reducing the COF.The average wear rate was 91.0% lower than that of the polyimide matrix when Ti3C2Tx@SiO2 content was 1.60 wt%.The minimum COF of Ti3C2Tx@SiO2/PI composites reached 0.33 when the content of Ti3C2Tx@SiO2 was 0.80 wt%.The transfer film effectively reduces further wear of the material during friction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the five major engineering plastics, polyamide brings many benefits to humans in the fields of transportation, clothing, entertainment, health, and more. However, as the production of polyamide increases year by year, the pollution problems it causes are becoming increasingly severe. This article reviews the current recycling and treatment processes of polyamide, such as chemical, mechanical, and energy recovery, and degradation methods such as thermal oxidation, photooxidation, enzyme degradation, etc. Starting from the synthesis mechanism of polyamide, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different treatment methods of polyamide to obtain more environmentally friendly and economical treatment schemes. Finding enzymes that can degrade high-molecular-weight polyamides, exploring the recovery of polyamides under mild conditions, synthesizing environmentally degradable polyamides through copolymerization or molecular design, and finally preparing degradable bio-based polyamides may be the destination of polyamide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most widely applied general-purpose plastics, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) exhibits good comprehensive performance. However, mechanical strength limits its wider application. In this work, we introduced the engineering plastic PA6 as a dispersed phase to modify the HDPE matrix and applied multiple shears generated by vibration to the polymer melt during the packing stage of injection molding. SEM, 2D-WXRD and 2D-SAXS were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the samples. The results show that under the effect of a strong shear field, the dispersed phase in the composites can form in situ microfibers and numerous high-strength shish-kebab and hybrid shish-kebab structures are formed. Additionally, the distribution of fibers and high-strength oriented structures in the composites expands to the core region with the increase in vibration times. As a result, the tensile strength, tensile modulus and surface hardness of VIM-6 can reach a high level of 66.5 MPa, 981.4 MPa and 72, respectively. Therefore, a high-performance HDPE product is successfully prepared in this study, which is of great importance for expanding the application range of HDPE products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Economic assessment of pyrolysis plants for engineering plastics recycling. • Cost-covering prices: 418–1182 €/Mg pyrolysis oil, based on plant capacity. • Feedstock availability and quality are a challenge for a business case. • Producing high-quality pyrolysis oil also challenge for a business case. • Additional revenue streams like gate fees and subsidies vital for business case. Chemical recycling of complex plastic waste via pyrolysis can reduce fossil resource dependence of the plastics value chain and greenhouse gas emissions. However, economic viability is crucial for its implementation, especially considering challenging waste streams with high shares of engineering plastics that have lower pyrolysis product quality than standard thermoplastics waste. Thus, this study conducts a techno-economic assessment determining the profitability factors of pyrolysis plants for automotive plastic waste in Germany including different plant capacities and calculating cost-covering minimum sales prices for the resulting pyrolysis oil. Main findings are that due to economies of scale, the cost-covering minimum sales prices vary between 1182 €/Mg pyrolysis oil (3750 Mg input/year) and 418 €/Mg pyrolysis oil (100,000 Mg input/year). The pyrolysis technology employed must be robust and scalable to realize these economies of scale. Large plant capacities face challenges such as feedstock availability at reasonable costs, constant feedstock quality, and pyrolysis oil quality, affecting pyrolysis oil pricing. Due to the limited yield and quality of pyrolysis oil produced from these technically demanding feedstocks, policy implications are that additional revenue streams such as gate fees or subsidies that are essential to ensure a positive business case are necessary. Depending on the assessed plant capacity, additional revenues between 720 and 59 €/Mg pyrolysis oil should be realized to be competitive with the price of the reference product heavy fuel oil. Otherwise, the environmental potential of this technology cannot be exploited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and study of active microbial consortia able to degrade plastics represent an exciting area of research toward the development of bio-based alternatives to efficiently transform plastic waste. This forum article discusses concepts and mechanisms to inform emerging strategies for engineering microbiomes to transform plastics under controlled settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The density of engineering plastics is a key parameter for ensuring their safety and reliability. In order to achieve rapid and high-precision on-site detection, a method based on the acoustic pressure reflection coefficient is proposed. First, finite element simulation analysis was conducted to obtain the acoustic field distribution during ultrasound propagation under water immersion conditions. The correlation between interface echo intensity and material density was determined. Optimal detection parameters were designed to reduce measurement errors caused by beam overlap and diffusion attenuation. A water immersion ultrasonic experimental system was constructed, and the measurement accuracy of the method was tested using chlorinated polyvinyl chloride pipes. The results show that, compared to the measurement results of the Archimedean drainage method, the maximum error of ultrasonic measurements does not exceed 1.7%, and the overall variance is less than 1.2%. The measurement accuracy of this method is compared with the regression results of different machine learning models. It is demonstrated that, compared to regression methods based on variable correlation, this method retains the advantages of high efficiency and low cost in ultrasonic density measurement, while achieving higher measurement accuracy. Additionally, it does not require a dataset for training support, making it promising and valuable for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of engineering plastics can be enhanced through effective surface mechanical treatment (SMT), which can be applied to various types of engineering plastics, eliminating the limitations of conventional polymer processing and could potentially extend their applications and improve their performance and reliability as structural-functional materials. Inspired by metal forging, this work proposes a simple and effective SMT strategy to enhance the mechanical properties of polyamide 66 (PA66). Tensile tests have shown that SMTed PA66 samples exhibit significant improvements in both Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength (UTS), with a 2104 MPa Young's modulus, almost double that of the pristine samples, and a 35.56% increase in UTS, reaching 183 MPa. Additionally, the modulus within the localized SMTed surface layer could reach up to 14 GPa, which is approximately 14 times higher than that of the pristine sample. The Vickers hardness within the localized SMTed surface layer can be doubled, reaching 10.72 Hv, and the crystallinity can increase by approximately 20% compared to the untreated region. Furthermore, force field molecular dynamics (FFMD) simulations were conducted to investigate the ternary relationship between the SMT method, PA66's molecular structure, and its properties. The combination of MD simulations and versatile structural characterizations provides evidence that the SMT method's mechanism, under heat induction, results in a chain-combing procedure that changes the polymer's molecular morphology microscopically and enhances its mechanical properties macroscopically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the effective use of carbon resources has become a pressing societal issue, the importance of chemical recycling of plastics has increased. The catalytic chemical decomposition for plastics is a promising approach for creating valuable products under efficient and mild conditions. Although several commodity and engineering plastics have been applied, the decompositions of stable resins composed of strong main chains such as polyamides, thermoset resins, and super engineering plastics are underdeveloped. Especially, super engineering plastics that have high heat resistance, chemical resistance, and low solubility are nearly unexplored. In addition, many super engineering plastics are composed of robust aromatic ethers, which are difficult to cleave. Herein, we report the catalytic depolymerization-like chemical decomposition of oxyphenylene-based super engineering plastics such as polyetheretherketone and polysulfone using thiols via selective carbon–oxygen main chain cleavage to form electron-deficient arenes with sulfur functional groups and bisphenols. The catalyst combination of a bulky phosphazene base P4-tBu with inorganic bases such as tripotassium phosphate enabled smooth decomposition. This method could be utilized with carbon- or glass fiber-enforced polyetheretherketone materials and a consumer resin. The sulfur functional groups in one product could be transformed to amino and sulfonium groups and fluorine by using suitable catalysts. Although depolymerization methods for various commodity plastics and several engineering plastics have been developed, such methods for robust super engineering plastics that have very high heat and chemical resistance are nearly unexplored. Here, the authors report the catalytic depolymerization-like chemical decomposition of oxyphenylene-based super engineering plastics such as polyetheretherketone, polysulfone, and polyetherimide using thiols via selective carbon–oxygen main chain cleavage to form monomer-type molecules, namely electron-deficient arenes with sulfur functional groups and bisphenols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MC nylon is a vital engineering plastic that has been widely used. To address the shortcomings of MC nylon, such as poor strength under heavy load, poor dimensional stability and thermal stability, short-cut carbon fibers (SCF) is used as a modifier to explore the preparation process of SCF/MC nylon composites, investigating the effects of different SCF contents on the density, conversion rate, mechanical properties, friction properties and crystallinity of the composites. The results show that in the range of 0-20% SCF content, the density and tensile strength of the composites increase first and then decrease. The conversion rate and impact strength of 20%SCF are the most prominent. The coefficient of friction and wear extent showed decrease and then increase after the addition of SCF, the material showed good friction properties at 10% SCF content. The crystallization temperature of the composite increased to 182.95 °C and the degree of crystallization was 35.57% with 10% SCF reinforcement. The results confirm that the performance of MC nylon can be effectively improved by adding an appropriate proportion of SCF modifier, which is a beneficial attempt to further develop new composite materials to meet certain special spiral drives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper thoroughly examines the advancements and challenges in the field of additively manufactured Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs). It delves into conceptual approaches for FGM design, various manufacturing techniques, and the materials employed in their fabrication using additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. This paper explores the applications of FGMs in diverse fields, including structural engineering, automotive, biomedical engineering, soft robotics, electronics, 4D printing, and metamaterials. Critical issues and challenges associated with FGMs are meticulously analyzed, addressing concerns related to production and performance. Moreover, this paper forecasts future trends in FGM development, highlighting potential impacts on diverse industries. The concluding section summarizes key findings, emphasizing the significance of FGMs in the context of AM technologies. This review provides valuable insights to researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders, enhancing their understanding of FGMs and their role in the evolving landscape of AM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuing technical vocational education and training (TVET) and professional development of the entire automotive sector towards implementing Industry 4.0 and 5.0 tools, methods and technologies has become an essential component of today's knowledge society. The principle of lifelong learning permeates all areas of professional and private life and has manifested itself as an essential component of today's knowledge society. Especially the automotive sector is challenged to successfully master the green and digital transformation. This needs engineers with expertise to actively shape the dual transformation. In this context, continuing education and training on a postgraduate level is indispensable. This paper illustrates continuing technical vocational education and training at Graz University of Technology, managed by the Life Long Learning organizational unit. As an example, a course concept is described in more detail on the basis of the university course Automotive Mechatronics. The aim of this paper is to present a successful TVET program and to show how postgraduate education over the lifespan can succeed sustainably for engineering professionals in the automotive sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycarbonate (PC) is a thermoplastic engineering plastic with excellent properties, and its excellent dielectric properties have broad application prospects in the field of electronics. In this paper, bisphenol Z (BPZ) and diphenyl carbonate (DPC) are used as raw materials to synthesize special polycarbonate (BPZ‐PC) by melt transesterification. The effects of catalyst type, catalyst dosage, molar ratio of raw materials, transesterification reaction time and vacuum degree, polycondensation reaction temperature and time on the molecular weight of the product are investigated, and the optimal reaction conditions are obtained. The chemical structure of the product is verified by FTIR, 1H‐NMR and 13C‐NMR spectra tests. The thermal properties, mechanical properties, optical properties and dielectric properties of BPZ‐PC are evaluated. Therefore, due to its excellent performance, BPZ‐PC, a high‐performance low‐dielectric polycarbonate, can be widely used in high‐frequency communication, microelectronics, and aerospace industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is still a critical challenge to prepare engineering plastics with multi‐functionalities and high‐performances while considering their aesthetic properties and dyeing processes. In this study, a light‐colored conductive nanorod (CNR) was employed to mediate the morphology of immiscible polypropylene/poly(butylene succinate) (PP/PBS) blends. The CNR could be only located in polar PBS phase to effectively control the viscoelasticity ratio between binary phases. By incorporating just 9 per hundred resins (phr) of CNR, the sea‐island structure of PP/PBS (70/30) would transform a stable co‐continuous morphology of PP/PBS/CNR (70/30/9). The addition of CNR led to a significant reduction in blends' surface resistivity and volume resistivity. Simultaneously, the mechanical properties and appearance colors of the ternary blends were improved. The effect of CNR in morphological mediation was further verified with PP/poly(butylene adipate terephthalate)/CNR (PP/PBAT/CNR) and PP/poly(ε‐caprolactone)/CNR (PP/PCL/CNR) blends. In summary, this work provided a desirable engineering plastic, demonstrating permanent antistatic performance, improved mechanical properties and good colorability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By visualizing and engaging with the problem where many students struggle, mechanical engineering principles like Heat Transfer and FEM are better comprehended. Participating in design and development problems at the student level is one such approach that aids the students in picturizing, comprehending, and understanding the concepts. Students participate in a variety of racing competitions, such as the creation of the Quad Bike, Baja Buggy, Formula Student, etc. The students can create teams, build, and develop cars, compete against other teams nationally and globally, and more by taking part in these tournaments. Additionally, it improves the student's capacity for teamwork, empowers them to take on mission-driven projects, and develops their managerial and leadership abilities. Students improve their ability to comprehend, visualize a variety of engineering ideas during the process [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steel strip is an important raw material for the engineering, automotive, shipbuilding, and aerospace industries. However, during the production process, the surface of the steel strip is prone to cracks, pitting, and other defects that affect its appearance and performance. It is important to use machine vision technology to detect defects on the surface of a steel strip in order to improve its quality. To address the difficulties in classifying the fine-grained features of strip steel surface images and to improve the defect detection rate, we propose an improved YOLOv5s model called YOLOv5s-FPD (Fine Particle Detection). The SPPF-A (Spatial Pyramid Pooling Fast-Advance) module was constructed to adjust the spatial pyramid structure, and the ASFF (Adaptively Spatial Feature Fusion) and CARAFE (Content-Aware ReAssembly of FEatures) modules were introduced to improve the feature extraction and fusion capabilities of strip images. The CSBL (Convolutional Separable Bottleneck) module was also constructed, and the DCNv2 (Deformable ConvNets v2) module was introduced to improve the model's lightweight properties. The CBAM (Convolutional Block Attention Module) attention module is used to extract key and important information, further improving the model's feature extraction capability. Experimental results on the NEU_DET (NEU surface defect database) dataset show that YOLOv5s-FPD improves the mAP50 accuracy by 2.6% before data enhancement and 1.8% after SSIE (steel strip image enhancement) data enhancement, compared to the YOLOv5s prototype. It also improves the detection accuracy of all six defects in the dataset. Experimental results on the VOC2007 public dataset demonstrate that YOLOv5s-FPD improves the mAP50 accuracy by 4.6% before data enhancement, compared to the YOLOv5s prototype. Overall, these results confirm the validity and usefulness of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SPECPs are electrochromic polymers that contain special engineering plastic structural characteristic groups (SPECPs). Due to their high thermal stability, mechanical properties, and weather resistance, they are also known as high-performance electrochromic polymer (HPEP or HPP). Meanwhile, due to the structural characteristics of their long polymer chains, these materials have natural advantages in the application of flexible electrochromic devices. According to the structure of special engineering plastic groups, SPECPs are divided into five categories: polyamide, polyimide, polyamide imide, polyarylsulfone, and polyarylketone. This article mainly introduces the latest research on SPECPs. The structural design, electrochromic properties, and applications of these materials are also introduced in this article, and the challenges and future development trends of SPECPs are prospected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for sustainable chemical products that exhibit a low product carbon footprint and that are biobased and/or biodegradable has tremendously increased. This can be observed in many applications like home and personal care, packaging, or engineering plastics. Many customer industries of the chemical industry want to replace their petroleum-based monomers, chemical building blocks, and ingredients by renewables-based ones. Furthermore, there is the need to reduce microplastics in the environment, which can be achieved by substitution of conventional polymers by biodegradable polymers that are – in the best case – even biobased. Moreover, there is substantial political pressure to reduce green-housegas (GHG) emissions as stipulated by the green deal of the European Union. All these developments enforce a fundamental change of energy supply, raw material base, and production technologies within the chemical industry. The supply of customer industries with biobased products forces the chemical industry to include renewable raw materials to a large extent. This requires new chemical or biotechnological conversion strategies. First generation renewables like sugar and plant oil are existing commodities and are already used within the chemical industry. Advanced renewable raw materials also known as second generation renewables comprise lignocellulose, agricultural residues, food wastes, other organic waste, or seaweed. They have a great potential as future raw material as they are considered even more sustainable. The utilization of renewable raw material is based on value chains completely different from the current petrochemical value chain. Firstly, the structurally complex raw biomass is refined to specified raw material like carbohydrates or plant oil by separation and purification technologies. Secondly, this specified raw material is converted into chemical products using chemical synthesis or biotechnology. An example that is already used at a commercial scale is the biomass balance approach, the feeding of “bio-naphtha” into the steam-cracker. It makes use of existing assets and can quickly deliver drop-in products declared as biobased. However, it cannot deliver products with traceable 14C-carbon. In contrast to biomass balance, many chemical end products containing traceable 14C-carbon are obtained through direct conversion of specified renewable raw material by biotechnology or chemistry. Several examples for alcohols, diols, organic acids, and amines are discussed in this chapter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is frequently employed in biomedical engineering due to its biocompatibility. Traditionally, PEEK manufacturing methods involve injection molding, compression molding, additive manufacturing, or incremental sheet forming. Few studies have focused on rotational friction welding (RFW) with PEEK plastics. Based on years of RFW practical experience, the mechanical properties of the weldment are related to the burn-off length. However, few studies have focused on this issue. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the effects of burn-off length on the mechanical properties of the welded parts using PEEK polymer rods. The welding pressure can be determined by the rotational speed according to the proposed prediction equation. The burn-off length of 1.6 mm seems to be an optimal burn-off length for RFW. For the rotational speed of 1000 rpm, the average bending strength of the welded parts was increased from 108 MPa to 160 Mpa, when the burn-off length was increased from 1 mm to 1.6 mm and the cycle time of RFW was reduced from 80 s to 76 s. A saving in the cycle time of RFW of about 5% can be obtained. The bending strength of the welded part using laser welding is lower than that using RFW, because only the peripheral material of the PEEK cylinder was melted by the laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing complexity and connectivity of automotive systems have raised concerns about their vulnerability to security breaches. As a result, the integration of formal methods and validation techniques has become crucial in ensuring the security of automotive systems. This survey research paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art formal methods and validation techniques employed in the automotive industry for system security. The paper begins by discussing the challenges associated with automotive system security and the potential consequences of security breaches. Then, it explores various formal methods, such as model checking, theorem proving, and abstract interpretation, which have been widely used to analyze and verify the security properties of automotive systems. Additionally, the survey highlights the validation techniques employed to ensure the effectiveness of security measures, including penetration testing, fault injection, and fuzz testing. Furthermore, the paper examines the integration of formal methods and validation techniques within the automotive development lifecycle, including requirements engineering, design, implementation, and testing phases. It discusses the benefits and limitations of these approaches, considering factors such as scalability, efficiency, and applicability to real-world automotive systems. Through an extensive review of relevant literature and case studies, this survey provides insights into the current research trends, challenges, and open research questions in the field of formal methods and validation techniques for automotive system security. The findings of this survey can serve as a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers involved in the design, development, and evaluation of secure automotive systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) is one of the most promising engineering plastics in aerospace engineering because of their reliable mechanical properties under various conditions. However, next-generation engineering plastics also call for more comprehensive outputs, such as higher thermal conductivity and antiwear performances. Boron Nitride Nanotubes (BNNT) have been proven to have outstanding physical properties as additives to the resin of the composites. In this article, the influence of BNNT additives on the PEEK resin is studied to provide a more insightful understanding of the development of BNNT-reinforced engineering plastics in the future. It has been found that the interfacial shear strength (IFSS) between BNNT and PEEK is 151% higher than carbon nanotube reinforcements., and amino groups (–NH2) modified BNNT can further improve the IFSS value by 14%. This mechanical improvement is further evaluated, and the molecular mechanisms are explained with an atomistic resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]