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Development of Functional Polymer Surfaces with Nanomaterials

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanocomposite Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2021) | Viewed by 7814

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Dongwhi Choi

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Guest Editor

Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
Interests: multi-scale advanced materials processing; polymer surface engineering; contact electrification; flexible electronics; mass production; energy harvesting; self-powered sensing; mechanical element & system design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric materials have broad applications with their extraordinarily advantageous functional characteristics, cost-effectiveness, and facile mass production, which are crucial for the development of commercialized products. Thanks to the abovementioned aspects, polymeric materials have become an essential material for studies in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and in almost all forms of coating applications. The surfaces of various polymeric materials especially can exhibit excellent chemical, physical, and mechanical properties over many other materials by controlling chemical functionality, structural morphology, and so on. Nanomaterials, i.e., materials with at least one dimension in the nano- and submicroscale, have the ability to improve the various properties of polymer surfaces owing to their excellent interfacial interaction with polymer surfaces. In this regard, so far, researchers in various fields have reported that nanomaterials that are properly integrated into various types of polymer surfaces can lead to the development of highly functional polymeric device/platforms. This Special Issue aims to highlight studies focusing on various kinds of functional polymer surfaces with a variety of forms of nano- and submicroscale materials including particles, fibers, foams, composites, etc. We kindly invite you to submit a high-quality contribution to this Special Issue of Nanomaterials, “Development of Functional Polymer Surfaces with Nanomaterials”. Reviews and original research articles are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Dongwhi Choi
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. Nanomaterials 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 2900 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.

Keywords

Functional polymer surface
polymer surface modification
nanomaterials
nanocomposites
nanofibers
nanoparticles
nanofoams
nanomembranes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 9781 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Comparison of the Morphological and Structural Characteristic of Bioresorbable and Biocompatible Hydroxyapatite-Loaded Biopolymer Composites

by Monika Furko, Zsolt E. Horváth, Judith Mihály, Katalin Balázsi and Csaba Balázsi

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(12), 3194; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11123194 - 25 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1771

Abstract

Calcium phosphate (CaP)-based ceramic–biopolymer composites can be regarded as innovative bioresorbable coatings for load-bearing implants that can promote the osseointegration process. The carbonated hydroxyapatite (cHAp) phase is the most suitable CaP form, since it has the highest similarity to the mineral phase in human bones. In this paper, we investigated the effect of wet chemical preparation parameters on the formation of different CaP phases and compared their morphological and structural characteristics. The results revealed that the shape and crystallinity of CaP particles were strongly dependent on the post-treatment methods, such as heat or alkaline treatment of as-precipitated powders. In the next step, the optimised cHAp particles have been embedded into two types of biopolymers, such as polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and cellulose acetate (CA). The pure polymer fibres and the cHAp–biopolymer composites were produced using a novel electrospinning technique. The SEM images showed the differences between the morphology and network of CA and PVP fibres as well as proved the successful attachment of cHAp particles. In both cases, the fibres were partially covered with cHAp clusters. The SEM measurements on samples after one week of immersion in PBS solution evidenced the biodegradability of the cHAp–biopolymer composites. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Functional Polymer Surfaces with Nanomaterials)

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12 pages, 3616 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Robust Topographical Micro-Patterning of Nanofibrillar Collagen Gel by In Situ Photochemical Crosslinking-Assisted Collagen Embossing

by Hyeonjun Hong and Dong Sung Kim

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(12), 2574; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10122574 - 21 Dec 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2438

Abstract

The topographical micro-patterning of nanofibrillar collagen gels is promising for the fabrication of biofunctional constructs mimicking topographical cell microenvironments of in vivo extracellular matrices. Nevertheless, obtaining structurally robust collagen micro-patterns through this technique is still a challenging issue. Here, we report a novel in situ photochemical crosslinking-assisted collagen embossing (IPC-CE) process as an integrative fabrication technique based on collagen compression-based embossing and UV–riboflavin crosslinking. The IPC-CE process using a micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) master mold enables the compaction of collagen nanofibrils into micro-cavities of the mold and the simultaneous occurrence of riboflavin-mediated photochemical reactions among the nanofibrils, resulting in a robust micro-patterned collagen construct. The micro-patterned collagen construct fabricated through the IPC-CE showed a remarkable mechanical resistivity against rehydration and manual handling, which could not be achieved through the conventional collagen compression-based embossing alone. Micro-patterns of various sizes (minimum feature size <10 μm) and shapes could be obtained by controlling the compressive pressure (115 kPa) and the UV dose (3.00 J/cm²) applied during the process. NIH 3T3 cell culture on the micro-patterned collagen construct finally demonstrated its practical applicability in biological applications, showing a notable effect of anisotropic topography on cells in comparison with the conventional construct. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Functional Polymer Surfaces with Nanomaterials)

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Review

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18 pages, 4802 KiB

Open AccessReview

Current Developments in Native Nanometric Discoidal Membrane Bilayer Formed by Amphipathic Polymers

by Mansoore Esmaili, Mohamed A. Eldeeb and Ali Akbar Moosavi-Movahedi

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(7), 1771; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11071771 - 07 Jul 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3019

Abstract

Unlike cytosolic proteins, membrane proteins (MPs) are embedded within the plasma membrane and the lipid bilayer of intracellular organelles. MPs serve in various cellular processes and account for over 65% of the current drug targets. The development of membrane mimetic systems such as bicelles, short synthetic polymers or amphipols, and membrane scaffold proteins (MSP)-based nanodiscs has facilitated the accommodation of synthetic lipids to stabilize MPs, yet the preparation of these membrane mimetics remains detergent-dependent. Bio-inspired synthetic polymers present an invaluable tool for excision and liberation of superstructures of MPs and their surrounding annular lipid bilayer in the nanometric discoidal assemblies. In this article, we discuss the significance of self-assembling process in design of biomimetic systems, review development of multiple series of amphipathic polymers and the significance of these polymeric “belts” in biomedical research in particular in unraveling the structures, dynamics and functions of several high-value membrane protein targets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Functional Polymer Surfaces with Nanomaterials)

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