Catechol-Based Biomimetic Functional Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Since the appearance of life on Earth, living organisms have been evolving over millions of years in order to adapt to the changing environment. Their survival, submitted to the natural selection law, has been possible thanks to the improvement of their living functions, giving rise to highly efficient systems, from biomechanical to biomolecular ones. In this sense, many examples can be found that exhibit astonishing properties, from the body shape of sharks and their nanostructured skin, whose combination provides high hydrodynamics, to the fine framework of hemoglobin, which allows for the optimum binding, transportation, and later release of oxygen. Thus, it is not strange that the scientific community has been inspired by natural systems in their creation of highly efficient devices, so-called biomimetics. Regarding this issue, catechols found in nature have been a focus of the interest during recent decades because they can provide unique properties. For example, catechols play a key role in the complex wet adhesion phenomena of some marine organisms. This feature has inspired the development of wet adhesives, with interesting applications in biomedicine. Other catechol species are involved in the metal uptake carried out by siderophores secreted by some fungi and bacteria, whose mimicking allows for the obtaining of powerful chelators useful in water remediation. A final example is the generation of versatile catecholic coatings by oxidative polymerization, similar to the protective barriers found in some vegetables after suffering an injury.

This Special Issue aims to gather recent works focused on the obtaining of synthetic catechol-based materials inspired by natural ones. A wide range of applications will be considered, thus showing an updated view of this topic and the technological possibilities it offers.

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics 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 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• catechol
• coatings
• adhesives
• hydrogels
• water remediation