Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Smart Capture and Regulated Release/Conversion
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Circular and Green Sustainable Polymer Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 63
Special Issue Editor
Interests: functional materials for environmental and energy applications; mesoporous materials for gas absorption and organic molecules storage; combined cancer therapy including multi drug delivery and bio-imaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue, "Stimuli-Responsive Polymers: Smart Capture and Regulated Release/Conversion," focuses on advanced polymeric materials engineered to dynamically interact with pollutants. Moving beyond static adsorption, we explore systems that intelligently capture contaminants in response to specific environmental triggers (e.g., pH, temperature, light, ions, or biomolecules) and subsequently release or transform them in a controlled manner. This paradigm enables precise spatiotemporal control over the fate of pollutants, opening avenues for more efficient, selective, and sustainable environmental remediation and resource recovery strategies. We welcome contributions encompassing the rational design, synthesis, and characterization of novel stimuli-responsive architectures (such as gels, membranes, nanoparticles, and porous frameworks), detailed investigations into the underlying mechanisms of triggered binding and release, and studies demonstrating their application in water treatment, soil remediation, air purification, or chemical sensing. Emphasis is placed on the integration of capture and conversion functions (e.g., catalytic degradation), system reusability, and the environmental footprint of the materials. This collection aims to consolidate the latest breakthroughs and foster interdisciplinary dialogue to accelerate the development of next-generation smart polymer technologies for a cleaner environment.
Prof. Dr. Huacheng Zhang
Guest Editor
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. Polymers 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
- stimuli-responsive polymers
- smart capture
- controlled release
- pollutant remediation
- environmental triggers
- polymer gels
- advanced oxidation processes
- resource recovery
- molecular imprinting
- catalytic degradation
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