The Development of Supramolecular Self-Healing Polymers Driven by Non-Covalent Interactions

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the design and development of self-healing polymeric materials has attracted considerable attention in both academic and industrial communities due to their promising applications in coatings, electronics, biomedical devices, aerospace, and soft robotics. Among the various strategies for achieving self-healing, supramolecular approaches based on non-covalent interactions have emerged as a particularly versatile and powerful route. These materials leverage dynamic and reversible physical interactions—such as hydrogen bonding, π–π stacking, metal–ligand coordination, host–guest inclusion, ionic interactions, and hydrophobic effects—to endow polymers with adaptive, autonomous, and repeatable healing capabilities.

This Special Issue, ‘The Development of Supramolecular Self-Healing Polymers Driven by Non-Covalent Interactions’, aims to bring together recent advances in the molecular design, synthesis, characterization, and application of supramolecular polymers that exploit non-covalent bonding motifs. By tuning the strength, directionality, and dynamics of supramolecular interactions, researchers have been able to achieve finely controlled material properties, such as mechanical toughness, healing efficiency, stimulus responsiveness, and recyclability.

We invite submissions that cover topics, including, but not limited to, the following:

• The molecular design principles of supramolecular monomers and polymer networks;
• The role of specific non-covalent interactions in governing healing performance;
• Multi-responsive and environment-adaptive self-healing systems;
• Bioinspired or biomimetic self-healing strategies;
• Hybrid systems combining supramolecular and covalent mechanisms;
• Applications in flexible electronics, energy storage devices, structural materials, and biomedical platforms;
• Characterization techniques for monitoring healing behavior and supramolecular dynamics.

Both original research articles and comprehensive review papers are welcome. Through this Special Issue, we hope to stimulate interdisciplinary dialog across materials science, polymer chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and engineering, and to showcase how supramolecular interactions are revolutionizing the future of intelligent, sustainable, and functional polymeric materials.

Prof. Dr. Jiajun Fu
Guest Editor

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• supramolecular polymers
• self-healing materials
• non-covalent interactions
• dynamic polymer networks
• stimuli-responsive materials