Synthesis and Degradation of Functional Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

The ensuing decade will likely be a transformative era in polymer science. This Special Issue aims to highlight innovative approaches towards the synthesis and degradation of functional polymers.

At present, the scrutiny of plastic waste is becoming stricter all over the world. In addition, the continuous search to improve the properties of macromolecules also requires the development of polymers with a high structural precision and specific functionalization. Therefore, there is an urgent need to expand the chemical techniques that can be used to synthesize and functionalize polymers, and to further optimize existing synthesis methods. Furthermore, the stability, durability, and degradability of polymers have to be well balanced, requiring control of degradation reactions, which is the main work of practitioners in many different fields of modern polymer science. For example, bio- or photo-degradable plastics are now available, and the chemical recycling of polymer products will become more and more important.

In medical applications, for instance, biocompatibility based on specific chemical functionalities is a fundamental for most materials, but biodegradability is only required for some polymer products, e.g., pharmaceutically-used polymers or scaffolds for tissue engineering. In the case of commodity polymers, for short-time applications, such as packaging, quick degradability is desired, whereas some polymers must show longevity, for example in automotive environments. In general, functional polymers may occur as water-soluble macromolecules, linear thermoplastics, or crosslinked materials.

All of these different designs, applications, and end-of-life considerations call for developing and optimizing synthetic methods further and for tailoring the degradability rates.

Thus, there is clearly a strong common bond between investigations in various fields of functional polymer research, especially referring to the design and the end-of-life behavior of these polymers. This Special Issue provides a forum for the publication of the newest developments in these areas.

Prof. Dr. Oliver Brüggemann
Guest Editor

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