Polymer Composites and Bioactive Materials for Tissue Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer Composites and Bioactive Materials for Tissue Engineering deals with the scientific advancements of biomaterials that interact with cells or tissues (In vitro /In Vivo). Scaffolds are often based on nontoxic, biocompatible materials, and in some cases biodegradable if required. Mechanical properties, biomedical properties, rate of resorption, bioactivity, microstructure, and porous biomimetic architecture are important characteristics of polymer scaffolds. Polymer scaffolds are widely used for the regeneration of damaged or missing tissues, in vitro biological studies, cultivation of cells etc. Bioactive materials have unique adaptive quality with the physiological enviornment and are designed to stimulate and promote the regeneration of damaged tissues. Polymers combined with ceramics or biomolecules acting as a composite not only enhances the bioactivity of the scaffolds but also improves their flexibility/mouldability. Therefore, bioactive composites based on polymers are of special interest. Development of new biopolymer scaffolds and bioactive materials is critical to the success of tissue engineering and medical applications, connected with cell cultivation.

This Special Issue is concerned with structure, properties, and applications of polymer composites, including bioresorbable, bioinert polymers and bioactive materials for tissue engineering applications. Topics may include structural features, microstructure, the relationship between structure and properties and biomedical characteristics, tailored–architected scaffolds, biomimetic structure, mechanical properties, and bioactivity. The issue may also address bioactive materials such as hydrogels, bioceramics, smart polymers, shape memory polymers, self-fitting implants, tissue/cell engineering devices, tissue reconstruction, and cell-biomaterial interactions. Bioactive materials prepared specifically and functionally engineered either in their physical form (powder, fiber), surface topology (porosity, roughness), dimensions (nano to macro scales) to physiological behavior (In vitro/In vivo studies). Contributions focus on fundamental results, mechanisms, and applications that will help to compile the current state-of-the-art and to highlight their range of application. Both original contributions and reviews are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Fedor S. Senatov
Dr. Rajan Choudhary
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. 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.