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Advanced Polymers in Pharmacy and Biomedicine: Innovations and Future Perspectives

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 532

Special Issue Editor


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Department of Chemical Kinetics, "Ilie Murgulescu" Institute of Physical Chemistry, Romanian Academy, 060021 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: physical chemistry; physico-chemical characterization of materials; drug delivery; pharmaceuticals development; thermal analysis; kinetics; biopolymers; cyclodextrin inclusion complexes; hydrogels; biomaterials for biomedical applications; oxide materials design/synthesis and the thermoreactivity of precursor–oxide transformations; green chemistry; thermal properties; physicochemical characterization; nanomaterials for biomedicine; nanomaterials for energy applications; catalysis; biopolymer-based hydrogels enhanced with natural extracts for the biomedical and food industry, pharmaceutical form, biomass, and combustion
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, titled "Advanced Polymers in Pharmacy and Biomedicine: Innovations and Future Perspectives", in the Polymers journal explores the latest advances in the development and application of polymer materials across various domains, such as pharmacy and medicine. It highlights recent developments regarding the role of polymers in enhancing drug delivery systems and supporting health-related novelties.

In developing new pharmaceutical formulations, polymers are essential to the design of advanced drug delivery systems, including controlled release, targeted therapy, and nanocarrier-based solutions. Their versatility in formulation allows for the effective management of bioavailability, solubility, and controlled dosing. Polymers also contribute significantly to the development of new therapeutic strategies, such as polymer–protein conjugates and vaccines.

For the medicine domain, polymers are indispensable in tissue engineering, wound healing, diagnostic devices, and regenerative medicine. This Special Issue covers polymer-based hydrogels, scaffolds, and implants designed to interact with biological systems for improving healing and regeneration.

In this Special Issue, theoretical and experimental contributions in the form of full-length original research articles, literature reviews, and short communications are welcome.

We welcome and look forward to your submissions.

Dr. Adina Magdalena Musuc
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

  • polymers
  • biodegradable polymers
  • controlled drug release
  • pharmaceutical formulations
  • biocompatible materials
  • medical devices
  • tissue engineering
  • smart polymers
  • pharmaceuticals
  • medicine
  • regenerative medicine
  • biopolymer-based hydrogels
  • drug delivery systems

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 4349 KB  
Article
Thermoresponsive Behavior, Degradation, and Bioactivity of Nanohydroxyapatite on Graphene Oxide Nanoscroll-Enhanced Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Scaffolds
by Lillian Tsitsi Mambiri, Riley Guillory and Dilip Depan
Polymers 2025, 17(15), 2014; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17152014 - 23 Jul 2025
Viewed by 422
Abstract
Osteoarthritis and metastatic bone cancers create pathological oxidative environments characterized by elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS impair bone regeneration by degrading the scaffold and suppressing mineralization. To address these challenges, we fabricated thermoresponsive scaffolds based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) incorporating in situ-grown nanohydroxyapatite [...] Read more.
Osteoarthritis and metastatic bone cancers create pathological oxidative environments characterized by elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS impair bone regeneration by degrading the scaffold and suppressing mineralization. To address these challenges, we fabricated thermoresponsive scaffolds based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) incorporating in situ-grown nanohydroxyapatite on graphene oxide nanoscrolls (nHA-GONS) using stereolithography (SLA). Three scaffold formulations were studied: pure PNIPAAm (PNP), PNIPAAm with 5 wt.% nHA-GONS (P5G), and PNIPAAm with 5 wt.% nHA-GONS reinforced with polycaprolactone (PCL) microspheres (PN5GP). Each scaffold was evaluated for (i) swelling and lower critical solution temperature (LCST) using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC); (ii) oxidative degradation assessed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mass loss, and antioxidant assays; and (iii) mineralization and morphology via immersion in simulated body fluid followed by microscopy. The PN5GP and P5G scaffolds demonstrated reversible swelling, sustained antioxidant activity, and enhanced calcium deposition, which enable redox stability and mineralization under oxidative environments, critical for scaffold functionality in bone repair. PNP scaffolds exhibited copper accumulation, while PN5GP suffered from accelerated mass loss driven by the PCL phase. These findings identify the P5G formulation as a promising scaffold. This study introduces a quantitative framework that enables the predictive design of oxidation-resilient scaffolds. Full article
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