Polymers and Ionic Liquid

Dear Colleagues,

The incredible breadth and utility of polymers rests squarely on the ability to use control of their chemistry to tailor them to specific needs through variations of both their specific molecular chemistry as well as that of their environment. Over the past century, this has led to the ubiquitous nature of polymers in every facet of scientific and commercial endeavor, with specializations designed to provide properties tailored to the expected use scenarios. In the last 40 years, the rise of ionic liquids (roughly defined as ionic salts which are liquid at room temperature) has provided an even broader field of chemical control for a variety of chemical systems by allowing researchers to tailor the solvent environment to either highlight or suppress specific interactions and thus direct chemical and thermophysical expression in complex systems. As such, it is no surprise that an area of particularly fertile possibility exists at the intersection of polymer chemistry and ionic liquids. By combining the ability to tailor solvent interactions via both ionic strength and molecular character and size, ionic liquids provide intriguing possibilities for impacting the entirety of polymer science, from synthesis to processing and ultimately control of polymer mesostructures and phase expression, leading to potentially new polymers as well as new possibilities for those already being synthesized.

This Special Issue seeks to spotlight research showcasing the interactions of polymers and ionic liquids, particularly the ways that the interactions between these two chemically complex disciplines enable the expression of new or enriched functionality of the investigated compounds. For the purposes of this solicitation, an polymer/ionic–liquid system is defined as a system involving polymeric species of any type interacting with a liquid phase possessing both cations and ions, with a high overall degree of ionicity compared to standard polymeric solvents. Possible areas of investigation include but are not limited to: polyionic compounds in which some ion groups are bound to the polymeric backbone, while others retain their full ionic nature in the solvent; mixtures of polymers and ionic liquids which leverage special characteristics of either or both components to improve physical response of the mixture; novel processing or synthesis techniques which employ ionic solvents to enable greater control in polymerization chemistry; investigations of differential phase expressions on subjecting block copolymers or liquid crystals to highly ionic solvents, etc. As such, investigations running the gamut from theoretical understanding to experimental demonstrations are invited.

Dr. Justin B. Hooper
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.

• ionic liquid
• salt
• phase expression
• reaction control
• green chemistry
• novel synthesis
• phase behavior
• thermodynamics
• liquid crystals
• self-assembly
• electrolyte