PNNL

Carlos Fernandez, a chief chemical engineer and subsurface systems and properties team leader at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is one of three guest editors for a set of collection papers in Scientific Reports.

Fernandez and his colleagues are focusing on the topic of natural fibers. He is joined by Wadood Y. Hamad from the University of British Columbia and Yun Lu from the Chinese Academy of Forestry.

According to the journal, awareness of the environmental issues surrounding petroleum-based materials and glass fibers has been increasing. At the same time, there is a growing interest in eco-friendly materials, such as cellulose nanofibers, which are lightweight, recyclable, biodegradable, and renewable.

With replacement of traditional fibers posing a challenge, the collection papers will showcase the latest advancements on types, sources, and processing of natural fibers, as well as the physical and mechanical properties and high-performance applications of natural fiber composites and cellulosic-fiber composites.

The editorial team is encouraging the submission of papers on the topic through August 2022. They are publishing accepted papers on a rolling basis as soon as the papers are ready.

Scientific Reports is the sixth most-cited journal in the world, with more than 540,000 citations in 2020.

Fernandez has been an editorial board member for the journal since 2015. He has expertise in a wide range of fields, including cement, concrete, fluids, composites, construction, and subsurface science. He joined PNNL in 2006.