Progress in Sustainable Development and Circular Economy via Low-Carbon Polymeric Materials

Dear Colleagues,

The escalating problems associated with greenhouse gases, limited reserves of petroleum, and a growing understanding of the benefits of sustainable development have stimulated society and government agencies to focus on the utilization of low-carbon materials in the emerging sphere of the circular economy. These low-carbon materials have a reduced carbon footprint and decreased embodied energy and carbon with enhanced recyclability that conserves the product’s functional requirements. The development of low-carbon material, on one hand, will ensure an environment that is conducive towards health and prosperity while on the other, will preserve abundant resources for future generations. The efficient development of low-carbon materials necessitates pioneering steps for modifying the chemistry of materials, adopting the intelligent design of products, implementing low-energy intensive processing, dynamic supply chain management, non-polluting product distribution, and innovative end-of-life treatments. The overarching aim is to enhance the circularity of materials and their corresponding products. Life cycle analysis and circularity measurement tools are generally employed to assess the low-carbon intensity of materials. Therefore, the Special Issue encompasses the holistic concept of low-carbon polymeric material and materials circular economy, thereby welcoming articles that address the aforementioned.

The Special Issue entitled “Progress Towards the Development, Utilization, and Analysis of Low-Carbon Materials” will serve as an arena to acknowledge the recent investigations into the development of low-carbon polymeric materials where cutting-edge methods and processing are applied to bolster the material circularity concept. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following: innovative synthesis, manufacturing, and application of bio-based polymeric materials (e.g., bioplastics, biocomposites, and electrospun fibers); life cycle analysis of bio-based polymers and composites; biodegradation and low-carbon buildings and construction materials.

Papers will be published upon acceptance, regardless of the Special Issue publication date.

Prof. Dr. Seeram Ramakrishna
Dr. Oisik Das
Dr. Sunpreet Singh
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. Polymers 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 2700 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.

• bio-based polymeric materials (processing, manufacturing, and application)
• biopolymer synthesis
• polymer biodegradation sustainable composites
• life cycle analysis.