Crosslinked Nanogel Networks and Their Applications in Materials Science

Dear Colleagues,

The versatility of polymeric nanogels have made them an integral part of a materials scientist’s toolbox. In addition to the ubiquitous role that they play in drug delivery, the ability to tailor nanogels across parameters, such as their size, elasticity, porosity, charge, amphiphilicity  and degradability, has led to nanogels being used as building blocks to enable complex geometries, self-healing structures, 3D printing resins, antibacterial agents, compatibilizers, and sensors. Over the past two decades, these crosslinked nanoscale networks have been recognized as distinct polymer structures with unique sets of properties that lend themselves to the assembly of complex hierarchical polymer networks that were previously not possible via conventional crosslinked polymerization protocols. However, the ability of nanogels to aid in the development of unique polymer networks by engaging both nano-scale and long-range molecular interactions between monomers, oligomers, and nanogels has received relatively less attention over the past decade.

I invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue that will address the design, synthesis, formulation, and applications of novel nanogels within and beyond drug delivery applications. Studies that focus on the ability of nanogels to perform as additives, reactive precursors, and fillings within conventional networks to enable the development of complex and multi-scale polymer networks with tailored responses are of particular interest. Studies that detail novel synthetic protocols used to generate nanogels, along with the ability to control and characterize the different molecular interactions, the nanogel–nanogel interactions, and the monomer-nanogel interactions during the evolution of polymer networks are specifically invited for inclusion in this Special Issue. Broadly, the topics of interest are:

• nanogel synthesis protocols, nanogel morphology, structure–property relationships
• nanogel–nanogel interactions, nanogel–monomer interactions within networks
• crosslinked reactive nanogels designed for applications such as self-healing polymers, sensors, antibacterial agents, and stimuli-responsive networks
• monomer/precursor/nanogel formulations and polymerization protocols

Prof. Dr. Ravin Narain
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• crosslinked nanogels 
• nanogel structure-property 
• nanogel-monomer interactions 
• sensors 
• 3D printing 
• prepolymers 
• antibacterial agents