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Polymers
Special Issues
Wettabilities and Surface Properties of Polymer Materials II
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Wettabilities and Surface Properties of Polymer Materials II

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Analysis and Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2022) | Viewed by 7221

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Chih-Feng Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
Interests: superwetting materials; polymeric composites; oil/water separation; surface modification; surface free energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Wei-Song Hung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
Interests: membrane; graphene; positron; surface modification; liquid separation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric materials—either synthetic or natural—play an important role in everyday life. Polymers used for practical applications are usually selected based on their bulk mechanical and thermal properties. However, wettability is also a fundamental property of polymeric materials, which plays important roles in daily life, industry, and agriculture. Functional surfaces with appropriate wettability have aroused much interest because of their great advantages in applications. The wettability of a surface is determined by a combination of its chemical properties and topographical microstructures. This Special Issue aims to cover all the aspects related to recent innovations on wettabilities and surface properties of polymeric materials. Special emphasis will be placed on the influence of preparation methods, chemical or physical surface modifications of polymeric materials on their wettabilities, and surface properties.

In particular, the topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Wettabilities of polymeric materials;
  • Surface-free energies of polymeric materials;
  • Surface modifications of polymeric materials;
  • Polymeric materials with anisotropic or patterned wettabilities;
  • Polymeric materials with switchable wettability;
  • Superwetting polymeric materials.

Prof. Dr. Chif-Feng Wang
Prof. Wei-Song Hung
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.

Keywords

  • Wettabilities
  • Surface-free energy
  • Surface modification
  • Switchable wettability
  • Patterned wettability
  • Hydrophobic
  • Hydrophilic
  • Superhydrophobic
  • Superhydrophilic

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 8239 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Evaluation of Mechanical, Thermal, and Antibacterial Properties of PLA/ZnO Nanoflower Biocomposite Filaments for 3D Printing Application
by Tongsai Jamnongkan, Ornthiwa Jaroensuk, Anchan Khankhuean, Apirat Laobuthee, Natee Srisawat, Autchara Pangon, Rattanaphol Mongkholrattanasit, Pongthipun Phuengphai, Amnuay Wattanakornsiri and Chih-Feng Huang
Polymers 2022, 14(3), 600; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14030600 - 02 Feb 2022
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2961
Abstract
Functionalities of 3D printing filaments have gained much attention owing to their properties for various applications in the last few years. Innovative biocomposite 3D printing filaments based on polylactic acid (PLA) composited with ZnO nanoflowers at varying contents were successfully fabricated via a [...] Read more.
Functionalities of 3D printing filaments have gained much attention owing to their properties for various applications in the last few years. Innovative biocomposite 3D printing filaments based on polylactic acid (PLA) composited with ZnO nanoflowers at varying contents were successfully fabricated via a single-screw extrusion technique. The effects of the varying ZnO nanoflower contents on their chemical, thermal, mechanical, and antibacterial properties were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and tensile testing, as well as qualitative and quantitative antibacterial tests, respectively. It was found that the ZnO nanoflowers did not express any chemical reactions with the PLA chains. The degrees of the crystallinity of the PLA/ZnO biocomposite filaments increased when compared with those of the neat PLA, and their properties slightly decreased when increasing the ZnO nanoflower contents. Additionally, the tensile strength of the PLA/ZnO biocomposite filaments gradually decreased when increasing the ZnO nanoflower contents. The antibacterial activity especially increased when increasing the ZnO nanoflower contents. Additionally, these 3D printing filaments performed better against Gram-positive (S. aureus) than Gram-negative (E. coli). This is probably due to the difference in the cell walls of the bacterial strains. The results indicated that these 3D printing filaments could be utilized for 3D printing and applied to medical fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wettabilities and Surface Properties of Polymer Materials II)
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17 pages, 4269 KiB  
Article
Esterification of Alginate with Alkyl Bromides of Different Carbon Chain Lengths via the Bimolecular Nucleophilic Substitution Reaction: Synthesis, Characterization, and Controlled Release Performance
by Xiuqiong Chen, Qingmei Zhu, Chang Liu, Dongze Li, Huiqiong Yan and Qiang Lin
Polymers 2021, 13(19), 3351; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13193351 - 30 Sep 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1959
Abstract
To extend the alginate applicability for the sustained release of hydrophobic medicine in drug delivery systems, the alkyl alginate ester derivative (AAD), including hexyl alginate ester derivative (HAD), octyl alginate ester derivative (OAD), decyl alginate ester derivative (DAD), and lauryl alginate ester derivative [...] Read more.
To extend the alginate applicability for the sustained release of hydrophobic medicine in drug delivery systems, the alkyl alginate ester derivative (AAD), including hexyl alginate ester derivative (HAD), octyl alginate ester derivative (OAD), decyl alginate ester derivative (DAD), and lauryl alginate ester derivative (LAD), were synthesized using the alkyl bromides with different lengths of carbon chain as the hydrophobic modifiers under homogeneous conditions via the bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (SN2) reaction. Experimental results revealed that the successful grafting of the hydrophobic alkyl groups onto the alginate molecular backbone via the SN2 reaction had weakened and destroyed the intramolecular hydrogen bonds, thus enhancing the molecular flexibility of the alginate, which endowed the AAD with a good amphiphilic property and a critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of 0.48~0.0068 g/L. Therefore, the resultant AAD could form stable spherical self-aggregated micelles with the average hydrodynamic diameter of 285.3~180.5 nm and zeta potential at approximately −44.8~−34.4 mV due to the intra or intermolecular hydrophobic associations. With the increase of the carbon chain length of the hydrophobic side groups, the AAD was more prone to self-aggregation, and therefore was able to achieve the loading and sustained release of hydrophobic ibuprofen. Additionally, the swelling and degradation of AAD microcapsules and the diffusion of the loaded drug jointly controlled the release rate of ibuprofen. Meanwhile, the AAD also displayed low cytotoxicity to the murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells. Thanks to the good amphiphilic property, colloidal interface activity, hydrophobic drug-loading performance, and cytocompatibility, the synthesized AAD exhibited a great potential for the development of hydrophobic pharmaceutical formulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wettabilities and Surface Properties of Polymer Materials II)
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12 pages, 3423 KiB  
Article
Symmetry-Breaking Drop Bouncing on Superhydrophobic Surfaces with Continuously Changing Curvatures
by WooSeok Choi and Sungchan Yun
Polymers 2021, 13(17), 2940; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13172940 - 31 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1523
Abstract
Controlling the residence time of drops on the solid surface is related to a wide spectrum of engineering applications, such as self-cleaning and anti-icing. The symmetry-breaking dynamics induced by the initial drop shape can promote drop bouncing. Here, we study the bouncing features [...] Read more.
Controlling the residence time of drops on the solid surface is related to a wide spectrum of engineering applications, such as self-cleaning and anti-icing. The symmetry-breaking dynamics induced by the initial drop shape can promote drop bouncing. Here, we study the bouncing features of spherical and ellipsoidal drops on elliptical surfaces that continuously change curvatures inspired by natural succulent leaves. The bounce characteristics highly depend on the geometric relations between the ellipsoidal drops and curved surfaces. Numerical results show that ellipsoidal shapes of the drops amplify asymmetries of the mass and momentum in synergy with an influence of the surface curvature during the impact, which is verified by experiments. Effects of the surface anisotropy and drops’ ellipticity on the residence time are investigated under various surface morphologies and Weber numbers. The residence time is closely associated with an initial surface curvature at the apex. The underlying principle of modifying the residence time via the drops’ ellipticity and initial surface curvature is elucidated based on momentum asymmetry. The understanding of the bouncing features on curved surfaces will offer practical implications for enhanced heat transfer performances and controlled water repellency, etc. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wettabilities and Surface Properties of Polymer Materials II)
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