Polymer Gels: Preparation, Characterization, and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, polymer gels from natural or synthetic materials have gathered increasing interest thanks to the chemical and physical properties of polymeric materials. The dramatic progress achieved has been illustrated in a variety of aspects, such as preparation, characterization, and applications. Using polymer gels as a building block for functional systems or a tailed microenvironment to conduct specific reactions has progressed from an experimental consideration to practical reality. Taking advantage of the peculiar properties of polymers, such as their low cost, chemical versatility, and biocompatibility, by incorporating them into different functional materials, polymer gels have been developed in various areas, especially in biomedical applications. Although polymer gels have been developed for the past several decades, however, there are still huge gaps of knowledge in certain research areas. For example, we urgently need a better understanding of the mechanism of preparation and creative thinking behind designing and constructing different types of polymer gels, as well as developing new characterization tools and expanding the application of polymer gels in interdisciplinary fields.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect studies on the preparation, characterization, and application of polymer gels, with excellent properties in frontier disciplines. The submitted studies may deal with any of the aspects mentioned above. Papers presenting studies on the relationship between manufacture, characterization, and properties related to polymer gel fabrication and application, as well as those focused on the development of novel technological processing and the development of novel applications in clinical medicine are particularly welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Yongfeng Gao
Guest Editor

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