Phytochemicals Modified Membranes
A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2016)
Special Issue Editor
Interests: phase equilibria and kinetics of phase separation in polymer blends; phase transitions in crystalline and liquid crystalline polymers; molecular composites; processing, structure and properties of ionomer membranes; therapeutic polymer membranes, phytochemicals modification, superionic conductive polymer membranes; pattern formation and electro-optical properties of dispersed liquid crystal systems
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The scope of this Special Issue covers the interdisciplinary field of polymeric biomaterials and materials science, encompassing therapeutic polymer membranes modified with ‘phytochemicals’ for blood purification, water filtration, all the way to UV protective, biodegradable cosmetics or sunscreen lotion. Phytochemicals are naturally found chemicals in plants, whose function is to protect them from stressful environments, such as pollutants, adverse climate fluctuations, or attack from competing plants and microorganisms. Some of these phytochemicals exhibit, not only excellent antioxidant properties, but also possess anti-inflammable and antitumor activities. Hence, the functions of phytochemicals are not limited to plants to relieve the aforementioned stresses, but also to patients to suppress oxidative stresses and cytokines generated during hemodialysis, i.e., blood purification. Hemodialysis is a life sustaining treatment for patients with failed kidney functions, whereby blood is pumped through a filter cartridge made up of hollow fibers or asymmetric cascading micro-porous polymer membranes. The human body recognizes these membranes as “foreign bodies” and mounts an escalated immunoligical attack as a ‘defense’ mechanism, which leads to erratic immunal response at best, and fatal at worst. All the measures to counter such ill-effects rely on costly drug therapy and intravenous injections, which requires sizable dosage and constitutes most of treatment costs. The present issue focuses on interdisciplinary investigations, exploring the interactions of macromolecules with biological systems or vice versa biological approaches to the design of polymeric materials with the goal of improving the quality of life.
Prof. Dr. Thein Kyu
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. Membranes 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 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.
