The increasing global concern over plastic waste and its environmental impact has led to a growing interest in the development of sustainable packaging alternatives. This study focuses on the innovative use of expired dairy products as a potential resource for producing edible packaging materials. Expired milk and yogurt were selected as the primary raw materials due to their protein and carbohydrate content. The extracted casein was combined with various concentrations of chitosan, glycerol, and squid ink, leading to the studied samples. Chitosan was chosen due to its appealing characteristics, including biodegradability, and film-forming properties, and casein was utilized for its superior barrier and film-forming properties, as well as its biodegradability and non-toxic nature. Glycerol was used to further improve the flexibility of the materials. The prepared hydrogels were characterized using various instrumental methods, and the findings reveal that the expired dairy-based edible packaging materials exhibited promising mechanical properties comparable to conventional plastic packaging and improved barrier properties with zero-oxygen permeability of the hydrogel membranes, indicating that these materials have the potential to effectively protect food products from external factors that could compromise quality and shelf life.

MgO–C refractory materials were developed by incorporating different ratios of alumina/titania nano-additives which were synthesized chemically. Their physical and mechanical properties, oxidation resistance, slag wettability, bulk density, apparent porosity, cold crushing strength, oxidation index, and closed porosity were tested, evaluated, and compared using conventional techniques as well as X-ray micro-computed tomography (µCT). This investigation indicated a slight degradation of physical properties and mechanical strengthening which was stronger for samples with increased alumina content. Oxidation and corrosion extent were tested both with X-ray tomography and conventional methods. The first method allowed for the calculation of the oxidation index, the detection of closed porosity, and an improved analysis of the internal corrosion, avoiding the sectioning of the materials. This result confirms the supremacy of the first technique. On the contrary, although conventional methods such as the Archimedes procedure cannot detect close porosity, they provide more accurate measurements of the physical properties of refractories. This study shows that conventional methods exhibit superiority in investigations of the pore structures of refractories for pore sizes in the range 1–2 μm, while the use of the μCT system is limited for pore sizes equal to or larger than 20 μm.

The present study demonstrated the fabrication of a sustainable, high-performance composite by upcycling waste denim fabric within a cyanoacrylate matrix reinforced with B₄C micro-particles (4, 7, and 10 wt%). XRD and SEM analyses confirmed the successful integration of the ceramic filler and effective fiber encapsulation, with particle agglom-eration identified at 10 wt% loading. The 7 wt% B₄C composition achieved optimum static mechanical performance, with a tensile strength of ~21.5 MPa and Young's modulus of 1.5 GPa — improvements of ~26% and ~88% over the unreinforced matrix — while at 10 wt%, both properties declined below the unreinforced baseline due to agglomeration-induced stress concentration. Under dynamic impact loading, the peak transmitted force increased monotonically from 0.34 kN to 1.31 kN with B₄C content yet remained well below in-ternational impact protection standard thresholds across all compositions. This divergence between static and dynamic responses reveals that impact resistance is governed by particle hardness and packing density, whereas tensile performance depends critically on dispersion quality and fiber–matrix adhesion. Surface wettability analysis showed a marked increase in hydrophobicity, with the water contact angle rising from 105 ± 4° to 133 ± 4° upon B₄C incorporation, consistent with a Cassie–Baxter wetting regime. These results position B₄C-reinforced waste denim–cyanoacrylate composites as a promising, cost-effective, and eco-friendly material platform for potential next-generation Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) applications.

The present study demonstrated the fabrication of a sustainable, high-performance composite by upcycling waste denim fabric within a cyanoacrylate matrix reinforced with B₄C micro-particles (4, 7, and 10 wt%). XRD and SEM analyses confirmed the successful integration of the ceramic filler and effective fiber encapsulation, with particle agglomeration identified at 10 wt% loading. The 7 wt% B₄C composition exhibited the highest static mechanical performance, with a tensile strength of ~20.3 ± 1.3 MPa and Young’s modulus of 1.17 GPa—improvements of ~22.8% and ~41% over the unreinforced denim–cyanoacrylate composite—while at 10 wt% B₄C the ultimate tensile strength declined below the unreinforced baseline and the Young’s modulus reverted to a comparable value, likely reflecting agglomeration-induced stress concentration as a major contributing factor. Under dynamic impact loading, the peak contact force increased monotonically from 0.34 kN to 1.31 kN with increasing B₄C content yet remained well below the thresholds specified by international impact protection standard thresholds across all compositions. This divergence between static and dynamic responses indicates that the increase in contact force with B₄C content reflects progressive stiffening and more direct load transfer rather than improved energy attenuation, whereas tensile performance depends critically on dispersion quality and fiber–matrix adhesion. Surface wettability analysis showed a marked increase in hydrophobicity, with the water contact angle rising from 105 ± 4° to 133 ± 4° (for the DSGB-7 wt% composite), consistent with a Cassie–Baxter wetting regime. These preliminary results suggest that B₄C-reinforced waste denim–cyanoacrylate composites merit further investigation as candidate materials platform for protective textile applications, pending validation through larger-scale, standardized testing.