Materials

Uneven cooling creates internal stresses that cause warpage. Better mold cooling improves dimensional stability and part quality.

Temperature, screw speed, and feed rate can shift polycarbonate color by changing melt viscosity, shear, and pigment dispersion.

Lightweight, breathable, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS)-free textiles are key to safer, more sustainable military uniforms.

Functional polymer coatings can improve microplastic removal from wastewater by enhancing particle capture, membrane performance, and selective filtration.

ASR plastics from end-of-life vehicles could replace natural sand in concrete, reducing landfill waste while supporting infrastructure use.

Polyolefins dominate healthcare packaging, but low recycling rates reveal a major sustainability gap in medical plastics waste.

Bio-based additives support sustainable plastics, but cost premiums, feedstock volatility, and compliance pressure complicate adoption.

Bio-based and biodegradable plastics are not the same. A new framework separates feedstock, polymer chemistry, and degradation to improve material decisions.

Research into optimizing the pyrolysis of automotive plastic waste demonstrates the potential to produce oils with properties approaching those of commercial diesel.

Measuring microplastics requires reliable detection, contamination control, validated methods, and reproducible analytical results.