Self-Assembly of Smart Polymers
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 386
Special Issue Editors
2. MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Interests: catalysts; homogeneous catalysis; heterogeneous catalysis; metallocene; Ziegler–Natta; α-diimine Ni(II); polymerization; biodegradable polymers; sustainable polymers; bio-based materials; plastic pollution; environmental issues; pyrolysis and co-pyrolysis of biomass and plastic waste; separation membranes; polymer composites; electrode materials; environmental applications; polymerization kinetics; polymerization mechanisms; polymer structure control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao tong University, Shanghai, China
Interests: stability of Zinc anode through polymeric electrolytes; Zn metal; anode protection; gel electrolytes; polymer electrolytes; surface engineering; aqueous electrolytes
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Block copolymers are synthetic polymers composed of at least two polymer blocks with distinct properties and have been widely used for Biodegradable applications. Self-assembly synthetic polymer smart-blocks are segments of block copolymers that can self-assemble via property transformations, such as hydrophobicity, ionization, and conformational change. Similar to poly(propylene glycol) PPG, amphiphilic aliphatic biodegradable polyester smart-blocks including poly(LA-co-δ-valerolactone) PLVA and there their copolymers with poly(ethylene glycol) PEG can self-assemble into individual micelles or inter-molecular micelles, and then the association of individual micelles or intermolecular micelles could induce the gelation of their copolymers. These blocks can be easily synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) technique using hydroxyl-terminated molecules, such as hydroxyl-terminated PEGs, and appropriate cyclic ester-derived monomers. The prepared blocks can be further conjugated via urethane coupling and esterification to achieve designated polymer structures or increase the length of the smart blocks. They have been copolymerized with PEG to fabricate a wide range of self-assembled, biodegradable polymeric injectable hydrogels, which show potential application in drug delivery, treatment, and tissue regeneration. The copolymers of PLLA and PEG in the forms of PEGPLLA diblock or PEG-PLLA-PEG triblock copolymers can be synthesis by ring-opening polymerization, followed by urethane coupling to fabricate triblock. Poly(lactide)s (PLAs) is the most attractive and useful class of biodegradable polyesters, which possess many desirable properties, such as nontoxicity, low immunogenicity, and good biocompatibility, to be applied in biomedical and pharmaceutical fields.
Dr. Amjad Ali
Dr. Ahmad Naveed
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- self-assembly
- block copolymers
- stabilization
- cross-linking
- biodegradable
- smart
- Aliphatic
- kinetics
- polymeric electrolytes
- gel electrolytes
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