Polymer composites are widely used in indoor and outdoor applications owing to their high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and design flexibility. However, exposure to environmental factors such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation, humidity, temperature fluctuations, and biological agents significantly affect their long-term durability and performance. In this review, we comprehensively examine the degradation mechanisms of polymer composites under both natural and accelerated weathering, with particular emphasis on degradation mechanisms, characterization techniques, and durability assessment. We critically discuss the fundamental degradation mechanisms, including photo-oxidation, hydrolysis, polymer chain scission, crosslinking and interfacial debonding. We also evaluated accelerated weathering techniques, conducted under standardized testing conditions, for their ability to simulate long-term outdoor exposure within significantly shorter timeframes, by controlling key environmental parameters such as UV radiation, humidity, and temperature. We also examine the influence of reinforcements, including natural fibres, synthetic fibres, and nanofillers, on the weathering resistance of polymer composites. Attention is given to natural fibre–reinforced composites because their inherent hydrophilicity promotes moisture absorption, accelerating degradation and weakening the fibre–matrix interface. Furthermore, we critically evaluate the effects of weathering on the mechanical properties, crystalline structure and barrier performance of polymer composite films, and discuss recent advances in enhancing weather resistance through hybridization, surface modification, and the incorporation of stabilizing additives. Finally, the review highlights the key challenges and future research directions for the development of durable, high-performance, and sustainable polymer composite systems for long-term outdoor applications.

The increasing release of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly CO₂, continues to drive global warming and highlights the need for effective mitigation technologies. In this study, porous nanostructured cellulose acetate (CA) fibrous mats were fabricated via electrospinning and integrated with natural clinoptilolite (CLN) and synthetic ZSM-5 zeolites to improve CO₂ capture. Physicochemical characterization, elemental analysis, FTIR, XRD, SEM–EDS, and TGA confirmed the incorporation of zeolitic fillers and revealed their influence on fiber structure and thermal stability. We conducted CO₂ adsorption and H₂/CO₂ permeability tests to assess the feasibility of the electrospun fibrous mats for pre-combustion hydrogen purification. CA/ZSM-5 fibrous mats showed enhanced fiber uniformity, improved thermal stability, and superior CO₂ adsorption and H₂ separation performance, whereas CA/CLN fibrous mats exhibited good CO₂ capture but limited hydrogen selectivity. These results demonstrate that zeolite type governs the structural and functional behavior of electrospun CA hybrid fibrous mats, offering insights for developing sustainable materials for gas separation.

This is an editorial article. It has no abstract.

This is an editorial article. It has no abstract.

Electrospinning is a widely used technique for manufacturing nanofibers from polymers. The formation of continuous fibers during the drawing of a viscous solution typically depends on entanglements between polymer chains, making thermoplastics the preferred choice. In this study, we have shown that thermosetting polymers such as epoxy, which have crosslinked covalent bonds, can also be electrospun. The resulting fibers have diameters ranging from 150 nm to 6 μm. Tensile mechanical properties of fibers with diameters varying between 410 nm and 4 μm are compared with those of molded epoxy bulk. The electrospun fibers exhibit approximately 555% higher strength, 300% greater stiffness, and a strain of about 109% compared to the equivalent properties of bulk epoxy. When compared with brittle molded bulk, these fibers showed ductile properties. We also observed a correlation between the fiber diameter and the mechanical properties. The molecular morphology of the fibers was monitored and analyzed using polarized micro-Raman spectroscopy to detect molecular orientation. A comparison with epoxy fibers of different diameters from previous studies was conducted to better understand the size effect. This study shows, explains and models the evolution of epoxy molecular morphology from the solution (soft matter) to fiber (solid-state), explaining the transition from brittle to ductile in epoxy fibers, and clarifying the molecular mechanisms that lead to improved mechanical properties.