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Nanostructured Materials: Synthesis, Functionalization and Applications in Biomedicine—2nd Edition

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 953

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Interests: microwave-assisted synthesis of nanomaterials; biomaterials; biomimetic materials; drug delivery; nanostructured materials; nanowires; self-assembly; fire-resistant paper
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Shanghai Institute of Ceramics Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Interests: hydroxyapatite; nanowires; biocompatible electronic devices; battery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor Assistant
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Interests: microwave synthesis; biomaterials; bioinspired materials; nanowires; assembly of nanostructures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nanostructured materials are a class of materials whose constituting building units have sizes ranging from 1 to 100 nm in one, two, or three dimensions. Over the past several decades, nanostructured materials have drawn increasing attention worldwide, owing to their unique and excellent properties. The high surface-to-volume ratio, ability for surface functionalization, and superior properties of nanostructured materials provide promising applications in various fields including nanomedicine. As a result, nanostructured materials have become a popular and rapidly evolving research field and have demonstrated promising potential in solving various biomedical problems that cannot be addressed by traditional materials. Various types of nanostructured materials—including quantum dots, nanoparticles, nanospheres, nanorods, nanowires, nanotubes, nanosheets, mesoporous materials, and nanocomposites—have been synthesized and investigated for applications in various biomedical fields, such as drug delivery, bone defect repair, orthopedic surgery, tooth repair, skin wound healing, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, anti-tumor therapy, biosensing, bioimaging, diagnosis, and therapy.

This Special Issue on “Nanostructured Materials: Synthesis, Functionalization and Applications in Biomedicine—2nd Edition” aims to gather original interdisciplinary research on the recent progress in nanostructured materials for biomedical applications. This Special Issue focuses on all aspects of research regarding the design strategy, synthesis, characterization, functionalization, and biomedical applications of nanostructured materials. The first edition of the Special Issue was completed after the successful collection of more than 10 papers. Please refer to the following website for the first edition of the Special Issue: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules/special_issues/Nanostructured_Materials. It is our great pleasure to invite researchers in the relevant fields to contribute original research manuscripts, including full research papers, short communications, and reviews, to the 2nd edition of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Ying-Jie Zhu
Dr. Heng Li
Guest Editors

Dr. Hanping Yu
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • nanostructured materials
  • biomaterials
  • dental materials
  • biomedicine
  • biomedical applications
  • drug delivery
  • bone defect repair
  • orthopedic surgery
  • skin wound healing
  • anti-tumor
  • biosensing
  • bioimaging
  • diagnosis
  • therapy

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3197 KiB  
Article
Bimodal Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) Nanocarrier with Zinc Oxide and Iron Oxide for Fluorescence and Magnetic Resonance Imaging
by Thúlio Wliandon Lemos Barbosa, Laurent Lemaire, Isabelle Verdu, Larissa Santos, Natália Galvão de Freitas, Mariana Picchi Salto and Leila Aparecida Chiavacci
Molecules 2025, 30(8), 1818; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30081818 (registering DOI) - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 177
Abstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles have been identified as promising candidates for biomedical applications, based on their unique physicochemical properties. The association of these nanoparticles in a single system creates a bimodal entity, allowing the excellent luminescent properties of ZnO [...] Read more.
Zinc oxide (ZnO) and iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles have been identified as promising candidates for biomedical applications, based on their unique physicochemical properties. The association of these nanoparticles in a single system creates a bimodal entity, allowing the excellent luminescent properties of ZnO quantum dots to be combined with the contrast agent of IO for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The present study focuses on the luminescent and MRI properties of a new poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanocarrier system formulation containing ZnO NPs and IO NPs in different nominal ratios. Microscopic analysis (TEM and SEM) reveals a circular morphology with IO and ZnO NPs. The average diameter of the particles was determined to be 220 nm, as measured by DLS. The luminescence results indicate that the PLGA system shows strong emission in the visible range, and the MRI analysis shows a high r2 relaxivity of 171 mM−1 s−1 at 7T. The optimized formulation, exhibiting a molar ratio of Fe:Zn ranging from 1:10 to 1:13 (mol:mol), demonstrates superior fluorescence and MRI performance, underscoring the significance of nanoparticle composition in bimodal imaging applications. The systems evaluated demonstrate no toxicity in the THP-1 cells for doses of up to 128 µg mL−1, with efficient labeling after 4 h of incubation, yielding images of strong luminescence and T2 contrast. The PLGA:ZnO:IO system demonstrates considerable potential as a bimodal platform for diagnostic imaging. Full article
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19 pages, 6775 KiB  
Article
Ovalbumin-Mediated Biogenic Synthesis of ZnO and MgO Nanostructures: A Path Toward Green Nanotechnology
by Adriana-Gabriela Schiopu, Elena Andreea Vijan, Ecaterina Magdalena Modan, Sorin Georgian Moga, Denis Aurelian Negrea, Daniela Istrate, Georgiana Cîrstea, Mihai Oproescu and Şaban Hakan Atapek
Molecules 2025, 30(5), 1164; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30051164 - 5 Mar 2025
Viewed by 639
Abstract
Sustainable and eco-friendly synthesis methods for nanoparticles are crucial for advancing green nanotechnology. This study presents the biogenic synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles using ovalbumin, an abundant and non-toxic protein from egg white. The synthesis process was optimized [...] Read more.
Sustainable and eco-friendly synthesis methods for nanoparticles are crucial for advancing green nanotechnology. This study presents the biogenic synthesis of zinc oxide (ZnO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles using ovalbumin, an abundant and non-toxic protein from egg white. The synthesis process was optimized by varying metal ion concentrations to control particle size and morphology. Characterization using ATR-FTIR, XRD, SEM, and UV-VIS confirmed the successful formation of uniform, well-crystallized nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 7.9 to 13.5 nm. ZnO nanoparticles exhibited superior antimicrobial efficacy against Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, while MgO nanoparticles showed enhanced potential environmental remediation. These findings highlight ovalbumin as a versatile agent for the green synthesis of ZnO and MgO nanomaterials, with promising applications in the medical, environmental, and optoelectronic fields. The results indicate that this biogenic method can serve as a sustainable proposal to produce nanostructured materials with diverse applications in the medical and environmental fields, such as eliminating pathogenic bacteria and purifying contaminated environments. Overall, this study significantly contributes to the development of sustainable nanomaterials and opens up new perspectives on the use of ovalbumin protein in the synthesis of multifunctional nanostructured materials. Full article
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