Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Engineering of soft materials for healthcare, energy and environment

Themed collection open call for papers

As we navigate the challenges of the 21st century, the engineering of soft materials will undoubtedly continue to play a crucial role in shaping a healthier, more sustainable, and resilient world. The rapid advancement of science and technology has brought unprecedented opportunities and challenges in various sectors, particularly in healthcare, energy, and the environment. Among the myriad of innovations, the engineering of soft materials stands out as a field of immense potential and transformative impact.

In the realm of healthcare, soft materials have revolutionized drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and medical devices. Their biocompatibility, flexibility, and tunable properties enable the creation of innovative solutions that improve patient outcomes and quality of life. Energy sustainability is another critical area where soft materials play a pivotal role. From flexible solar cells and energy storage systems to smart grids and energy-efficient devices, the applications are vast and varied. This is the time to explore how the unique characteristics of soft materials contribute to the development of sustainable and renewable energy technologies, paving the way for a greener future. Environmental challenges, such as pollution and resource depletion, require innovative approaches for mitigation and management. Soft materials offer promising solutions for water purification, air filtration, and waste management. 

This collection, spanning the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Biomaterials Science, and Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, focuses on the engineering of soft materials for advanced science and technology in healthcare, energy, and the environment, aiming to create a better world for future generations. The scope of this collection also aligns with 6^th International Conference on Soft Materials to be held at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain during November 17-20, 2024.

This themed collection is guest edited by Kamlendra Awasthi (MNIT Jaipur, India), Eduard Llobet Valero (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain), Anjali Awasthi (University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India) and Fatima Ezahra (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain)

Submissions open until 31 March 2025

How to submit

Submissions to the journal should fit within the scope of either Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Biomaterials Science or Molecular Systems Design & Engineering and we encourage authors to select the journal they feel is best suited to their work– Please see the journal’s website for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines. All manuscripts will undergo the normal initial assessment and peer review processes, if appropriate, in line with the journal’s high standards, managed by the journal editors. Accepted manuscripts will be added to the online collection as soon as they are published and they will be featured in a regular issue of the relevant journal. Please note that peer review or acceptance are not guaranteed.

For this collection, we strongly encourage primary research in the way of Full Papers or Communications. If you are wanting to submit a review-type article, please check with the Editorial Office first for pre-approval and to avoid topic overlap.

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, please submit your article directly through the journal submissions platform. Please mention that your submission is a contribution to the Engineering of soft materials for healthcare, energy and environment  collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and is in response to the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and as such inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed.

If you have any questions about the collection or the submissions process, please do contact the Editorial Office at materialsb-rsc@rsc.org and they will be able to assist.

Your institute may have a Read & Publish agreement in place with the Royal Society of Chemistry. This means that you may be able to publish gold open access for free in all the hybrid journals we publish – maximising the visibility and impact of your article to the broadest possible audience. Your institution’s agreement may already include the article processing charge for publishing as a corresponding author. Check here to find out more and to see if your institution has an R&P deal in place.

Potential topics/themes for the collection include but are not limited to:

SOFT MATTER: Active Matter; Biological Matter; Dynamics of Complex Fluids; Living Matter; Liquid Crystals; Self Assembly

COLLOIDS AND INTERFACE: Gels and Hydrogel; Nano and Microfluidics; Surfactants & Lipids

POLYMERIC MATERIALS: Biodegradable Polymers; Elastomers; Membranes; Polymer Interfaces; Polymer Separation and Filtration

POLYMER PHYSICS: Amorphous and Structured Polymers; Physical Properties of Soft Materials; Rheological Aspects in Polymers; Theory and Simulation of Polymers

POLYMER FOR BIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS: Bio-Inspired Materials; Bioimaging; Biosensors and BioMEMS; Drug Design and Delivery; Tissue Engineering

SOFT MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONICS APPLICATIONS: Flexible Electronics and Storage; Organic Electronics; Patterned Nanostructures; Flexible Sensors

FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS: Block Copolymers Nanolithography; Functional Polymers; Nanocomposites and Hybrid Materials; Polymer Nanocomposites; Soft Nanofabrication

MATERIALS FOR ENERGY APPLICATION: Battery and Fuel Cells; Biofuels and Bioenergy; Hydrogen Generation and Storage; Gas Sensors; Solar Cells (Organic and Hybrid); Thermoelectric Materials; 2D, COF, MOF materials for Energy Conversion and Storage

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Open call for papers – Materials Chemistry of Fluorescence Bioimaging

Submit your work before 15 August 2024

Journal of Materials Chemistry B is pleased to announce an open call for papers to a themed collection on ‘Materials Chemistry of Fluorescence Bioimaging‘.

This collection is guest edited by Dr Sijie Chen (The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Karolinska Institutet), Prof. Tony D. James (University of Bath), Dr Apurba L. Koner (IISER Bhopal) and Prof. Ben Zhong Tang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen).

Fluorescence imaging is a predominant method employed in biological and biomedical research. This powerful technique utilises fluorescent probes that emit light upon excitation, enabling non-invasive and real-time observation of specific targets within the living system. It assists researchers in localizing specific proteins in tissue, visualizing subcellular structures, studying cell organization, monitoring the bio-microenvironment, and even conducting image-guided surgery. From fundamental biological studies to biomedical applications, fluorescence bioimaging continues to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the complex biological world and provide us with powerful tools for diagnosis or treatment.

In this context, it is pertinent to compile this themed issue focusing on recent materials developments in the field of fluorescence bioimaging. To this end, this themed collection of Journal of Materials Chemistry B aims to provide a platform for recent developments in this rapidly evolving field of fluorescence bioimaging with topics including, but not limited to, fluorescence bioimaging with novel probes, design or synthetic strategies of fluorescent probes, theoretical understanding of fluorescent probe properties and working mechanisms, and new insights into the materials chemistry of fluorescence bioimaging. We hope that readers find this themed collection informative and useful.

Submissions deadline on 15 August 2024

How to submit

Submissions to the journal should fit within the scope of Journal of Materials Chemistry B – Please see the journal’s website for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines. All manuscripts will undergo the normal initial assessment and peer review processes, if appropriate, in line with the journal’s high standards, managed by the journal editors. Accepted manuscripts will be added to the online collection as soon as they are published and they will be featured in a regular issue of the relevant journal. Please note that peer review or acceptance are not guaranteed.

For this collection, we strongly encourage primary research in the way of Full Papers or Communications. If you are wanting to submit a review-type article, please check with the Editorial Office first for pre-approval and to avoid topic overlap.

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, please submit your article directly through the journal submissions platform. Please mention that your submission is a contribution to the Materials Chemistry of Fluorescence Bioimaging collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and is in response to the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and as such inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed.

If you have any questions about the collection or the submissions process, please do contact the Editorial Office at materialsb-rsc@rsc.org and they will be able to assist.

Your institute may have a Read & Publish agreement in place with the Royal Society of Chemistry. This means that you may be able to publish gold open access for free in all the hybrid journals we publish – maximising the visibility and impact of your article to the broadest possible audience. Your institution’s agreement may already include the article processing charge for publishing as a corresponding author. Check here to find out more and to see if your institution has an R&P deal in place.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Open call for papers – Targeted biomedical applications of nanomaterials

Submissions deadline on 31 July 2024

We are delighted to announce our latest open call for submissions to a themed collection on Targeted biomedical applications of nanomaterials to be published across Nanoscale, Nanoscale Advances, Journal of Materials Chemistry B and Materials Advances.

This collection is guest edited by Professor Dhiraj Bhatia (IIT Gandhinagar, India), Professor Mukesh Dhanka (IIT Gandhinagar, India), Dr Anjali Awasthi (University of Rajasthan, India), Professor Kamlendra Awasthi (Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, India) and Professor Kaushik Chatterjee (IISc Bangalore, India).

Nano-biomaterials, i.e., nanomaterials derived or inspired from biological molecules, have gained substantial influence in the recent times in terms of their fine tunability, scale-up potential, excellent interface and adaptation with biological systems. Multiple different approaches involving physical and computational modelling, chemical structure synthesis and characterization and biological modifications have been used to develop next generation bionanodevices that can interface with biological systems in a very focussed manner. Some of the recent devices have already made their way to clinical trials and many others are in different stages of the pipeline for translational applications.

This new collection in Nanoscale, JMC B, Nanoscale Advances and Materials Advances will focus on the design of multifunctional hybrid nanomaterials for different applications and on interfacing nanomaterials with biological systems for translational studies. The scope of this collection loosely aligns with the 2023 International Conference on Nanomaterials in Biology (ICNB 2023), held at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar along with Soft Materials Research Society, from 19–22 November 2023. Potential topics for the collection include but are not limited to,

• 3D Bioprinting
• Big Data in Nanosciences
• Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials
• Biological Nanodevices and Sensors
• Engineered Nanomaterials
• Nanomaterials and Environmental Effects
• Nanomaterials for Bioenergy Applications
• Nanomaterials for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Science
• Nanomaterials in Biological Uptake and Nanotoxicology
• Nanomaterials in Gene and Drug Delivery
• Nanomaterials in Tissue Engineering and Medicine
• Polymer Supramolecular Chemistry and Applications
• Scaffold design and fabrication

Submit your work by 31 July 2024

How to submit

Submissions to the collection should fit within the scope of Nanoscale, Nanoscale Advances, Materials Advances or Journal of Materials Chemistry B – Please see the journals’ websites for more information on the journal’s scope, standards, article types and author guidelines. We encourage authors to select the journal most relevant to their research. All manuscripts will undergo the normal initial assessment and peer review processes, if appropriate, in line with the journal’s high standards, managed by the journal editors. Accepted manuscripts will be added to the online collection as soon as they are published and they will be featured in a regular issue of the relevant journal. Please note that peer review or acceptance are not guaranteed. 

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, please submit your article directly through the journal submissions platform. Please mention that your submission is a contribution to the Targeted biomedical applications of nanomaterials collection in the “Themed issues” section of the submission form and is in response to the Open Call. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of both the journal and the collection, and as such inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed.

If you have any questions about the collection or the submissions process, please do contact the Editorial Office at materialsb-rsc@rsc.org and they will be able to assist.

We look forward to receiving your latest work and considering it for this collection!