The development of environmentally friendly materials has been the focus of many research groups in recent years due to increased harmful effects of plastics on the environment. Bio-based materials are considered a key solution from a sustainable manufacturing perspective. The nano-coating of biopolymer blends with silver nanoparticles is the subject of challenging research projects in line with the EU Directive on environment protection and sustainable manufacturing. Coating biopolymers with silver nanoparticles provides an antimicrobial and antiviral active surface. In this work, we develop silver nanoparticle-coated biopolymer Arboblend V2 Nature pellets. The main goal is to obtain a new material with antibacterial action obtained from the blending of a biopolymer pellets with silver nanoparticles through physical vapor deposition. The study is divided in three steps. The first step represents the silver nano-coating of the Arboblend V2 Nature and the characterization of the coated/raw pellets. The second step involves the injection molding of the silver nano-coated pellets and the characterization of the samples obtained. The last step regards the press molding of the coated pellets in order to obtain thin films, as well as their characterization. The PVD-sputtering technique is used to coat the pellets with silver nanoparticles. This process is especially optimized for coating raw materials with high water content and small-size pellets. The mechanical properties, surface chemical composition and the thermal properties of the both virgin and silver nanoparticle-coated biopolymer pellets are measured and analyzed for mechanical and thermal resistance of the nano-coating layer. Differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and nanoindentation mechanical testing is performed. The calorimetry test detects no significant alteration of the biopolymer produced from the PVD process and confirms the optimized PVD process for nano-coating of the Arboblend V2 Nature pellets with a viable application in nano-silver–biopolymer composite products.

Due to the pressing problems of today’s world, regarding both the finding of new, environmentally friendly materials which have the potential to replace classic ones, and the need to limit the accelerated spread of bacteria in hospitals, offices and other types of spaces, many researchers have chosen to develop their work in this field. Thus, biopolymeric materials have evolved so much that they are gradually becoming able to remove fossil-based plastics from major industries, which are harmful to the environment and implicitly to human health. The biopolymer employed in the present study, Arboblend V2 Nature with silver nanoparticle content (AgNP) meets both aspects mentioned above. The main purpose of the paper is to replace several parts and products in operation which exhibit antibacterial action, preventing the colonization and proliferation of bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, by using the submerged cultivation method), but also the possibility of degradation in different environments. The biopolymer characterization followed the thermal behavior of the samples, their structure and morphology through specific analyses, such as TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and XRD (X-ray diffraction). The obtained results offer the possibility of use of said biocomposite material in the medical field because of its antibacterial characteristics that have proved to be positive, and, therefore, suitable for such applications. The thermal degradation and the structure of the material highlighted the possibility of employing it in good conditions at temperatures up to 200 °C. Two types of samples were used for thermal analysis: first, in the form of granules coated with silver nanoparticles, and second, test specimen cut from the sample obtained by injection molding from the coated granules with silver nanoparticles.

The manuscript presents the barrier properties of Arboblend V2 Nature and Arboblend V2 Nature reinforced by coating granules with silver nanoparticles, regarding the contact angle and oxygen transmission rate. Also, are highlighted compression molding stages used in order to obtain the test samples - thin sheets. Following the obtained results is observed that by using the PVD coating the oxygen transmission ratio is reduced up to 32% compared to the base material. This improvement is due to the small silver nanoparticles that were uniformly deposited on the surface of Arboblend V2 Nature granules. In what concern the surface-wetting of the analysed samples, a small but obvious improvement takes place, the difference between the average contact angles being approximatively 5°.

The Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have surpassed 26% laboratory efficiencies, making them promising for nextgeneration photovoltaic (PV) technologies. However, their commercial adoptions remain challenged by rapid degradation under fluctuating environmental conditions. While conventional drift-diffusion models focus on steady-state conditions, they do not capture the dynamic interplay between temperaturehumidity cycle and material degradation mechanisms that dictate long-term device stability. This paper introduces a novel, compact MATLAB-based drift-diffusion framework that incorporates daily cyclic environmental profiles and updates material parameters over time to simulate outdoor operating conditions realistically. The model integrates Poisson's and modified continuity equations, allowing key material properties such as carrier mobility, lifetime, and trap density, to dynamically respond to sinusoidal changes in temperature $\left (\pm 10^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\right)$ and relative humidity ($\pm 20 \%$), representative of natural diurnal cycles. Full validation against recent literature shows excellent agreement with simulated current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, spatial carrier distributions, and thermal responses matching experimental triple-cation PSCs data within 5%. By optimizing absorber thickness under environmental stress, the framework uncovers design rules that improve power conversion efficiency ($P C E$) from 18.9 % to 20.2 % while enhancing longevity. The optimum thickness of $\sim 500 ~\text{nm}$ balances absorption enhancement and recombination loss maintaining performance without degrading stability. This computationally efficient platform provides for researchers and industry practitioners a valuable tool for rapid pre-prototyping and stability screening, accelerating the transition from laboratory discoveries to practical commercial PSC products.

This paper presents the modeling and simulation of a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system used to regulate the frequency in a microgrid (MG) with distributed energy resources (DERs) including a distributed diesel generator (DG), renewable energy sources (RES) like photovoltaic (PV) arrays and wind turbines (WTs), and the residential and industrial loads of the electrical grid. To see the impact of the V2G system on the grid frequency, the proposed MG system is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink software in different operating conditions. Analysis results show the power profile (generation and consumption) and the impact of the V2G system on peak regulation. It has been shown that the proposed V2G system can use the available power to regulate the frequency in the MG when different events affect the grid frequency.