Design, Construction, and Applications of New Mineral Functional Materials

Dear Colleagues,

With green development becoming the focus of global attention, the economy and environmental friendliness of materials themselves have become topics of great interest. As a new favorite of the material family, natural mineral materials have received significant attention in recent years due to their harmlessness to human health and the ecological environment. As a “gift” from nature to human beings, natural minerals not only present a special structure with properties and functions unmatched by synthetic materials but also have the advantages that they are cost-effective and environmentally friendly. These minerals are mainly composed of the most abundant elements on Earth, such as O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, etc. Some show a unique crystal structure (such as tourmaline), and some show a special nanoscale size and diversified morphology from 1D to 3D.

Nanorods, nanofibers, nanotubes, and nanosheets, which are widely used in modern industry and human life, can be found in nature. Therefore, natural mineral-based materials have been recognized as “green materials” in the future and show great prospects in the fields of the environment, energy, composite materials, fine chemicals, and catalysis. A variety of natural polymer/nanoscale mineral composites have been developed and used in biological, medical, and environmental remediation applications. The catalytic activity of natural iron ore and tourmaline minerals can also be directly used to degrade pollutants. However, there is still a long way to go to replace traditional synthetic nanomaterials with natural nanomaterials. First, natural minerals need to be dispersed in nano or even smaller sizes through physical/chemical methods to ensure adequate dispersion. Secondly, the dispersed nanoscale minerals need to be chemically modified to adjust their surface properties. Third, the modified nano minerals sometimes need to be compounded with other active components to form composite materials with improved performance. Although natural minerals and their applications in functional materials have attracted much attention in recent years, there is a lack of basic research, especially on the modification and composite mechanism. Therefore, there are many unclear and unresolved problems in this field.

This Special Issue focuses on the preparation of mineral functional materials and their applications in various fields. Researchers in this field are welcome to submit review papers or research papers on the green synthesis, modification, preparation, and application of composite material based on natural minerals to this Special Issue to contribute to the development of mineral functional materials by integrating the latest research achievements and new insights. It is expected that this Special Issue will serve as a reference for the research and development of more high-performance mineral functional materials.

Prof. Dr. Wenbo Wang
Guest Editor

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