Advanced Hydrogel and Biopolymer: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

For several years, biopolymer materials have been enjoying the growing interest of researchers and various fields of industry. The great advantages of biopolymers are their natural origin, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. This is why they are used in medicine, pharmacy, cosmetics, food production, agriculture, etc. A large group of biopolymer materials are hydrogels—hydrophilic polymer networks, which are able to absorb a huge amount of polar solvents without losing integrity. Hydrogels made of appropriately selected biopolymers may have very specific properties and the ability to respond to different stimuli. Thus, they can be applied as, e.g., wound dressings, systems for the controlled delivery of active substances, or scaffolds for cell culture. Thus, new sources of biopolymers and more effective and less expensive methods for the preparation of the materials, as well as modern areas of applications, are still investigated.

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. Full research papers, communications, as well as reviews related to the synthesis, characterization, and applications of hydrogels and biopolymer materials are all warmly welcome.

Dr. Joanna Skopinska-Wisniewska
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. Materials 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 2600 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.

• hydrogels
• biopolymers
• smart materials
• biomaterials
• drug delivery
• tissue engineering
• biopolymer isolation and modification
• crosslinking
• biodegradation
• mechanical properties
• thermal properties