Biodegradable Polymers: From Chemical Synthesis to Biodegradable Mechanism

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, there has been an increase in interest in biodegradable polymers. They are useful in agriculture, packaging, biomedical, and other areas, and represent the most acceptable means of solving the many environmental issues related to non-biodegradable polymers. The high value-added utilization use of these polymers is one of the best ways to achieve a clean environment that can be decomposed by bacteria. There are polymers produced from feedstocks, derived either from petroleum resources (nonrenewable resources) or from biological resources (renewable resources). Synthetic biodegradable polymers have a great advantage, since recent advances in polymer science and technology have made it possible to design and synthesize, at will, a variety of polymers with desirable properties.

Three types of synthetic bio-composites that are commonly used in biodegradable polymers are the following: (1) polyesters, (2) polymers containing both ester and other heteroatom-containing linkages in the main chains, and (3) polymers with heteroatom-containing linkages other than ester linkages in the main chains.

This Special Issue welcomes an overview of the different biodegradable polymers, such as biodegradability, design and modification, structure, hydrolysis kinetics, and properties research, as well as new developments in their synthesis. All research should focus on providing insight into the molecular structure. Studies of the physical and chemical mechanisms by which the major classes of polymers are degraded are also welcomed.

Dr. Ling-Ping Xiao
Dr. Oana Lelia Pop
Prof. Dr. Gabrijel Ondrasek
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.

• biodegradable polymers
• polyolefins
• molecular structures
• synthesis
• chemical modification
• hydrolysis kinetics