Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

The Royal Society of Chemistry are delighted to announce our cross-journal themed collection on Sustainable Composites, guest edited by  Professor Ian Hamerton, (University of Bristol), Dr Lois Hobson (Centre for Process Innovation), Dr Jonathan Wagner (Loughborough University). Read more about our guest editors here.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is committed to championing new research and promoting skills and development in the composites sector. This cross-journal themed collection contributes to the action plan from the Sustainable Composite Materials report by the RSC. It aims to create opportunities for researchers to publish peer-reviewed studies on sustainable composites.

This cross-journal themed collection on Sustainable Composites will bring together articles* tackling the sustainability of the entire composite lifecycle, including new composite feedstocks, low-energy manufacturing, design for end-of-life, in-use benefits, extended composite lifetime and repair, material recovery and recycling. Contributions should clearly address the sustainability aspects associated with the chosen approach. The scope of this collection extends to the management, regulatory, policy, and economic aspects associated with improving composite sustainability.

Topics include:

• Sustainable composite materials: These might include, but are not limited to bio-derived and low-carbon pathways to carbon fibre and composite resins (both drop-in and new resins); natural fibres (g., hemp, bamboo, and flax); new chemistries or new ways to existing chemistries; modelling for material prediction;
• Low-energy manufacturing: Efficient manufacturing processes, covering both resource and energy efficiency, g., UV radiation, fast curing resins, additives for low temperature curing, additive manufacturing (3D printing composites);
• Design for end of life: recyclable materials g., triggered degradation of thermosets, reversible adhesives, vitrimers; application of reactive modelling and machine learning.
• Enhanced composite lifetime: Self-healing technologies for composite repair e.g., vitrimers; underpinning tools g., accelerated testing of polymers and composites, detecting material degradation e.g., microscopy, FTIR; secondary composite applications; repair strategies; and the potential for adoption of imbedded sensor technology.
• Composite recovery and recycling: Strategies for the potential combination of chemical, biochemical and physical recycling technologies for key resin types to deliver both recycled input materials and structural building blocks as second-life materials , analytical techniques to identify composites from waste streams g., FTIR and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, digital labels such as QR codes and RFID tags;
• Composite additives: g., adhesives, conductors, core, curing agents (including hardeners and catalysts), sizing, toughening agents, flame retardants and UV stabilisers; nanocomposites as an additive in FRP providing thermal, electrical and/or mechanical properties; additives for enhancing performance e.g., toughening agents, UV absorbers/stabilisers, sizing (coating applied to surface of fibres);
• Sustainable composite applications: These might include, but are not limited to g., wind turbine blades, ship hulls, hydrogen storage tanks, airplanes, and automotive parts;
• Whole system evaluation: LCA, LCE, TEA, social-economic analysis across whole composite cycle; opportunities to explore concept of ‘sustainability in use’
• Regulatory and Policy: REACH, material passporting, approval for new materials, verification, testing, adoption of standards to cover use of second-life materials

*This collection welcomes research articles, communications, and review articles. Opinion articles and perspectives will be included at the discretion of the Guest Editors and Editorial Office.

Open for submissions until 29 September 2023

20 RSC Journals** are welcoming articles for this collection, please find the list of participating journals below. Submissions should fit within the scope of each Royal Society of Chemistry journal. For more information about the scope, standards, article types and author guidelines of each journal, please click on the journal links below.

We welcome submissions from now until the 29^th of September, with articles being published in the next available issue on acceptance and collated into an online collection. This allows greater flexibility for you to publish your research when it is ready, while ensuring your article is published quickly. The collection will be introduced with an Editorial and promoted towards the end of 2023 and beyond, ensuring maximum visibility of your article.

All submissions will be subject to rigorous initial Editorial assessment against the journal’s regular acceptance criteria. Peer review and acceptance in the journals are not guaranteed.

How to Submit:

If you would like to contribute to this collection, email materials-rsc@rsc.org, or submit to one of the chosen journals via the online submission service. Authors will be asked if they are submitting for a themed collection and should include the name of the themed collection: Sustainable Composites. Please also note the themed collection in your cover letter.

**Royal Society of Chemistry journals included in the collection. Please click on the links for further details.

If you have any queries, please contact materials-rsc@rsc.org. Check out our author guidelines for information on our article types or find out more about the advantages of publishing in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

This cross-journal themed collection on Sustainable Composites will bring together articles tackling the sustainability of the entire composite lifecycle, including new composite feedstocks, low-energy manufacturing, design for end-of-life, in-use benefits, extended composite lifetime and repair, material recovery and recycling. Contributions should clearly address the sustainability aspects associated with the chosen approach.

The Guest Editors for this themed collection, Professor Ian Hamerton (University of Bristol), Dr Lois Hobson (Centre for Process Innovation) and Dr Jonathan Wagner (Loughborough University)

Find out more about our Guest Editors below:

Professor Ian Hamerton

University of Bristol

Ian Hamerton is currently a Professor of Polymers and Composite Materials with the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Bristol Composites Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K., with over 30 years of research experience in the development of materials for advanced composites and nanocomposites. He is recognized internationally for work on high-performance polymers. He is the Deputy Director/Research Coordinator of the ACCIS and CoSEM Centres for doctoral training.

Ian’s research is concerned with developing polymeric materials with improved performance suitable for use in demanding environments and technologically relevant applications (e.g. satellites, military and civil aerospace, high performance automotive applications, micro-/opto-electrionics and polymer filters).

Dr Lois Hobson

Centre for Process Innovation

Lois Hobson is a Senior Manager at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), a Research Technology Organisation and part of the UK High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

Lois completed her PhD in organometallic (University of Wales, 1991-94) before undertaking postdoctoral positions with Professor Jim Feast (IRC in Polymer Science and Technology, Durham University, ROPA 1995-98) and Professor Shiro Kobayashi (JSPS Fellowship, Kyoto University, Japan, 1998-99) focussing the synthesis and characterisation of hyperbranched polymer systems and artificial cellulosic structures respectively.  Continuing her interests in structure-property-performance relationships, she was the first female to hold the Toshiba Fellowship, joining Toshiba Japan’s fuel cell research group (Kawasaki, Japan) in 1999 and establishing patented technology for direct methanol systems.

Joining ICI Group in 2001, Lois worked with National Starch & Chemical Company (Vinamul Polymers BV, 2001) and ICI Group companies (Ablestik Laboratories, Emerson & Cumming, ICI Paints, Quest International) in the UK, Europe, Asia and North America, in research, product development, programme management and techno-commercial roles.  Latterly establishing large-scale, cross-business collaborative programmes to create underpinning patented research, technology translation and future product innovation.

In 2008, she moved to the UK public sector as Programme Manager for an £11M Local Enterprise Growth Initiative funded regeneration programme, before joining the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) in 2009.  Over the past 14 years Lois has held various roles across the CPI business, focusing on enabling more effective translation of fundamental science and technology to market, including a 15month secondment to PPX Medical as their European Operations Manager.   She has established a portfolio of large collaborative programmes and supporting infrastructure on behalf of CPI, accessing regional, national, and European programmes to build its’ translational capabilities.  She currently holds the title of Senior Strategic Opportunities Manager and leads development of CPI’s new Sustainable Materials Strategy.

Dr Jonathan Wagner

Loughborough University

Jon Wagner joined Loughborough in 2018 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2022. He is the Programme Director for the Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Programme and Co-Director for the Interdisciplinary Centre for Circular Chemical Economy (CircularChem).

He completed his PhD in 2016 on the hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae under supervision of Profs. Valeska Ting and Chris Chuck within the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies at University Bath. Until his appointment at Loughborough, he joined the Horizon 2020 Photofuel project as research associate at Imperial College London, focusing on algae system scale-up and system analysis. Before his PhD, he worked in industry, completing the BP upstream process engineering graduate scheme, with placements in Aberdeen (Schiehallion FPSO) and the CATS terminal in Teeside.

Since 2012, Jon Wagner has secured more than £6m in research funding as PI or Co-I from UKRI and Royal Society. He currently leads a £483k IDRIC-Wave 2 funded project on ‘Algae-based carbon capture and utilisation for UK cluster decarbonisation’ with collaborators at Heriot Watt and University of Manchester, following a successful £125k proof of concept study on algae-based biomethane fuel purification. He is co-founder of Loughborough’s Mini-CDT in low-dimensional catalysis.

Submit your work to the collection by 29 September 2023

For more information on the collection, participating journals and how to submit, see our open call blog post

If you have any queries, please contact materials-rsc@rsc.org. We look forward to receiving your submissions!