The double materiality of climate physical and transition risks in the euro area

The analysis of the conditions under which, and extent to which climate-adjusted financial risk assessment affects firms’ investment decisions in the low-carbon transition, and the realisation of the climate mitigation trajectories, still represent a knowledge gap. Filling this gap is crucial to assess the “double materiality” of climate-related financial risks. By tailoring the EIRIN Stock-Flow Consistent model, we provide a dynamic balance sheets assessment of climate physical and transition risks for the euro area, using the climate scenarios of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). We find that an orderly transition achieves important co-benefits already in the mid-term, with respect to carbon emissions abatement, financial stability, and economic output. In contrast, a disorderly transition can harm financial stability, thus limiting firms’ capacity to invest in low-carbon activities that could decrease their exposure to transition risk and help them recover from climate physical shocks. Importantly, firms’ climate sentiments, i.e. their anticipation of the impact of the carbon tax across NGFS scenarios, play a key role for smoothing the transition in the economy and finance. Finally, the impact on GDP of orderly and disorderly transitions are highly influenced by the magnitude of shocks in NGFS scenarios. Our results highlight the importance for financial supervisors to consider the role of firms and investors’ expectations in the low-carbon transition, in order to design appropriate macro-prudential policies for tackling climate risks

The double materiality of climate physical and transition risks in the euro area

We analyse the double materiality of climate physical and transition risks in the euro area economy and banking sector. First, by tailoring the EIRIN Stock-Flow Consistent behavioural model, we provide a dynamic balance sheet assessment of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) scenarios. We find that an orderly transition achieves early co-benefits by reducing CO2 emissions (12% less in 2040 than in 2020) while supporting growth in economic output. In contrast, a disorderly transition worsens the economic performance and financial stability of the euro area. Further, in a disorderly transition with higher physical risks, real GDP decreases by 12.5% in 2050 relative to an orderly transition. Second, we analyse how firms’ expectations about climate policy credibility (climate sentiments) affect investment decisions in high or low-carbon goods. Firms that trust an orderly policy introduction do anticipate the carbon tax and switch earlier to low-carbon investments. This, in turn, accelerates economic decarbonization and decreases the risk of carbon-stranded assets for investors. Our results highlight the crucial role of early and credible climate policies to signal investment decisions in the low-carbon transition

Morphology, thermal, mechanical properties and ageing of nylon 6,6/graphene nanofibers as Nano2 materials

Nylon 6,6 nanofibers loaded with different Graphene (G) amounts were successfully produced with stable process and good fiber quality, using an optimized solvent system suitable both for electrospinning and for G-suspension. G addition is found to significantly affect diameter but not thermal behaviour. A new phenomenological model is proposed for the interpretation of mechanical behaviour of nanofibrous mat, trying to take into account the nanofibrous morphology. The model highlights a G contribution to mechanical properties that mainly affects the initial steps of deformation where fibers stretch, slide, twist and re-orient. Finally, the nanofibers were analysed after 20 months ageing, showing no significant alteration with respect to the pristine ones, thus the lack of detrimental ageing-effects due to G addition

Water-Resistant Photo-Crosslinked PEO/PEGDA Electrospun Nanofibers for Application in Catalysis

Catalysts are used for producing the vast majority of chemical products. Usually, catalytic membranes are inorganic. However, when dealing with reactions conducted at low temperatures, such as in the production of fine chemicals, polymeric catalytic membranes are preferred due to a more competitive cost and easier tunability compared to inorganic ones. In the present work, nanofibrous mats made of poly(ethylene oxide), PEO, and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate, PEGDA, blends with the Au/Pd catalyst are proposed as catalytic membranes for water phase and low-temperature reactions. While PEO is a water-soluble polymer, its blending with PEGDA can be exploited to make the overall PEO/PEGDA blend nanofibers water-resistant upon photo-crosslinking. Thus, after the optimization of the blend solution (PEO molecular weight, PEO/PEGDA ratio, photoinitiator amount), electrospinning process, and UV irradiation time, the resulting nanofibrous mat is able to maintain the nanostructure in water. The addition of the Au-6/Pd-1 catalyst (supported on TiO2) in the PEO/PEGDA blend allows the production of a catalytic nanofibrous membrane. The reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP), taken as a water phase model reaction, demonstrates the potential usage of PEO-based membranes in catalysis

Production of Thermoplastic Composite Filaments for Additive Manufacturing using Recycled Carbon Fibers

The present work reports the use of recycled carbon fibers (rCF), obtained from pyro-gasification treatment of carbon fibers reinforced polymers (CFRP), to produce a thermoplastic composite filament for additive manufacturing, in particular fused deposition modeling (FDM) process. Polylactic acid (PLA), a thermoplastic biobased and biodegradable polymer, is used as matrix for the composite filament, as it is the most common plastic used in FDM due to its good mechanical properties, stiffness, and strength. Upon production process optimization, filaments with rCF loadings of 5 and 10% wt are produced and analyzed. A particular attention is devoted to the evaluation of the production process on the carbon fibers (CFs) length and the study of the thermal and mechanical properties of the obtained composite materials

Rubbery nanofibrous interleaves enhance fracture toughness and damping of CFRP laminates

n/

How Nanofibers Carry the Load: Toward a Universal and Reliable Approach for Tensile Testing of Polymeric Nanofibrous Membranes

Nanofibrous nonwovens show high versatility and outstanding properties, with reduced weight. Porous morphology, high material flexibility and deformability challenge their mechanical testing, severely affecting results reliability. Still today, a specific technical standard method to carry out tensile testing of nonwoven nanofibrous mats is lacking, as well as studies concerning tensile test data reliability. In this work, an accurate, systematic, and critical study is presented concerning tensile testing of nonwovens, using electrospun Nylon 66 random nanofibrous mats as a case study. Nanofibers diameter and specimen geometry are investigated to thoroughly describe the nanomat tensile behavior, also considering the polymer thermal properties, and the nanofibers crossings number as a function of the nanofibers diameter. Below a threshold value, which lies between 150 and 250 nm, the overall mat mechanical behavior changes from ductile to brittle, showing enhanced elastic modulus for a high number of nanofibers crossings. While specimen geometry does not affect tensile results. Stress–strain data are analyzed using a phenomenological data fitting model to better interpret the tensile behavior. The experimental results demonstrate the high reliability of the proposed mass-based load normalization, providing a simple, effective, and universally suitable method for obtaining high reproducible tensile stress–strain curves

A solution with good performance in case of fire

If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors acknowledge Jacopo Ortolani for carrying out the test for fire reaction, and the technicians of LISG Lab of the University of Bologna for their help in the production of the samples. The authors also acknowledge Lorenzo Coraglia (Raccolti di CIN) for donating the hazelnut shells and providing important information for this research project, Prof. Silvio Salvi and Daniele Rabboni (Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy) for providing A. donax; Mirko Braga (Ingessil S.r.l) for his help and suggestion to use sodium silicate solution, and Prof. Stefania Liuzzi (Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy) to give information for samples' production. Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The AuthorsThe present study investigated the reaction to fire of bio-based boards for indoor applications made of A. donax and hazelnut shells as aggregates. A sodium silicate solution was employed as the adhesive due to its several advantages. Among others, the possibility of moderating some of the main drawbacks of bio-based building composites, such as the resistance to fire. The considered materials were analysed both individually, to test their inherent properties, and when integrated into the composites, ensuring considerations about materials' influence on the final products’ properties. Two different test methods, using a cone calorimeter, were considered and performed. The results showed that the sodium silicate solution avoided flaming and smoking, in case of a constant heat application with and without an igniter (spark), demonstrating the benefit of its use in this type of bio-based composites. Overall, the particleboards demonstrated their ability to comply with fire behaviour consistent with the Class A1 requirements, while the bio-components on themselves were characterized by an intermediate fire risk propensity. Thus, the present study provided an effective solution to avoid one of the main drawbacks of bio-based composites. It demonstrated the feasibility of employing the proposed bio-based boards as indoor coating, with no risk to human life in case of fire.publishersversionpublishe

How Nanofibers Carry the Load: Toward a Universal and Reliable Approach for Tensile Testing of Polymeric Nanofibrous Membranes

Nanofibrous nonwovens show high versatility and outstanding properties, with reduced weight. Porous morphology, high material flexibility and deformability challenge their mechanical testing, severely affecting results reliability. Still today, a specific technical standard method to carry out tensile testing of nonwoven nanofibrous mats is lacking, as well as studies concerning tensile test data reliability. In this work, an accurate, systematic, and critical study is presented concerning tensile testing of nonwovens, using electrospun Nylon 66 random nanofibrous mats as a case study. Nanofibers diameter and specimen geometry are investigated to thoroughly describe the nanomat tensile behavior, also considering the polymer thermal properties, and the nanofibers crossings number as a function of the nanofibers diameter. Below a threshold value, which lies between 150 and 250 nm, the overall mat mechanical behavior changes from ductile to brittle, showing enhanced elastic modulus for a high number of nanofibers crossings. While specimen geometry does not affect tensile results. Stress\u2013strain data are analyzed using a phenomenological data fitting model to better interpret the tensile behavior. The experimental results demonstrate the high reliability of the proposed mass-based load normalization, providing a simple, effective, and universally suitable method for obtaining high reproducible tensile stress\u2013strain curves