Smart and Functional Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

Polymerization offers a powerful and modular strategy in generating macromolecules and structures with high complexity and versatile functionality. Smart and functional polymers, to which functional groups are chemically attached, have drawn growing interest as they hold considerable promise for a variety of applications. Smart polymers can be constructed via polymerization of functional monomers or post-polymerization modifications. These polymers possess the combination of the physical properties of nanoscale or microscale architectures and physiochemical reactivities of the attached functional groups. Moreover, their ability to form microscopic and macroscopic assemblies in response to external targets or signals renders unique physiochemical properties (e.g., large surface-to-volume ratio, variable composition and size, dynamic association, and reversible phase separation) and tailored functionalities (e.g., enhanced sensitivity and specificity, extraordinary target binding affinity, and tunable surface chemistry) that are absent in small molecules.

Smart and functional polymeric material is an interdisciplinary field that integrates physics, chemistry, material science, engineering, and biology. Over the past decade, the field has experienced rapid progress as a result of the push by unmet needs in various areas. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive collection of the latest advances in the development of synthetic approaches, mechanism underlying structure-property correlations, and current and emerging applications of smart and functional polymers. The issue will cover smart and functional polymers for a diverse range of applications, involving but not limited in synthetic chemistry, analytical chemistry, materials science, environmental science, industrial fabrication, electronics, renewable energy, food science, agriculture, biomedical technology, and healthcare.

Considering your prominent contribution in this very active field of research, we would like to cordially invite you to submit an article to this Special Issue. Short communications, full research articles, and timely reviews are all welcome.

Dr. Jianxun Ding
Dr. Yang Li
Dr. Mingqiang Li
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.