Sustainable Polylactide based Composites

Sustainable Polylactide-Based Composites integrates fundamental knowledge pertaining to manufacturing and characterization of polymer composites with a thorough and critical overview of the state-of-the-art in PLA-based composites, including significant past and recent advances. The book begins with insights into the basics of polymer composites, with special reference to sustainable composites, as well as fundamental knowledge related to PLA. This is followed by chapters on manufacturing methods, morphological characterization techniques, and the mechanical models used for polymer composites. A comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in PLA-based sustainable composites of all extensively used fillers is then presented.

After providing fundamental knowledge related to PLA and polymer composites, including structure-property-processing relationship, the book focuses on recent research efforts and key research challenges in the development of PLA-based composites, as well as lifecycle assessment and recycling.

• Presents fundamentals, processing techniques, characterization methods, and modeling
• Offers comprehensive coverage of a broad range of polylactide composites
• Addresses key issues that could shape future research and industrial application for sustainable future development

Professor Suprakas Sinha Ray is a Chief Research Scientist and Manager of the Centre for Nanostructures and Advanced Materials, and Director of the DSTI-CSIR Nanotechnology Innovation Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa. He received his PhD degree in Physical Chemistry at the University of Calcutta, India, in 2001, and was a recipient of the ‘‘Sir P. C Ray Research Award’’ for the best PhD work. Prof. Ray’s current research focuses on the applications of advanced nanostructured & polymeric materials. He is one of the most active and highly cited authors (h-index of 99) in the field of polymer nanocomposite materials, and he has recently been ranked by Thomson Reuters among the Top 1% most impactful and influential scientists and among the top 50 high-impact chemists.

He has delivered more than 77 plenary/keynote/invited presentations at international conferences and has organised or co-organised several events. He authored 16 books, co-authored 13 edited books, wrote 65 book chapters on various aspects of polymer-based nano-structured materials and their applications, and published 687 articles in high-impact international journals. His work also includes 14 articles in peer-reviewed international conference proceedings and 30 articles in national and international conference proceedings. Additionally, he holds nine patents (registered or pending) and has developed 13 new technologies, which he has shared with colleagues, collaborators, and industry partners. His team has commercialised several products and supported SMMEs. Over the past 19 years, he has mentored 27 postdoctoral fellows and supervised 48 PhD and 17 Master’s students. In 2016, he was honored with South Africa’s most prestigious NSTF Award.

Dr. Ritima Banerjee completed her Masters in Polymer Science and Technology at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD), India. After working in the polymer industry (GE Plastics and SABIC) for 7 years, she returned to academia. She taught in Delhi Technological University for two years and subsequently completed her PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, IITD, the area of her work being microcellular processing of thermoplastic elastomer based blends and nanocomposites. She is presently a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering in Calcutta Institute of Technology, India. Her research interests include microcellular processing and the structure-property-processing relationship of polymeric materials.