Dear Colleagues,

I have been asked by the Editor of Polymers (MDPI) to coordinate a Special Issue entitled “Sol–Gel Chemistry in Polymers Research”.

As you know, the sol–gel synthesis route has been extensively exploited since the 1970s, in combination with polymer synthesis methodologies, to produce not only  inorganic materials (glassy or ceramic) but also hybrid organic/inorganic composites in the form of aerogels, monoliths, coatings, fibers, and particles.

The strategy takes advantage of the fact that almost all the important oxides MO_n (where M is a metal or semimetal and n is not necessarily an integer), as well as many mixed oxides, have been prepared by the sol–gel process through reactions occurring at low temperatures starting from precursors that are commercially available at high purity. Moreover, a great number of organometallic compounds are available, allowing easy surface functionalization and interface tailoring. Sol–gel synthesis also allows the easy production of particles at the nanoscale, where materials properties change: ferromagnetic materials become superparamagnetic, band gaps of semiconductors and light absorption and scattering properties change, etc.

Many synthesis routes have been proposed in the literature to produce not only composites but also organic/inorganic hybrid particles where sol–gel chemistry gives the inorganic phase or plays a fundamental role in the coupling: heterocoagulation, layer-by-layer assembly, molecular recognition assembly, grafting through coupling agents, polymerization in multiphase systems, surface-initiated polymerization, sol–gel nanocoating. The mild sol–gel synthesis conditions also allow the inherent difficulty in combining organic with glass and ceramic chemistries due to the traditional wide gap in the typical process temperatures to be overcome. In particular new perspectives are opened by the so-called in situ processes where the inorganic phase is produced in the presence of a polymer or a monomer. The mild synthesis conditions also allow the proposal of facile sol–gel protocols for the bioencapsulation of relevant functional biomacromolecules.

Generally speaking, the applications include both structural and functional materials spanning very different fields: catalysis, biomaterials, biology, sensors, etc.

This Issue is open to all contributions where sol–gel chemistry is combined with polymer chemistry, with aims of both deepening our knowledge of processes and finding new applications. The objective is to highlight the progress in this outstanding research field.

Considering your prominent contribution to this interesting research field, I would like to cordially invite you to submit a paper to this Special Issue through the webpage of the journal (S.I.:  Sol–Gel Chemistry in Polymers Research).

Prof. Francesco Branda
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Sol-Gel;

Polymerization;

Stöber method;

Hybrid materials;

Nanocomposites;

Surface functionalization;

Compatibilization;

Interface tailoring;

Nanoparticles;

Hybrid organic/inorganic particles;

In situ synthesis;

Bioencapsulation