Photoactive Polymer Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 4163

Special Issue Editors

Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Interests: synthesis;polymers; rheology; polymerization; organic synthesis; synthetic organic chemistry; nanochemistry; nanomaterials; materials; polymer science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, S/N, 38206 La Laguna, Spain
Interests: nanoparticle synthesis; polymers; nanostructured materials; thin films and nanotechnology; biomaterials; material characterization; nanomaterials; synthesis; materials; nanomaterials synthesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stimuli-responsive polymers play an important role in both fundamental research and many modern technologies, ranging from energy and catalysis to medical applications due to their unique physicochemical properties. Light-responsive polymers (commonly refereed as photoactive polymers) are especially desired because the parameters associated with irradiated light and various photo-triggered chemistries fine-tune their functionality. Changes in both structural and chemical properties can be induced internally by chromophores already possessed by the polymer subunit, or externally by the addition of photosensitive molecules. Despite the numerous contributions to the field during the last few decades, some important challenges still remain regarding their stability, biocompatibility, biodegradability and cost efficiency.

This Special Issue aims to cover the most recent developments on photoactive polymeric materials, with a focus on their synthesis, characterization and applications in various fields. Submissions of full-length articles, communications and reviews are invited.

Prof. Dr. David Díaz Díaz
Dr. Sebastián Bonardd
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

  • stimuli-responsive polymers
  • medical polymer materials
  • photoactive polymers
  • physicochemical properties
  • photo-triggered chemistry
  • structural and chemical properties
  • chromophores
  • photosensitive molecules
  • biocompatibility
  • biodegradability

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2609 KiB  
Article
A Facile Synthetic Approach to UV-Degradable Hydrogels
by Wan Li, Zhonghui Wang, Le Jiang, Menghua Feng, Xinnian Fan, Haojun Fan and Jun Xiang
Polymers 2023, 15(18), 3762; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15183762 - 14 Sep 2023
Viewed by 790
Abstract
Light-degradable hydrogels have a wide range of application prospects in the field of biomedicine. However, the provision of a facile synthetic approach to light-degradable hydrogels under mild conditions remains a challenge for researchers. To surmount this challenge, a facile synthetic approach to UV-degradable [...] Read more.
Light-degradable hydrogels have a wide range of application prospects in the field of biomedicine. However, the provision of a facile synthetic approach to light-degradable hydrogels under mild conditions remains a challenge for researchers. To surmount this challenge, a facile synthetic approach to UV-degradable hydrogels is demonstrated in this manuscript. Initially, an UV-degradable crosslinker (UVDC) having o-nitrobenzyl ester groups was synthesized in a single step through the employment of the Passerini three-component reaction (P-3CR). Both 1H NMR and MS spectra indicated the successful synthesis of high-purity UVDC, and it was experimentally demonstrated that the synthesized UVDC was capable of degradation under 368 nm light. Furthermore, this UVDC was mixed with 8-arm PEG-thiol (sPEG20k-(SH)8) to promptly yield an UV-degradable hydrogel through a click reaction. The SEM image of the fabricated hydrogel exhibits the favorable crosslinking network of the hydrogel, proving the successful synthesis of the hydrogel. After continuous 368 nm irradiation, the hydrogel showed an obvious gel-sol transition, which demonstrates that the hydrogel possesses a desirable UV-degradable property. In summary, by utilizing solely a two-step reaction devoid of catalysts and hazardous raw materials, UV-degradable hydrogels can be obtained under ambient conditions, which greatly reduces the difficulty of synthesizing light-degradable hydrogels. This work extends the synthetic toolbox for light-degradable hydrogels, enabling their accelerated development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoactive Polymer Materials)
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12 pages, 2987 KiB  
Article
Effects of the Solvent Vapor Exposure on the Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Behavior of Cellulose Acetate/Perylene Free-Standing Films
by Gustavo Coderch, Alexander Cordoba, Oscar Ramírez, Sebastian Bonardd, Angel Leiva, Marleen Häring, David Díaz Díaz and Cesar Saldias
Polymers 2023, 15(13), 2787; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15132787 - 23 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1198
Abstract
The search to deliver added value to industrialized biobased materials, such as cellulose derivatives, is a relevant aspect in the scientific, technological and innovation fields at present. To address these aspects, films of cellulose acetate (CA) and a perylene derivative (Pr) were fabricated [...] Read more.
The search to deliver added value to industrialized biobased materials, such as cellulose derivatives, is a relevant aspect in the scientific, technological and innovation fields at present. To address these aspects, films of cellulose acetate (CA) and a perylene derivative (Pr) were fabricated using a solution-casting method with two different compositions. Consequently, these samples were exposed to dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent vapors so that its influence on the optical, wettability, and topographical properties of the films could be examined. The results demonstrated that solvent vapor could induce the apparent total or partial preferential orientation/migration of Pr toward the polymer–air interface. In addition, photocatalytic activities of the non-exposed and DMF vapor-exposed films against the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous medium using light-emitting diode visible light irradiation were comparatively investigated. Apparently, the observed improvement in the performance of these materials in the MB photodegradation process is closely linked to the treatment with solvent vapor. Results from this study have allowed us to propose the fabrication and use of the improved photoactivity “all-organic” materials for potential applications in dye photodegradation in aqueous media. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoactive Polymer Materials)
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13 pages, 3935 KiB  
Article
Poly(glycidyl azide) as Photo-Crosslinker for Polymers
by Xinyan Zhou, Wei Wei, Xiaojian Hou, Gang Tang, Yunjun Luo and Xiaoyu Li
Polymers 2022, 14(24), 5451; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14245451 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1693
Abstract
Crosslinking polymers to form networks is a universal and routinely applied strategy to improve their stability and endow them with solvent resistance, adhesion properties, etc. However, the chemical crosslinking of common commercial polymers, especially for those without functional groups, cannot be achieved readily. [...] Read more.
Crosslinking polymers to form networks is a universal and routinely applied strategy to improve their stability and endow them with solvent resistance, adhesion properties, etc. However, the chemical crosslinking of common commercial polymers, especially for those without functional groups, cannot be achieved readily. In this study, we utilized low-molecular weight poly(glycidyl azide) (GAP) as polymeric crosslinkers to crosslink various commercial polymers via simple ultraviolet light irradiation. The azide groups were shown to decompose upon photo-irradiation and be converted to highly reactive nitrene species, which are able to insert into carbon-hydrogen bonds and thus crosslink the polymeric matrices. This strategy was demonstrated successfully in several commercial polymers. In particular, it was found that the crosslinking is highly localized, which could endow the polymeric matrices with a decent degree of crosslinking without significantly influencing other properties, suggesting a novel and robust method to crosslink polymeric materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoactive Polymer Materials)
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