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Processing and Characterization of Biopolymers

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical and Molecular Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2024) | Viewed by 2337

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Chemical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, R. Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal
2. Centro de Química Estrutural, Institute of Molecular Sciencies, Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Lisbon University, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: biopolymers; active materials; biocatalysis; green chemistry; advanced characterization

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Guest Editor
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, 24 Warszawska St., 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Interests: organic chemistry; medicinal chemistry; synthesis; pharmaceuticals; material characterization; polymers; nanomaterials; drug delivery systems; polymeric biomaterials; hydrogels; bio-hybrid hydrogels; advanced polymeric materials; biopolymers; natural and synthetic active substances; nanocarriers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Centro de Química Estrutural, Institute of Molecular Sciencies, Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Lisbon University, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: metal–organic frameworks; coordination polymers; coordination chemistry; characterization; biopolymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
CIMOSM, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, R. Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: metal forming; formability; non-conventional machining
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In response to an imperative need to reduce our dependency on petrochemical fuel, society is making significant efforts to move toward a biobased and circular economy. In this particular context, biobased polymers have emerged as a viable and competitive alternative to replace, in some situations, petrochemical-based synthetic polymers, reducing our dependence on the depleting crude oil reserve. Natural polymers provide significant  advantages compared to synthetic polymers, including their renewable nature, biocompatibility, non-toxicity and cost-effectiveness. Their biodegradability reduces and prevents the problem associated with the accumulation of synthetic plastic waste in the environment. Currently, biobased polymers are experiencing increased recognition in several market segments, including food packaging, medicinal field for tissue engineering, drug delivery systems and bioadhesives, agriculture applications in seed coating, automobile and aerospace industries for eco-sustainable composites, and 3D printing mixtures, among others. This growing prominence can be attributed primarily to the biodegradability and biocompatibility properties exhibited by these polymers. Different types of bioplastics are being produced industrially, and they are trying to compete in performance and price with conventional fossil-oil based plastics. Despite some limitations, different biomaterials, from polysaccharides and proteins to lipids, are been widely explored and research has focused on developing new biomaterials with competitive and active properties.

This Special Issue aims to cover all recent original research works focused on the use of biopolymers and natural additives as new materials and potential commercial products, in which precursors derived from natural and renewable resources are key parts that can contribute to solving our global society's plastic dilemma.

Thus, we highly encourage contributions related to the development, production and design of new sustainable materials or new chemical and processing transormations.

Prof. Dr. Ana Catarina Cardoso de Sousa
Dr. Katarzyna Bialik-Wąs
Dr. Tiago Daniel Adriano Fernandes
Dr. Ivo Manuel Ferreira de Bragança
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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • biopolymers
  • biocompatibility
  • biobased composites
  • green active materials
  • renewable materials
  • bio-hybrid hydrogels

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 3158 KiB  
Article
Bonding to Psychedelics: Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Targeting 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B)
by Daniel Martins, Carlos Fernandes, Ricardo F. Mendes, Fernando Cagide, António Fernando Silva, Fernanda Borges and Jorge Garrido
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(4), 1377; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14041377 - 7 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1975
Abstract
The increasing interest in utilizing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes demands the development of tools capable of efficiently monitoring and accurately identifying these substances, thereby supporting medical interventions. 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) has gained significant popularity as one of the most widely used psychedelic compounds in [...] Read more.
The increasing interest in utilizing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes demands the development of tools capable of efficiently monitoring and accurately identifying these substances, thereby supporting medical interventions. 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) has gained significant popularity as one of the most widely used psychedelic compounds in non-medical settings. In this study, we aimed to create a material with selective recognition of 2C-B by synthesizing a series of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) using 2C-B as the template and varying ratios of methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer (1:2, 1:3, and 1:4). Both thermal and microwave-assisted polymerization processes were employed. The molar ratio between the template molecule (2C-B) and functional monomer (MAA) was 1:4, utilizing a microwave-assisted polymerization process. Isotherm studies revealed a Langmuir’s maximum absorption capacity (Bmax) value of 115.6 μmol·mg−1 and Kd values of 26.7 μM for this material. An imprint factor of 4.2 was determined for this material, against the corresponding non-imprinted polymer. The good selectivity against 14 other new psychoactive substances highlighted the material’s potential for applications requiring selective recognition. These findings can contribute to the development of tailored materials for the detection and analysis of 2C-B, supporting advancements in non-medical use monitoring and potential therapeutic models involving psychedelics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Processing and Characterization of Biopolymers)
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