POLYMER COMPOSITES

Polymer Composites (PC) is the engineering and scientific journal serving the fields of reinforced plastics and polymer composites and publishes peer-reviewed articles on research, production, processing, and applications of composite materials. Polymer composites are formed by two or more phases as the matrix (usually an organic polymer) and fibers (from the nano- to macro-scale) as the reinforcement, intended primarily for load-bearing applications. Generally, the strength and stiffness of the fiber materials are much higher than those of the polymer matrix materials and thus the fibers are the major load-bearing component in polymer composites. In some cases, organic polymers are modified by incorporation of fillers to augment stiffness that in turn can produce synergy in fiber-filled composites. PC brings you the details of developments in this rapidly expanding area of technology long before they become commercial realities. PC emphasizes the science and technology of composite materials, including fibrous and particulate reinforcements in polymeric and natural composites, such as plants and biological materials when primarily intended for load-bearing applications. Of interest to PC: • Properties, design, and manufacturing of reinforcing fibers and particles for the development of polymer composites • Multifunctional and multiscale polymer composites • Advances in fabrication and processing of polymer composite materials • Polymer composites manufacturing science and technology • Process modelling of polymer composite materials (compare with new or existing experimental data if possible) • Microstructural characterization of polymer composites and their constituent phases • Interfaces in polymer composites • New approaches to prediction and measurement of mechanical, physical, and chemical behavior, wear behavior, and performance of polymer composites • Enhancement of mechanical, thermal, electrical, and barrier properties of polymer composites by incorporation of various forms of fibers (glass, carbon, aramids, rigid chain polymers), nanoparticles, and their combinations. Of interest are filled polymer systems that are used in load-bearing applications • Use of polymer composite materials in 3D printing • Improvement of barrier properties of a polymer through the addition of nanoparticles when present in conjunction with high aspect ratio reinforcing fillers Not of interest to PC: • Water soluble polymers • Shape memory polymers when not reinforced with load-bearing fibers • Any kind of work on electrospinning and fiber spinning if not combined with fiber-reinforced polymer composites • Articles where the focus is on additives or vinyl polymers (These articles are better suited in Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology) • Research or review articles where polymer composites are not discussed (These articles are better suited in Polymer Engineering and Science, SPE Polymers, and Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology) • Research or review articles on polymer blends, foams, membranes, and gels and hydrogels with and without nanofillers. (These articles are better suited in Polymer Engineering and Science and SPE Polymers) • Research or review articles where the major focus is synthesis, e.g., polymer modification, reactive processing, and polymerization. (These articles are better suited in Polymer Engineering and Science and SPE Polymers) • Drug delivery or separation of liquids and solids using membranes and filter media (These articles are better suited in Polymer Engineering and Science and SPE Polymers) • Foams are not of interest unless they are present in sandwich structures formed by load-bearing polymer composites • Research or review articles where the primary focus is injection molding or extrusion (These articles are better suited in Polymer Engineering and Science and SPE Polymers) • We welcome comprehensive review articles by subject experts and thematic special issues compiled by distinguished guest editors. We do not publish conference proceedings, but welcome proposals for special issues originating from conferences. All such manuscripts will be subjected to rigorous peer-review process of PC. If in doubt, please contact one of our editors via email.