Synthesis, Properties, and Applications of Functional Nanocomposites

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Crystals focuses on the synthesis, properties, and potential applications of functional nanocomposites. Over the past few decades, functional nanocomposites (e.g., polymer–matrix, organic–inorganic, ceramic–matrix, polymer–silicate, bio-nanocomposites) have steadily grown in importance and are now considered a significant class of materials. Nanocomposites are solid materials that contain multiple phase domains, and at minimum one of these phase domains has a nanoscale structure (typically less than 100 nm) or structures that contain nanoscale repeating distances between the different phases that comprise the materials. In general, nanocomposite materials can dramatically enhance various properties, such as mechanical, including modulus, strength, and dimensional stability, thermal stability, chemical resistance, opto-electronic, etc., which depend on the inherent material characteristics, the morphology, and the interfacial characteristics of the components. As a result, there has been a growing amount of interest in nanocomposites research within academia and the polymer industry.

Research involving novel nanocomposites synthesis methods, nanocomposite formulation and fabrication techniques, characterization, and potential applications in many industrial fields is of particular importance today. Nanocomposites as functional materials are used in sustainable energy-harvesting-related applications (e.g., sensors, solar cells, photoelectron-catalysts, batteries, fuel cells), environmental remediation (photocatalytic degradation, membrane filtration, etc.) or biomedical applications (tissue engineering, wound dressing, drug delivery, etc.)., and in the development of lightweight engineered products with superior mechanical, thermal or chemical resistance properties, to name a few. In this context, the importance of this Special Issue on nanocomposites to highlight recent progress in the nanocomposites research area becomes clear.

This Special Issue titled “Synthesis, Properties, and Applications of Functional Nanocomposites” offers a broad scope of recent studies on novel nanocomposite materials, formulation, fabrication, characterization (morphology, crystallinity, thermal stability, opto-electronics, etc.), structure–property relationships, and their applications. All the keywords mentioned below are mere examples to showcase the variety of acceptable topics and do not serve to limit the scope of this Special Issue. As such, authors are highly encouraged to submit papers on these topics and others that are linked to the general focus of the Special Issue. Furthermore, the Special Issue aims to highlight the challenges, future research scope, and novel applications of nanocomposites, which can also be in the form of a short review.

Dr. Monoj Ghosh
Dr. Santosh K Yadav
Dr. Arup Ranjan Bhattacharyya
Dr. Ludovic Cauvin
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. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.

• Polymer nanocomposite materials: including but not limited to graphene, CNT, carbon fiber, glass fiber, metal–oxide-based materials
• Formulations/fabrication of nanocomposites
• Organic–inorganic hybrids
• Graphene, carbon fiber-based nanocomposites
• Polymer nanocomposites
• Functional nanocomposites
• Surface functionalization
• Structure–property relationship of nanocomposites Nanocomposites in engineering applications
• Energy harvesting
• Environmental remediation
• Nanocomposites in photocatalysis