Self-Organization and Spontaneous Order for Functional Materials
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2022) | Viewed by 17361
Special Issue Editors
Interests: active matter; non-equilibrium thermodynamics; transport phenomena
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: physical chemistry; self-organization; biophysics; nanobioscience
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Spontaneous order is a fundamental phenomenon underlying pattern formation, self-organization, and collective behavior in both living and non-living systems. The circadian rhythm is controlled by cyclic oscillations in clock genes, which regulate ion fluxes, hormone levels, and variations in neural activity. Spatially ordered chemical signaling results in growth of bacteria colonies towards one area, minimizing the competition for nutrients. Spatiotemporal control of spontaneous order has offered new methods to synthesize, fabricate, and construct complicated materials, and provided multitasking functionality to materials. For instance, cell-inspired biomaterials can be developed and compartmentalized through liquid–liquid phase separation. Targeted drug delivery and energy harvesting based on self-propelling soft matter as well as chemical and biological sensors based on synthetic nanomotors have been developed by utilizing stimuli-responsive functionalities. In addition, spatiotemporal control enables the development of regular crystal growth morphologies in reaction–diffusion processes and crystallization based on ordered flow patterns. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms governing spontaneous order can inspire approaches to synthesize new materials, thus creating opportunities to engineer more complex hierarchical structures.
This Special Issue will cover the complete range of topics, including theoretical approaches, characterizations, and applications of spontaneous order.
Topics addressed in this issue will include (but not be limited to):
- Theory and modeling of spontaneous order in physical, chemical, and biological systems
- Fundamentals underlying properties of pattern formation, self-organization, and collective behavior
- Functional materials enabled by spontaneous order
- Applications of spontaneous order
- Spatiotemporal control of oscillatory phenomena for cell-inspired materials
Dr. Takahiko Ban
Dr. Hideki Nabika
Dr. Takahiro Nakamura
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. Materials 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 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.
Keywords
- pattern formation
- self-organization
- collective behavior
- biomaterials
- adaptive materials
- active matter
- biorhythm
- chemical oscillation
- ordered fluid flow
- phase separation