Hydrophilic Copolymers for Bioapplications or Water Remediation

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrophilic copolymers are a class of polymers with adjustable properties and functionalities that find numerous applications in many scientific areas, e.g., drug delivery, tissue engineering, wastewater remediation, water absorption, and removal and recovery of pollutants.

In recent years, incredible progress has been achieved in the design and development of functional materials that are based not only on synthetic polymers but also on natural biopolymers (e.g., alginate, cellulose, dextran, starch, chitosan). A variety of synthetic methods can be applied to provide novel hydrophilic or otherwise water-soluble copolymers or hydogels of various architectures, composition, and tailored functionalities (e.g., stimuli responsiveness, enrichment of amphiphilicity, interaction with organic or inorganic species). Due to these functionalities, copolymers can self-assemble into nano- or microstructures (micelles, vesicles, capsules) in dilute aqueous media or they can form 3D-transient networks in semi-dilute aqueous media. Such self-organizations can in turn encapsulate biological molecules or therapeutic agents or interact with organic or inorganic substances such as surfactants, biomolecules, and inorganic nanoparticles. In addition, hydrogels or functional polymeric membranes can respond to or interact with chemical or biological species found in the surrounding aqueous environment.

This Special Issue entitled “Hydrophilic Copolymers for Bioapplications or Water Remediation” focuses on recent reports in the field of hydrophilic copolymers. It pursues scientific works reporting the design, synthesis, and characterization of hydrophilic copolymers (synthetic copolymers, biodegradable polymers, biocompatible biopolymers, and polypeptides are included) as well as their use in applications such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, water remediation, antifouling, etc.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Zacharoula Iatridi
Assoc. Prof. Vlasoula Bekiari
Prof. Georgios Bokias
Guest Editors

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