Advances in Plasticizers and Liquid Crystals: Design, Properties and Applications
A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Liquid Crystals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 3
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ionic liquids
Interests: sustainable chemistry; ionic liquids; catalysis; material science; responsive materials; energy; pharmaceuticals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue is dedicated to recent advances in the design, characterization, and application of plasticizers and liquid crystals, two important classes of soft and functional materials with broad scientific and technological relevance.
Plasticizers are essential additives that enhance the flexibility, softness, and processability of polymeric materials by reducing intermolecular interactions and increasing chain mobility. Their incorporation transforms rigid polymers into versatile materials, and current research increasingly focuses on high-performance, sustainable, and non-toxic plasticizers. These materials find applications across diverse industries: in construction, they improve workability, durability, and mechanical performance of polymer-based composites and sealants; in electronics, they enable flexible substrates, dielectric materials, and wearable devices with tailored thermal and mechanical properties; and in biomedicine, they are incorporated into scaffolds, tubing, and drug delivery systems to enhance flexibility, processability, and biocompatibility. Advanced plasticizers, including ionic liquids, further introduce functionalities such as ionic conductivity, flame retardancy, antimicrobial activity, and sustainability, expanding their technological relevance.
Liquid crystals are a mesophase between crystalline solids and isotropic liquids, combining long-range molecular order with fluidity. Their anisotropic and tunable optical, electrical, and mechanical properties underpin a wide range of applications: in displays and photonics, they form the basis of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), tunable lenses, and optical modulators; in sensing and soft robotics, they enable responsive surfaces, actuators, and stimuli-sensitive devices; and in smart materials, they contribute to adaptive coatings, shape-memory polymers, and advanced composites with anisotropic properties.
Ionic liquids are organic salts that are liquid at or near room temperature, characterized by negligible vapor pressure, high thermal and chemical stability, and a wide electrochemical window. Their modular structures allow precise tuning of polarity, viscosity, hydrogen-bonding ability, and miscibility, making them versatile functional materials. When incorporated into polymers, ionic liquids act as advanced plasticizers, enhancing flexibility, processability, thermal stability, and compatibility, while providing additional functionalities such as ionic conductivity, flame retardancy, antimicrobial activity, and sustainability. Compared to conventional plasticizers, ionic liquids often exhibit reduced volatility and migration, making them particularly suitable for long-term and high-performance applications. The integration of ionic liquid crystals further extends these functionalities by combining molecular order with ionic conductivity and thermal robustness, enabling next-generation multifunctional materials.
This Special Issue aims to highlight recent progress in the use of ionic liquids and liquid-crystalline ionic systems as advanced plasticizers and functional additives in polymeric and soft materials, showcasing strategies that combine tunable properties with performance, sustainability, and multifunctionality.
Dr. Andreia F. M. Santos
Dr. Luis Cobra Branco
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Crystals 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 2100 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.
Keywords
- liquid crystals
- plasticizers
- ionic liquid crystals
- ionic plasticizers
- ionic liquids
- advanced materials
- differential scanning calorimetry
- polarized optical microscopy
- X-ray diffraction
- dielectric spectroscopy
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