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Plant-Derived Biopolymers and Natural Polymers

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 784

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Guest Editor
Advanced Polymer Materials Group, National University of Science and Technology, 011063 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: surface functionalization; carbon nanomaterials; bio-based epoxy; starch blends; thermo-mechanical properties; cellulose
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, the focus of cutting-edge research is on revealing the complex structure–property correlation of plant-derived biopolymers and natural polymeric systems which require a more profound understanding.

The main objective of this Special Issue of Polymers is to offer a critical zoom into the functional properties of these polymers, considering their synthesis, thermo-mechanical properties, and applications.

The papers published within the Special Issue entitled “Plant-Derived Biopolymers and Natural Polymers” will address key aspects of this domain, covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Biodegradability and environmental impact, with a focus on different degradation mechanisms and end-products from soil, marine, or compost environment exposure.
  • Modification potential through chemical or physical modifications (e.g., grafting, crosslinking, and blending) which could augment functionality or properties for targeted applications.
  • Structure–property relationships dealing with the impact of molecular structure and morphology over macroscopic behaviour for materials design.

This collection will provide readers with multidisciplinary knowledge combining principles from materials physics, chemistry, and biology in the study of biological processes related to complex structures at the molecular level.

We look forward to receiving your papers on plant-derived and natural polymers.

Dr. Celina Maria Damian
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-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.

Keywords

  • bio-based polymers
  • green synthesis
  • environmental impact
  • biopolymer modification
  • degradation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 2981 KB  
Article
Covalent Immobilization of Crown Ether on Cellulose Acetate Membranes for Enhanced Heavy Metal Ion Retention
by Eduard Ionut Piscanu, Andreea Madalina Pandele, Madalina Oprea, Adrian Ionut Nicoara and Stefan Ioan Voicu
Polymers 2026, 18(11), 1371; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18111371 - 31 May 2026
Viewed by 493
Abstract
Heavy metal contamination in water remains a major environmental concern due to the persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation potential of metal ions such as Ni2+ and Cu2+. Therefore, the development of sustainable membrane materials with improved permeability and metal ion retention [...] Read more.
Heavy metal contamination in water remains a major environmental concern due to the persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation potential of metal ions such as Ni2+ and Cu2+. Therefore, the development of sustainable membrane materials with improved permeability and metal ion retention capacity is of significant interest for advanced water purification applications. In this research, crown ether-functionalized cellulose acetate membranes were developed by employing cyanuric chloride as a linker in order to enable advanced heavy metal ion retention capacity. In order to achieve this, the modification process involved a multi-step approach comprising successive hydroxylation, silanization, triazine activation, and crown ether grafting. The successful functionalization was confirmed by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) and XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) analyses, while thermal characterization demonstrated improved stability over a wide range of temperatures without compromising the integrity of the cellulose acetate backbone. The crown-ether-functionalized membranes exhibited enhanced performance in terms of heavy metal ion separation, demonstrating significantly higher retention of Ni2+ (30%) and Cu2+ (27%) as compared to pristine CA membranes (<10%) over repeated filtration cycles. These results demonstrate that crown ether functionalization is a versatile approach for tuning the interfacial features of cellulose acetate membranes in order to achieve increased permeability and selectivity toward heavy metal removal, highlighting their potential for advanced water purification applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant-Derived Biopolymers and Natural Polymers)
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