Polymer Hybrid Materials: Design and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Polymers are typically flexible and malleable solids with tuneable mechanical features and processability. When they combine with inorganic components to afford polymer hybrid materials endowing them specific functionalities and/or reinforce the mechanical and thermal properties. The polymer hybrid materials not only combine the features of the starting components, but also encompass enhanced unique properties result from synergetic effects, which eventually overcomes the structural and functional limits of the conventional materials. The polymer hybrid materials of monolith and coating/film with porous, layered or core-shell hierarchical structures and interpenetrating networks can be synthesized through sol-gel method, polymerization reaction and self-assembly process, etc. Their properties can be tailored by combination of polymers and functional/additive components such as luminescent/magnetic moieties, carbonaceous materials, biological substances, inorganic fibres/clays, metal-organic frameworks, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes, polyoxometalates and metal oxide particles. The structural and functional versatilities of the polymer hybrid materials accounts for their diverse applications in the fields ranging from optoelectronics, dielectric, photovoltaics, waveguide, sensor, gas adsorption/separation, catalysis, flame/fire retardancy, drug delivery and biomedical engineering.

The scope of this Special Issue is to cover all the aspects related to the polymer hybrid materials. Authors are welcome to submit the latest research works on this topic in the form of original research or review articles.

Dr. Lianshe Fu
Prof. Dr. Geoffrey R. Mitchell
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.