International Journal of Materials and Product Technology (7 papers in press)

Special Issue on: OA The Application of Advanced Materials for Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing

• Open Access

  Colour fixation process and colour fastness improvement strategies for natural plant dyes in functional clothing fabrics ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Jiaheng Han, Zicheng Zhang, Jiang Chang 
  Abstract: The application of natural plant dyes in functional textiles is limited by poor colour fastness and difficulty in colour fixation. Functional additives can reduce fibre surface polarity, shield active sites, and hinder dye uptake. Traditional metal mordant dyeing methods also carry the risk of chemical interference with functional components, compromising performance stability. This study proposes an optimised colour fixation method. First, plant dyes compatible with functional fabrics are selected, and dyeing parameters are adjusted to ensure uniform dye penetration into the fibres. Then, a customised fixing agent is used to enhance dye-fibre bonding through high-temperature steam and mild chemical crosslinking. Dyeing conditions (such as pH, time, and temperature) are further optimised to improve colour fixation. Results show that after 25 washes, the antibacterial fabric achieves a wash fastness of 2.7, with a dye residue rate of 70.1%. The light fastness remains at 3.9 (initial value: 5) after 120 hours of exposure, and the antibacterial rate remains at 91.6% after washing. This method effectively improves colour durability while preserving the fabrics functional properties.
  Keywords: natural plant dyes; functional clothing fabrics; colour fixation process; colour fixing agent formulation; dyeing process.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10078276
   
  

• Open Access

  Preparation of intelligent responsive printing materials and their application in anticounterfeiting and packaging ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Hong Wu, Xiaorong Zhou, Quan Li 
  Abstract: In order to address the challenges of insufficient stability and accuracy in the large-scale application of intelligent responsive printing materials, this paper first designs a dual chamber microcapsule structure with temperature and light dependent response, and applies nano interface crosslinking agents to improve polymer crosslinking density. Secondly, this paper optimises the rheological properties of ultraviolet (UV) ink, adjusts the monomer molecular structure to match surface tension, and makes it suitable for high-speed screen/inkjet printing processes. Finally, this paper constructs a portable detection terminal based on smartphone spectral sensing and support vector machine convolutional neural network (SVM-CNN) algorithm. The results showed that the colour retention rate after five cold chain cycles was 83.33%, the fracture rate after 48 hours of mechanical vibration was only 2.0%, the accuracy of the 5-level high-quality imitation label was 97.5%, and the response threshold drift reached 0.30 C within 96 hours.
  Keywords: intelligent responsive printing materials; anticounterfeiting and packaging; microcapsule structure; environmental tolerance; portable detection.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10078783
   
  

• Open Access

  Crack resistance and toughening mechanism of nano-SiO2 reinforced PVA fibre cement matrix composites in steel bridge engineering ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Pingrang Wang, Yue Wang 
  Abstract: This paper aims to study the crack resistance and toughening properties of nano silica reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibre cement-based composites, hoping that these composites can be better applied in steel bridge engineering. This paper designs a cement-based composite material using quartz sand, cement, nano silica, and PVA fibres as raw materials. This paper controls the dosage of nano silica at six levels (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5) and analyses the performance of PVA fibre cement-based composites at these levels. The results showed that compared with cement-based composites containing PVC fibres, cement-based composite materials containing 0.5% nano silica increased their compressive strength, flexural strength, initial fracture toughness, and unstable fracture toughness by 10.3%, 13.7%, 8.3%, and 11.8%, respectively. This indicates that the appropriate addition of nano silica in PVA fibre cement-based composite materials can prevent cracking and toughen the material, giving it sufficient strength for steel bridge engineering.
  Keywords: cement-based composite; crack resistance and toughening mechanism analysis; nano silica; nanometre materials; steel bridge engineering.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10078899
   
  

• Open Access

  Parametric design in ceramic product form generation and manufacturing optimisation ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Liwen Yu, Yao Chen 
  Abstract: Traditional methods of design for ceramics are inefficient due to a lack of innovative solutions in addition to precision issues with manufacturing. This paper provides a modelling approach that utilises NURBS, parameter-based design and the NSGA-II multi-objective optimisation process to mitigate some of these challenges. The morphological characteristics of the design are transformed into a parameterised controllable design space and used in conjunction with process parameters (which include shrinkage rates and sintering temperatures) and performance metrics (such as structural strength) for the purposes of determining objective measures. The iterative process carried out by the NSGA-II algorithm determines Pareto-optimal solutions, each demonstrating a balance between aesthetics and manufacturability. The following statistics were generated reflecting improvements over the initial population: average structural stiffness had an increase from approximately 55 N/mm to approximately 75 N/mm; average material usage decreased from approximately 81,000 to approximately 65,000 units; median maximum geometric deviation decreased from 1.62 mm to approximately 0.57 mm. The method enables efficient generation of complex free-form ceramic designs with enhanced strength, reduced material consumption and superior dimensional accuracy.
  Keywords: parametric design; multi-objective optimisation; ceramic product; form generation; manufacturing process modelling.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10078932
   
  

• Open Access

  Design of a GUI framework for digital home appliance products based on artificial intelligence ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Weijian Zeng, Lijie Zhou, Jongki Kim 
  Abstract: With the continuous breakthrough and popularisation of computer technology, network communication, and multimedia applications, people have put forward higher requirements for the design of smart home appliances. As an indispensable part of home decoration, digital home appliances have also emerged to adapt to it. This article used artificial intelligence technology to design a graphical user interface (GUI) framework for digital home appliance products, and introduced the structural model of embedded GUI. The functional requirements of the digital home appliance product GUI framework and the application of artificial intelligence within it have been analysed, and the GUI frameworks structural design and main functions have been explained. Starting from design theory and specific practice, this paper explores how to achieve better user interaction and solutions based on the artificial intelligence GUI framework.
  Keywords: GUI framework; digital appliances; home appliance products; artificial intelligence.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10079053
   
  

• Open Access

  Preparation and performance of supramolecular polymer-based piezoresistive damping composites ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Xuan Wang, Xue Yang, Yu Li, Xincan Lu, Songlin Chen, Zilin Geng 
  Abstract: This paper proposes a collaborative construction strategy based on molecular design and multi-scale structure tuning to address the main conflict between high damping efficiency and sustainable piezoresistive response in supramolecular polymer based piezoresistive damping composites. Firstly, this paper constructs a dynamically reversible thermoplastic polyurethane matrix by introducing a quadruple hydrogen bond UPy (2-ureido-4 [1H] pyrimidinone) unit, and controls the hydrogen bond density to optimise the internal friction ability. Secondly, this paper proposes a heterogeneous mixed filler composed of aminated SiO2 (silicon dioxide) and carboxylated multi walled carbon nanotubes. Finally, this paper prepares a series of composite materials through solution mixing hot pressing process, and predicts the synergistic window of electromechanical properties using an improved percolation Maxwell model. The results showed that the prepared composite material had a mixed filler content of 5 wt%, a peak damping loss factor of 0.83, and a piezoresistive sensitivity of 12.4.
  Keywords: supramolecular polymer; piezoresistive damping; hybrid filler; dynamic hydrogen bonding; multifunctional composite.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10079054
   
  

• Open Access

  Algorithm for visual communication design: generating textures of composite materials using artificial intelligence ( Free Full-text Access )

  by Dong Chen, Qing Li 
  Abstract: In response to the lack of authenticity and quality in composite material texture generation in the field of visual communication design, this article adopts a self-attention generative adversarial network (GAN) algorithm to study it. This article enhances the texture dataset for composite materials, thereby expanding the available datasets. The self-attention mechanism is applied to the generator and discriminator of generative adversarial networks, and the networks are jointly optimised. Then, the perceptual loss function and an adaptive adversarial loss function are applied to improve the similarity and authenticity between the generated and real images and a progressive fine-tuning strategy is adopted to train the model. The evaluation results of the self-attention generative adversarial network show excellent performance in three indicators, SSIM, PSNR, and Perceptual Loss, with mean values of 0.82, 23.22, and 0.012, respectively, and the score of the model is 67. Overall, the improved network described in this article offers significant advantages for composite material texture generation, providing a more reliable solution for the field of visual communication design.
  Keywords: generative adversarial network; GAN; self-attention mechanism; composite texture generation; visual communication design; image quality evaluation.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2026.10079055