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Polymers
Special Issues
Advanced Polymer Materials in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications
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Advanced Polymer Materials in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2025 | Viewed by 2156

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shih-Feng Chou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Tyler, 3900 University Blvd., Tyler, TX 75799, USA
Interests: fibrous membranes; tissue scaffolds; biopolymers; drug delivery; skin tissue engineering; wound healing; mechanical properties; biodegradation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of advanced polymer materials has attracted great interest in biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. These polymer materials, including particles, fibers, films, microneedle patches, hydrogels, porous scaffolds, and polymer composites, are often loaded or functionalized with biological and/or chemical therapeutic agents to promote better treatment outcomes for diseases. The processing of advanced polymer materials and the corresponding studies of polymer characterization, in vitro assays, and/or in vivo models are of particular interest for this Special Issue. Specifically, polymer drug carriers with the ability to demonstrate dual releases, modulated releases, stimuli-responsive releases, or controlled releases are currently an attractive modern approach in drug delivery. Furthermore, advanced polymer materials often have excellent biological cues that are compatible with cells, promote cell growth, or regulate cell expressions.

This Special Issue highlights novel aspects in the processing of advanced polymer materials and their characteristics in drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. Warm invitations are extended to members of the academic and scientific communities to contribute original papers or reviews on the processing and characterization of advanced polymer materials in drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.

Dr. Shih-Feng Chou
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.

Keywords

  • processing of advanced polymers
  • structure–property characterizations
  • hybrid polymer systems
  • polymer drug delivery systems
  • tissue engineering
  • therapeutic polymers

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2137 KiB  
Article
Colloidal Characteristics of Poly(L-Lactic Acid)-b-Poly (ε-Caprolactone) Block Copolymer-Based Nanoparticles Obtained by an Emulsification/Evaporation Method
by Oana Cucoveica, Carmen Stadoleanu, Christelle Bertsch, Romain Triaud, Iustina Petra Condriuc, Leonard Ionut Atanase and Christelle Delaite
Polymers 2024, 16(19), 2748; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16192748 - 28 Sep 2024
Viewed by 702
Abstract
Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), two biodegradable and biocompatible polymers that are commonly used for biomedical applications, are, respectively, the result of the ring-opening polymerization of LA and ε-CL, cyclic esters, which can be produced according to several mechanisms (cationic, monomer-activated cationic, [...] Read more.
Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), two biodegradable and biocompatible polymers that are commonly used for biomedical applications, are, respectively, the result of the ring-opening polymerization of LA and ε-CL, cyclic esters, which can be produced according to several mechanisms (cationic, monomer-activated cationic, anionic, and coordination-insertion), except for L-lactide, which is polymerized only by anionic, cationic, or coordination-insertion polymerization. A series of well-defined PLLA-b-PCL block copolymers have been obtained starting from the same PLLA homopolymer, having a molar mass of 2500 g·mol−1, and being synthesized by coordination-insertion in the presence of tin octoate. PCL blocks were obtained via a cationic-activated monomer mechanism to limit transesterification reactions, and their molar masses varied from 1800 to 18,500 g·mol−1. The physicochemical properties of the copolymers were determined by 1H NMR, SEC, and DSC. Moreover, a series of nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared starting from these polyester-based copolymers by an emulsification/evaporation method. The sizes of the obtained NPs varied between 140 and 150 nm, as a function of the molar mass of the copolymers. Monomodal distribution curves with PDI values under 0.1 were obtained by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and their spherical shape was confirmed by TEM. The increase in the temperature from 25 to 37 °C induced only a very slight decrease in the NP sizes. The results obtained in this preliminary study indicate that NPs have a temperature stability, allowing us to consider their use as drug-loaded nanocarriers for biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymer Materials in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications)
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17 pages, 3725 KiB  
Article
Electrospun Ibuprofen-Loaded Blend PCL/PEO Fibers for Topical Drug Delivery Applications
by Diala Bani Mustafa, Tsuyoshi Sakai, Osamu Sato, Mitsuo Ikebe and Shih-Feng Chou
Polymers 2024, 16(13), 1934; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16131934 - 6 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1032
Abstract
Electrospun drug-eluting fibers have demonstrated potentials in topical drug delivery applications, where drug releases can be modulated by polymer fiber compositions. In this study, blend fibers of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) at various compositions were electrospun from 10 wt% of polymer [...] Read more.
Electrospun drug-eluting fibers have demonstrated potentials in topical drug delivery applications, where drug releases can be modulated by polymer fiber compositions. In this study, blend fibers of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) at various compositions were electrospun from 10 wt% of polymer solutions to encapsulate a model drug of ibuprofen (IBP). The results showed that the average polymer solution viscosities determined the electrospinning parameters and the resulting average fiber diameters. Increasing PEO contents in the blend PCL/PEO fibers decreased the average elastic moduli, the average tensile strength, and the average fracture strains, where IBP exhibited a plasticizing effect in the blend PCL/PEO fibers. Increasing PEO contents in the blend PCL/PEO fibers promoted the surface wettability of the fibers. The in vitro release of IBP suggested a transition from a gradual release to a fast release when increasing PEO contents in the blend PCL/PEO fibers up to 120 min. The in vitro viability of blend PCL/PEO fibers using MTT assays showed that the fibers were compatible with MEF-3T3 fibroblasts. In conclusion, our results explained the scientific correlations between the solution properties and the physicomechanical properties of electrospun fibers. These blend PCL/PEO fibers, having the ability to modulate IBP release, are suitable for topical drug delivery applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymer Materials in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications)
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