Composite Gel Systems: Materials, Formation Behaviors and Functional Food Packaging Applications

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 48

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Health, College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering and Institute for Innovative Development of Food Industry, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Interests: gels; structure-function-application of polysaccharides; macromolecular interaction; oil droplets and extraction; food digestion and absorption

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Guest Editor
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Food Quality and Health, State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin 300457, China
Interests: gel; delivery systems; functional films; food preservation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gels derived from green, edible biopolymers, such as polysaccharides and proteins, have gained increasing attention due to their biodegradability, safety, and tunable physicochemical properties. Composite gel-based functional materials for sustainable and functional food packaging applications are becoming a hotspot in research. Recent studies on composite functional films have focused on integrating multiple functionalities—including antimicrobial, antioxidant, barrier, and intelligent sensing mechanisms—into single edible or biodegradable gel matrices. Researchers are actively exploring interpenetrating polymer networks and multi-component delivery systems to improve the mechanical performance, environmental stability, and bioactivity of composite functional films in food preservation. However, some challenges remain, such as insufficient mechanical properties of functional membranes, the poor long-term stability of active ingredients, unstable release kinetics, and incomplete understanding of the gel formation mechanism and structure–function relationship in multiphase composite systems.

This Special Issue welcomes research exploring the formation mechanisms of composite gels, structure–function relationships, and the encapsulation and controlled release of active ingredients. Studies addressing multi-layer film architectures, stimulus-responsive behavior, and novel processing strategies (e.g., electrospinning, layer-by-layer assembly, 3D printing) are highly encouraged.

Dr. Juncai Tu
Dr. Jun Guo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • green edible biopolymers
  • composite film structure and function
  • gel formation mechanism
  • structure–activity relationship
  • active ingredient delivery systems

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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