Research Advances in Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels (Second Volume)

Dear Colleagues,

Following the success of the Special Issue “Research Advances in Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels”, we are pleased to open a new Special Issue, which will include the state-of-the-art research in this field.

Hydrogels have tremendous potential in various applications due to their high water content, softness, flexibility, tunable physical and mechanical properties, relatively low cytotoxicity, and increased biocompatibility. There is a visible tendency to prepare hydrogels of more environmentally friendly materials, or which respond to the current health concerns, and natural polymers provide promising opportunities for both fundamental and applied research. The current trend in the design of hydrogels based on natural polymers is focused on improving the manufacturing process by using non-toxic cross-linking agents or safe chemical processes, in order to be used for medical applications, or agricultural and other industrial purposes.

In this Special Issue, we welcome any submissions related to hydrogels prepared from natural polymers (polysaccharides, proteins, polypeptides and polynucleotides) or composite hydrogels, in different forms, such as macrogels, microgels, nanogels, films, membranes, and beads. Recent progress in the design and synthesis of hydrogels and their properties, revealed using different complementary techniques; the challenges that need to be overcome; and the smart behavior of natural polymer-based hydrogels, are also welcome. All features associated with engineering in applications such as drug delivery systems, wound dressing, tissue engineering scaffolds, self-healing materials, and biosensors, are of particular interest to this Special Issue.

In this regard, it is our pleasure to invite you to contribute full papers, review articles and short communications that focus on recent advances and developments related to the natural polymer-based hydrogels, with particular attention to engineering and biomedical applications.

Dr. Diana Ciolacu
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.

• natural polymers
• stimuli-responsive hydrogels
• target-responsive hydrogels
• composite hydrogel
• nanocomposite hydrogels
• biomaterials
• drug delivery
• wound dressings
• tissue engineering
• hygiene products
• biosensing
• wearable devices
• bioseparations
• water treatment
• active food packaging