Polymer Microspheres—Current Development, Application and Future Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue concerning Polymer Microspheres—Current Development, Application and Future Challenges.

This Special Issue will focus on novel advances in the fabrication and applications of polymer microspheres, especially in terms of their biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and catalysis elements. In these fields, scientists are particularly interested in the fabrication techniques of polymeric microspheres, standard and functional microspheres for diagnostics and biomedical applications, microencapsulation techniques for the targeted delivery and controlled release of therapeutic agents, stabilized cosmetic active molecules, catalysis, solid phase extraction materials, and the novel stationary phase in liquid and gas phase separation. Polymer microspheres composed of natural and synthetic polymers can be functionalized for diagnostic and analytical purposes, they can encapsulate anticancer drugs, among other therapeutic elements, acting as drug carriers to release the drugs at controlled rates over long periods. In cosmetics, many active compounds, such as vitamins, oils, proteins, enzymes, and plant extracts, can be encapsulated in microparticulate delivery systems to achieve improved stability, controlled release, and bioavailability in skin delivery. Thus, microencapsulation enables the development of products with improved features that allow for the personalization of products. Microspheres are also valuable in regard to bone and tissue regeneration. The number of papers on polymer microspheres has risen quickly over the last few years, making this an exciting and promising area of science. On the other hand, there are still numerous challenges associated with the manufacturing of special microspheres and microencapsulation of active agents; therefore, scientists and R&D engineers must make use of appropriate materials and techniques to reach these purposes.

We are pleased to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full research articles and comprehensive review articles are welcome. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Justyna Kozlowska
Dr. Yanlin Zhang
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-anonymized 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.