Special Issue "Carbohydrate Polymers"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Joel D. Bumgardner
Biomedical Engineering, Herff College of Engineering, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
E-Mail:
Phone: 901 678 5243
Fax: 901 678 5281

Dear Colleagues,

Carbohydrate polymers are long chains of saccharides linked via glycosidic bonds and are also known as polysaccharides. They are the most abundant natural polymer on the planet serving as major structural elements in plants [ i.e. cellulose] and animals [i.e. chitin in arthropods and hyaluronan in mammals], or as a food storage mechanism [ i.e. starch and glycogen]. Because of their wide distribution and availability from animal and plant sources, and versatility for chemical modification, carbohydrate polymers have received much attention as a renewable resource.  As processing, manufacturing, and chemical and physical modification advances, carbohydrate polymeric materials will emerge with many exciting applications and unprecedented functionalities from directing tissue regeneration and targeting drugs/therapeutics for treating disease/infection, to improving food safety, and acting as biosensors and environmentally sensitive membranes.

In this special issue we aim at covering recent progress and novel applications of carbohydrate polymers in the food, agricultural/environmental, medical, and sensor fields.  We invite reviews, new concept ideas, basic research and developmental papers on biotechnology, processing/manufacturing, characterization, chemical and physical modification and engineering of carbohydrate polymers with special emphasis on structure-property-application relationships.

Prof. Dr. Joel D. Bumgardner
Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 800 CHF (Swiss Francs).