Preparation and Applications of Assembled Hydrogels
A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Processing and Engineering".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 5
Special Issue Editor
Interests: supramolecular hydrogels; biomaterials; peptide self-assembly; peptide crystallization; structure–property relationship; biomedical materials; optoelectronic devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Assembled Hydrogels have attracted great interest due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability for biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biosensing. Hydrogel networks can be formed by supramolecular interactions (e.g., hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, van der Waals forces, and electrostatic interactions). Therefore, the assembled hydrogels could exhibit smart responsiveness through materials design in the presence of stimulus such as pH, light, redox agents, and enzymes. There are different characterization techniques to study the assembly mechanism and structure–property relationship of hydrogels, facilitating the design of assembled hydrogels with desirable properties.
Compared to single component hydrogels, multiple components hydrogels formed by supramolecular assembly usually show multiple functions and meet the requirement for biomedical applications. Bioactive agents play important roles for bio-applications, which could be incorporated into the hydrogels through supramolecular assembly. By tuning the supramolecular interactions, different properties of assembled hydrogels are obtained. This Special Issue aims to collect studies on the recent advances of assembled hydrogels for biomedical and nanotechnological applications. This topic mainly focuses on the design and preparation of assembled hydrogels as well as their various applications.
Prof. Dr. Wei Ji
Guest Editor
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 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 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. Gels 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
- hydrogel
- supramolecular assembly
- nanostructure
- stimuli-responsiveness
- tissue engineering
- drug delivery
- biosensor
- biomedical device
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
