Advances in Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

This Topical Collection on “Advances in Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Polymers” aims to showcase high-quality original research articles, as well as comprehensive reviews, in this rapidly growing and interdisciplinary field. The development of polymers that are bio-based and/or biodegradable or, in general, more environmentally friendly is critical in order to address global sustainability challenges. Sustainable polymers, in this view, not only can reduce environmental impacts but also offer innovative solutions for packaging, biomedical applications, energy storage, and other industrial sectors, as well as in the construction field. Progress in this area relies on the convergence of several research fields and skills. A deep understanding of the synthesis, properties, degradation mechanisms, and life-cycle assessment of sustainable polymers is therefore essential for their successful implementation in practical applications.

Contributions exploring novel materials, processing strategies, and functionalisation approaches, both as original research articles and comprehensive reviews, are welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Synthesis of bio-based and renewable polymers;

Biodegradable and compostable polymers;

Recycling and upcycling of polymeric materials;

Characterisation of sustainable polymers;

Functional and smart environment-friendly polymers;

Polymer composites with reduced environmental impact;

Life-cycle assessment and sustainability analysis;

Processing of sustainable polymers;

Degradation of sustainable polymers;

Applications in packaging, biomedical engineering, energy, and electronics;

Applications in the construction field;

Advanced modelling and simulation of sustainable polymer behaviour.

Dr. Marco Morreale
Collection 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.