Polymers, Polymer Blends, and Polymeric Drug Release Systems with Antiviral or Antibacterial Effect—2nd Edition
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Macromolecules".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 6302
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biodegradable polymers; ring-opening polymerization; polymeric biomaterials; antibacterial polymers; controlled drug release; tissue engineering; biodegradable implants; biodegradable vascular stents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue is a continuation of the previous issue, which, due to the topicality of the subject and high readership, we decided to reactivate. As before, the Special Issue will highlight studies focusing on polymeric biocide materials and polymeric drug delivery systems, as well as their application in medicine, public healthcare, and other areas of daily life.
Bacterial and viral diseases among humans pose a serious threat to health and even life, which of course entails significant socio-economic losses. The pathways of disease transmission caused by bacteria or viruses may vary, but they are usually associated with biological contamination of food, cosmetics, water, public areas, and direct contact between people. These infections, despite special sanitary regimes, often constitute serious complications for surgical procedures. All these sources of infection can be significantly reduced by the widespread use of materials with strong antimicrobial effects, including special polymers.
It is known that many synthetic polymers, polysaccharides, modified polysaccharides, and other macromolecular compounds of natural or synthetic origin have strong antimicrobial activity and, as recently reported, also antiviral activity. Applications of polymers and biopolymers to develop antibacterial and antiviral devices that might be used as active food packaging is a promising alternative to preserving food with chemicals. Biocidal polymers can also be used as self-disinfecting agents to coat surfaces of food processing equipment. Other areas of their application include seals, filters, conveyors, gloves, clothing, and other personal care items. The use of these polymers as protective coatings on generally accessible surfaces such as handles, tables, benches, etc., is also promising.
Polymeric materials can also be effective carriers of antimicrobial drugs, e.g., antibiotics, antibacterial peptides, and quorum-sensing inhibitors, allowing a significant reduction in the required drug dose through targeted action and controlled release over time. A whole field of applications of dry materials in medicine is also opening up, especially in implantology, dentistry, dermatology, cosmetology, and regenerative medicine.
We cordially invite you to contribute to this topical thematic issue by submitting original research papers or interesting reviews.
Dr. Piotr Dobrzynski
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- antimicrobial polymers
- antifungal polymers
- antiviral polymers
- polymers as drug delivery systems
- application of biocide polymers
- biocide polymers coatings and surfaces
- advantages and disadvantages of biocide polymers
- mode of action of biocide polymers
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