Construction and Applications in Functional Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

Functional polymers have gained enormous attention in recent decades owing to their great potential in delivering a wide range of functionalities, e.g., electrical conductivity, strain sensing, thermal conductivity, thermoelectric property, dielectric property, electromagnetic shielding, and microwave absorption. These functionalities are largely determined by the physicochemical properties of functional fillers (i.e., size and shape of fillers) and their network morphology in polymer matrices. Functional polymer materials are a current research hotspot and they are being gradually developed in terms of intelligence, with modifications such as self-healing and stimuli-responsive materials. Functional polymers are applied in many fields, such as flexible electronics, superhydrophobic coatings, drug delivery, tissue engineering, medical devices, food packaging, sensors, actuators, optoelectronics, organic light-emitting diodes, thin-film transistors, batteries, waste water treatment, antifouling, etc.

Functional polymer materials can be constructed on the molecular level with functional groups and/or by introducing functional fillers into materials. Apart from various organic synthesis and polymerization methods, special processing, additive manufacturing, lithography, self-assembly, supramolecular chemistry, and dynamic cross-linking are newly arising technologies that contribute to the construction of functional polymer materials. Their potential applications are widely covered in machinery, information technology, biomedicine, and other fields.

This Special Issue on “Construction and Applications in Functional Polymers” is devoted to showcasing the most recent research in this interdisciplinary field, covering the latest advances in the design, synthesis, and applications of functional polymer materials. Both high-quality original research articles and comprehensive reviews on cutting-edge developments are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Zhu Long
Dr. Pengxiang Si
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 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. Materials 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 2600 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.

• advanced functional polymeric materials
• construction of functional polymers
• self-healing polymers
• stimuli-responsive materials
• biomedical polymers
• electrically conductive polymers
• optical polymers
• sustainable polymers
• high-strength and tough polymers
• superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic polymers.