Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The behavior and technological performances of hydrogels are determined, to a large extent, by the structure and dynamics of water in contact and interacting with the polymer network. A better understanding of these topics is of fundamental importance for improving our knowledge on the structure–property relationships in hydrogels. This Special Issue, "The Role of Water in the Properties of Hydrogels”, is aimed to present recent developments concerning the key role of water in determining the rheological, chemical and biological properties of hydrogels. In this Special Issue, experimental and modelling works on the structure and dynamics of water molecules within hydrogels will be presented. This Special Issue will provide a multidisciplinary forum for researchers to present and discuss the most recent studies on the role of water in hydrogels.

Prof. Dr. Rolando Barbucci
Dr. Andrea Atrei
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 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 2600 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

Biopolymers
Cross-linked polymers
Multi responsive hydrogels
Water confinement
Water–polymer interface
Capillarity phenomena
Structure and dynamics of water molecules

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Properties of Water Bound in Hydrogels

Vladimir M. Gun’ko

Irina N. Savina

and

Sergey V. Mikhalovsky

Gels 2017, 3(4), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels3040037 - 19 Oct 2017

Cited by 136 | Viewed by 10404

Abstract

In this review, the importance of water in hydrogel (HG) properties and structure is analyzed. A variety of methods such as ¹H NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), DSC (differential scanning calorimetry), XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), dielectric relaxation spectroscopy, thermally stimulated depolarization current, quasi-elastic neutron scattering, rheometry, diffusion, adsorption, infrared spectroscopy are used to study water in HG. The state of HG water is rather non-uniform. According to thermodynamic features of water in HG, some of it is non-freezing and strongly bound, another fraction is freezing and weakly bound, and the third fraction is non-bound, free water freezing at 0 °C. According to structural features of water in HG, it can be divided into two fractions with strongly associated and weakly associated waters. The properties of the water in HG depend also on the amounts and types of solutes, pH, salinity, structural features of HG functionalities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Water in the Properties of Hydrogels)

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Graphical abstract

Other

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Open AccessPerspective

Why Hydrogels Don’t Dribble Water

Gerald H. Pollack

Gels 2017, 3(4), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels3040043 - 15 Nov 2017

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4236

Abstract

Hydrogels contain ample amounts of water, with the water-to-solid ratio sometimes reaching tens of thousands of times. How can so much water remain securely lodged within the gel? New findings imply a simple mechanism. Next to hydrophilic surfaces, water transitions into an extensive gel-like phase in which molecules become ordered. This “fourth phase” of water sticks securely to the solid gel matrix, ensuring that the water does not leak out. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Water in the Properties of Hydrogels)

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