A review on degradation mechanisms of polylactic acid: Hydrolytic, photodegradative, microbial, and enzymatic degradation

The uncertain climatic changes-related issues in the recent times has led an apprehension for all automotive makers to develop innovative composite materials to reduce vehicle’s fuel consumption. H...

Progress of novel techniques for lightweight automobile applications through innovative eco-friendly composite materials: A review:

The determination of the secure working life of polymeric materials is essential for their successful application in the packaging, medicine, engineering and consumer goods industries. An understanding of the chemical and physical changes in the structure of different polymers when exposed to long-term external factors (e.g., heat, ozone, oxygen, UV radiation, light radiation, chemical substances, water vapour) has provided a model for examining their ultimate lifetime by not only stabilization of the polymer, but also accelerating the degradation reactions. This paper presents an overview of the latest accounts on the impact of the most common environmental factors on the degradation processes of polymeric materials, and some examples of shelf life of rubber products are given. Additionally, the methods of lifetime prediction of degradable polymers using accelerated ageing tests and methods for extrapolation of data from induced thermal degradation are described: the Arrhenius model, time–temperature superposition (TTSP), the Williams–Landel–Ferry (WLF) model and 5 isoconversional approaches: Friedman’s, Ozawa–Flynn–Wall (OFW), the OFW method corrected by N. Sbirrazzuoli et al., the Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) algorithm, and the advanced isoconversional method by S. Vyazovkin. Examples of applications in recent years are given.

Arun Patel

Papers

An overview of Polymeric Materials for Automotive Applications

Effect of Carbon Nanotube on Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Polymer Matrix Nano Composites at Different Weight Percentages