Toward Sustainability through Bio-Based Materials at the Interfaces with Living Systems (Second Edition)

Dear Colleagues,

Advances in technologies have improved human life in many aspects over the centuries, including through materials functioning at the interface with living systems. However, many novel materials produced on a large scale are consumed and discarded in a single stream, contributing to the greatest challenge of the 21st century: environmental sustainability. For example, the WHO projected that frontline health workers needed 89 million facial masks per month during the COVID-19 pandemic. Micro-and nanofabrication of bio-based materials has emerged as a technical solution to transform current material-based technologies into recyclable, biodegradable, and less energy-intensive products. Many bio-based materials (e.g., papers and silk textiles) have been used, proving their sustainability for thousands of years. Recent advances in science and engineering have revealed new functionality and applications of these traditional materials by regeneration, recombination, and modification of their structures and components. For example, a silk-based seed coating technology developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology encapsulates biofertilizer (nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium bacteria), which may alleviate CO₂ release and water usage from the Harbor–Bosch process for nitrogen fertilizer production.

This Special Issue focuses on the future of bio-based material applications at the interfaces with living systems (e.g., human body, plant, soil microbiome, and food). We invite research and review articles reporting new developments and improvements of bio-based materials that contribute to building a sustainable environment. New perspectives on bio-based materials, such as how we should define bio-based materials and access their sustainability, are welcome to be discussed.

The scope of this Special Issue will serve as a forum for papers on, but not limited to, the following concepts:

• Development of new bio-based materials and exploration of their new applications;
• Surface modification and functionalization of bio-based materials;
• Application of bio-based materials for biomedical engineering, packaging, agri-food, environmental remediation, etc.;
• Theoretical and experimental research studying physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of bio-based materials;
• Sustainability assessment of bio-based materials;
• New perspectives on the bio-based materials;
• Reviews on recent developments in bio-based materials.

You could view the first Special Issue here: "Toward Sustainability through Bio-Based Materials at the Interfaces with Living Systems".

Dr. Seungil Kim
Dr. Doyoon Kim
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. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.

• bio-based materials
• bioresorbable biomaterials
• sustainable materials
• surface modification
• nature-derived materials
• biodegradable packaging