Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel pneumonia disease originating in Wuhan, was confirmed by the World Health Organization on January 12, 2020 before becoming an outbreak in all countries. A stringent screening process at all airports in Malaysia was enforced after the first case outside China was reported in Thailand. Up to April 14, 2020, Malaysia had reported two waves of COVID-19 cases, with the first wave ending successfully within less than 2 months. In early March 2020, the second wave occurred, with worrying situations. The Government of Malaysia enforced a Movement Control Order starting on March 18, 2020 to break the chain of COVID-19. The media actively spread the hashtag #stayhome. Non-governmental organizations, as well as prison inmates, started to produce personal protective equipment for frontliners. Various organizations hosted fundraising events to provide essentials mainly to hospitals. A provisional hospital was set up and collaborations with healthcare service providers were granted, while additional laboratories were assigned to enhance the capabilities of the Ministry of Health. An initial financial stimulus amounting to RM 20.0 billion was released in February 2020, before the highlighted PRIHATIN Package, amounting to RM 250 billion, was announced. The PRIHATIN Package has provided governmental support to society, covering people of various backgrounds from students and families to business owners.

Advanced materials were used and are being implemented in structural, mechanical, and high-end applications. Contemporary materials are used and being implemented in structural, mechanical, and high-end applications. Composites have several major capabilities, some of them being able to resist fatigue, corrosion-resistance, and production of lightweight components with almost no compromise to the reliability, etc. Nanocomposites are a branch of materials within composites, known for their greater mechanical properties than regular composite materials. The use of nanocomposites in the aerospace industry currently faces a research gap, mainly identifying the future scope for application. Most successes in the aerospace industry are because of the use of suitable nanocomposites. This review article highlights the various nanocomposite materials and their properties, manufacturing methods, and their application, with key emphasis on exploiting their advanced and immense mechanical properties in the aerospace industry. Aerospace structures have used around 120,000 materials; herein, nanocomposites such as MgB ₂ , multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/montmorillonite nanocomposites are discussed, and these highlight properties such as mechanical strength, durability, flame retardancy, chemical resistance, and thermal stability in the aerospace application for lightweight spacecraft structures, coatings against the harsh climate of the space environment, and development of microelectronic subsystems.

Each year, more than 330 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide. The main consumers of plastics are the packaging (40%), building (20%) and automotive (8%) industries, as well as for the manufacture of household appliances. The vast majority of industrial plastics are not biodegradable and, therefore, create environmental problems due to the increase in the amount of solid waste. Studies have been conducted to produce biodegradable materials such as bioplastics to overcome this environmental problem. Bioplastics are defined as materials that are bio-based, biodegradable, or both; they can provide excellent biodegradability and can be used to help alleviate environmental problems. Therefore, this article presents an overview of the introduction of bioplastic materials and classifications, and a comprehensive review of their drawbacks and areas of importance, including basic and applied research, as well as biopolymer mixtures and biocomposites developed in the last decade. At the same time, this article provides insights into the development of bioplastics research to meet the needs of many industries, especially in the packaging industry in Malaysia. This review paper also focuses generally on bioplastic packaging applications such as food and beverage, healthcare, cosmetics, etc.