Polymer Chemistry Blog

Call for papers: Polymers for Gene Delivery

Guest Edited by Professors Sébastien Perrier, Todd Emrick, Marxa Figueiredo, Youqing Shen and Zhuxian Zhou

The Royal Society of Chemistry journal Polymer Chemistry has announced an open call to submit your research to a themed collection on Polymers for Gene Delivery.

This themed collection is Guest Edited by:

• Professor Sébastien Perrier, University of Warwick
• Professor Todd Emrick, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Professor Marxa Figueiredo, Purdue University
• Professor Youqing Shen, Zhejiang University
• Professor Zhuxian Zhou, Zhejiang University

Open for submissions until 31st January 2024

Polymers are increasingly being studied as gene delivery vectors, with research ranging from fundamental studies to therapeutic applications.  This themed collection will showcase the latest research in the field, with a focus on how the polymer’s design impacts functional properties and end use.  Submitted papers will have a focus on how innovative polymer chemistry supports exciting properties, biological activity and/or therapeutic applications. Our aim for this collection is to celebrate the progress and strong contribution of polymer science in this area, and to inspire new research.

Submissions to the journal should fit within the scope of Polymer Chemistry and will undergo the normal initial assessment and peer review processes in line with the journal’s high standards, managed by the journal editors. Please see the journal’s website for more information on the journal scope, standards, article types and author guidelines.

Submit your work to Polymer Chemistry now!

If you would like to contribute to this themed collection, you can submit your article directly through the journal’s online submission service. Please add a “note to the editor” in the submission form when uploading your files to say that this is a contribution to the Polymers for Gene Delivery themed collection. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of the collection, and inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed.

If you would like more information about the Polymers for Gene Delivery themed collection, please email Polymers-rsc@rsc.org.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and showcasing this important research in our collections.

We are very pleased to announce the Polymer Chemistry themed collection on Chalcogen Containing Polymers!

Chalcogen-based polymers have seen a resurgence in interest over the last several years. Due to the versatile and intriguing chemistry of sulfur, selenium and tellurium, polymers containing these elements have found diverse applications in polymer and material science. This collection includes studies on the synthesis and applications of these polymers, as well as fundamental theoretical and mechanistic studies. The Guest Editors for this collection are:

• Professor Justin M. Chalker (Flinders University, Australia)
• Professor Rongrong Hu (South China University of Technology, China)
• Professor Jeffery Pyun (University of Arizona, U.S.A.)

In their Editorial, Guest Editors Justin M. Chalker, Rongrong Hu and Jeffrey Pyun focus on the synthesis, structures, and functions of a large variety of sulfur- and selenium-containing polymers, including sulfur-rich polymers prepared from inverse vulcanization or related approaches, polysulfites, polysulfones, poly(disulfide)s, polythioethers, polydithiocarbonates, polymonothiocarbonates, polythioamides, poly(thiazolidin-2-imine)s, and conjugated polythiophenes, which have been synthesized from readily available chalcogen-containing monomers, such as elemental sulfur, SO2, thiols, carbonyl sulfide, S/Se-containing vinyl monomers, cyclic thiocarbonates, diisocyanates and more.

The full collection can be found here and we have also highlighted a selection of articles below. We hope you enjoy these and the rest of the articles included in the collection.

Organosulfur polymer-based cathode materials for rechargeable batteries

Siyuan Ren, Pengfei Sang, Wei Guo and Yongzhu Fu

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 5676-5690

Fabrication of multi-responsive photonic crystals based on selenium-containing copolymers

Bin Xu, Xiaoliang Ma, Anqi Dai, Xiaofeng Pan, Xiangqiang Pan, Na Li and Jian Zhu

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 4290-4297

Molecular level understanding of the chalcogen atom effect on chalcogen-based polymers through electrostatic potential, non-covalent interactions, excited state behaviour, and radial distribution function

Asif Mahmood, Ahmad Irfan and Jin-Liang Wang

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 5993-6001

Economical synthesis of functional aromatic polythioamides from KOH-assisted multicomponent polymerizations of sulfur, aromatic diamines and dialdehydes

Yang Hu, Lihui Zhang, Zhuang Wang, Rongrong Hu and Ben Zhong Tang

Polym. Chem., 2023, 14, 2617-2623

A comparison of adhesive polysulfides initiated by garlic essential oil and elemental sulfur to create recyclable adhesives

Anthony E. Davis, Kyler B. Sayer and Courtney L. Jenkins

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 4634-4640

Enhancement of thermomechanical properties of sulfur-rich polymers by post-thermal treatment

Nara Han, Woongbi Cho, Jae Hyuk Hwang, Sukyoung Won, Dong-Gyun Kim and Jeong Jae Wie

Polym. Chem., 2023, 14, 943-951

Straightforward synthesis of aliphatic polydithiocarbonates from commercially available starting materials

Timo Sehn, Birgit Huber, Julian Fanelli and Hatice Mutlu 

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 5965-5973

Thiolactone chemistry, a versatile platform for macromolecular engineering

Nicolas Illy and Emma Mongkhoun 

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 4592-4614

Mechanical properties and structures under the deformation of thiophene copolymers with cyclic siloxane units

Takuya Matsumoto, Masaki Kashimoto, Chihiro Kubota, Shohei Horike, Kenji Ishida, Atsunori Mori and Takashi Nishino

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 5536-5544

Facile construction of functional poly(monothiocarbonate) copolymers under mild operating conditions

Thomas Habets, Fabiana Siragusa, Alejandro J. Müller, Quentin Grossman, Davide Ruffoni, Bruno Grignard and Christophe Detrembleur

Polym. Chem., 2022, 13, 3076-3090

All the articles in the collection are currently FREE to read until 17^th November 2023!

The Royal Society of Chemistry has announced an open call to submit your plastics research to our themed collections on ‘Plastic Conversion’ and ‘Polymer Upcycling’.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is committed to sustainable plastics research and has published a policy statement regarding plastic waste. With increasing impact of plastic waste on the environment, it is necessary to research ways in which we can have a sustainable future for plastics.

Plastics research is interdisciplinary and involves a wide range of chemical scientists. As such, we invite you to contribute to our cross-journal themed collections by submitting your work to Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B, C, Polymer Chemistry or Catalysis Science & Technology.

Plastic Conversion

Joint themed collection between Polymer Chemistry and Catalysis Science & Technology

Catalysts have been the main driver for the design of ever new polymers with highly diverse and specialized properties. In this themed issue, we aim to highlight research that makes use of catalysis to optimize the reverse. How can we get the most value out of plastic waste? In this quest, we especially welcome manuscripts that address the challenges unique to plastics. These include but are not limited to additive impurities; mixed polymer streams; how to contact the very viscous, high molecular weight polymer with the (micro-)porous catalyst or a cleavage agent and more broadly catalytic conversion of sustainable polymeric materials for a circular plastic economy. Unconventional approaches via photo-, electro- or mechano-catalytic approaches and combinations thereof are also very welcome. We highly encourage to place the work in the context of performance metrics of green chemistry.

Submissions should fit the scope of either Polymer Chemistry or Catalysis Science & Technology. We would suggest that articles focused on synthetic and polymer chemistry aspects would be best suited to Polymer Chemistry, whereas articles focused on catalytic and/or related methodological advances would be appropriate for Catalysis Science & Technology. The collaborative joint special issue recognizes that management of plastic wastes relies on research conducted at the intersection of polymer chemistry and catalysis. You may submit to whichever journal you feel is most relevant to your current research. Please note that your article may be offered a transfer to the alternate journal if deemed more appropriate by the handling editor.

For more information, visit our open calls page

Guest Edited by:

Professor Ina Vollmer (Utrecht University, Netherlands), Professor George Huber (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), Professor Haritz Sardon (POLYMAT, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain) and Professor Zhibo Li (Qingdao University of Science and Technology, China)

Submit your work to Polymer Chemistry or Catalysis Science & Technology now!

Polymer Upcycling

Joint themed collection between Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C

In 2015 alone, the global waste generated by plastic packaging applications was 82.7 metric tons (Mt). Currently, waste management practices for the end-of-life plastics exploit landfilling, industrial energy recovery from municipal solid waste incineration, pyrolysis and recycling. Due to the ubiquity and necessity of plastics in our daily life, the elimination or reduction of plastics is not foreseeable in the near future and fundamentally new science is needed to describe and understand the polymers, interfaces, decomposition and upcycling of plastics. This Themed Collection aims to explore the latest developments in materials characterization, polymer design and synthesis, physical chemistry and molecular understanding of plastic decomposition and transformation that contribute to a broad knowledge base for upcycling waste plastics.

Submissions should fit within the scope of  Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Materials Chemistry B or Journal of Materials Chemistry C. We welcome high quality studies across all fields of materials chemistry in the form of full Papers, Communications and Review-type articles (Reviews, Highlights or Perspectives) and we invite authors to select the journal that best suits their submission.

For more information, visit our open calls page

Guest Edited by:

Blair Brettmann (Georgia Institute of Technology), Marco Fraga (Instituto Nacional De Technologia Brasil), Monika Gosecka (Polish Academy of Sciences) and Natalie Stingelin (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Submit your work to Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Materials Chemistry B or Journal of Materials Chemistry C now!

If you would like to contribute to either of these themed collections, you can submit your article directly through the journal’s online submission service. Please add a “note to the editor” in the submission form when uploading your files to say that this is a contribution to the respective themed collection. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of the collection, and inclusion of accepted articles in the final themed collection is not guaranteed.

If you would like more information about the ‘Polymer Upcycling’ themed collection, please email Materials-rsc@rsc.org. For more information about the ‘Plastic Conversion’ themed collection, please email Polymers-rsc@rsc.org.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and showcasing this important research in our collections.

We are very pleased to announce the Polymer Chemistry special collection on Molecularly Defined Polymers: Synthesis and Function

This special issue presents the latest developments in the synthesis and applications of polymers with controlled, defined and/or precise molecular-scale structures. The Guest Editors for this collection are:

• Professor Jeremiah Johnson (MIT, USA)
• Professor Filip Du Prez (Ghent University, Belgium)
• Professor Elizabeth Elacqua (Pennsylvania State University, USA)

In their Editorial, Guest Editors Jeremiah Johnson, Filip Du Prez and Elizabeth Elacqua selected a number of manuscripts to exemplify and highlight goals and strategies for attaining sequence-defined macromolecules, synthesis of precise macromolecules, macromolecular precision and its roles in dictating the properties of bulk materials.

The full collection can be found here and we have also highlighted a selection of articles below. We hope you enjoy these, and the rest of the articles included in the collection:

Green light LED activated ligation of a scalable, versatile chalcone chromophore

Ishrath Mohamed Irshadeen, Kevin De Bruycker, Aaron S. Micallef, Sarah L. Walden, Hendrik Frisch and Christopher Barner-Kowollik

Polymer Chemistry, 2021,12, 4903-4909

Recent progress in the construction of polymers with advanced chain structures via hybrid, switchable, and cascade chain-growth polymerizations

Guang Chen, Lei Xia, Fei Wang, Ze Zhang and Ye-Zi You

Polymer Chemistry, 2021,12, 3740-3752

Synthesis and sequencing of informational poly(amino phosphodiester)s

Ian Roszak, Laurence Oswald, Abdelaziz Al Ouahabi, Annabelle Bertin, Eline Laurent, Olivier Felix, Isaure Carvin-Sergent, Laurence Charles and Jean-François Lutz

Polymer Chemistry, 2021,12, 5279-5282

Amino acid acrylamide mimics: creation of a consistent monomer library and characterization of their polymerization behaviour

Dries Wyers, Toon Goris, Yana De Smet and Tanja Junkers

Polymer Chemistry, 2021,12, 5037-5047

Stereocontrolled, multi-functional sequence-defined oligomers through automated synthesis

Chiel Mertens, Matthieu Soete, Marcin L. Ślęczkowski, Anja R. A. Palmans, E. W. Meijer, Nezha Badi and Filip E. Du Prez

Polymer Chemistry, 2020,11, 4271-4280

Mechanistic insights into the pressure-induced polymerization of aryl/perfluoroaryl co-crystals

Margaret C. Gerthoffer,  Bohan Xu,  Sikai Wu,  Jordan Cox,  Steven Huss,  Shalisa M. Oburn,  Steven A. Lopez,  Vincent H. Crespi,  John V. Badding and  Elizabeth Elacqua

Polymer Chemistry, 2022,13, 1359-1368

All the articles in the collection are currently FREE to read until 14 June!

We are very pleased to announce the Polymer Chemistry special collection on Sustainable Polymers

This special issue presents the most important developments in these fields in novel synthetic methodology and making use of modern methods such as continuous flow chemistry or energy-efficient photochemical reactions for sustainable polymer synthesis. The Guest Editors for this collection are:

• Professor Antoine Buchard (University of Bath, Belgium)
• Professor Tanja Junkers (Monash University, Australia)

In their Editorial, Guest Editors Antoine Buchard and Tanja Junkers discuss the importance of sustainability in polymers including in areas such as renewable polymers, green synthetic methods, improving polymer properties, degradability, chemical recycling, toxicology impact and design.

The full collection can be found here and we have also highlighted a selection of articles below. We hope you enjoy these, and the rest of the articles included in the collection.

A guide towards safe, functional and renewable BPA alternatives by rational molecular design: structure–property and structure–toxicity relationships
L. Trullemans, S.-F. Koelewijn, I. Scodeller, T. Hendrickx, P. Van Puyvelde and B. F. Sels
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 5870-5901

Recent developments towards performance-enchancing lignin-based polymers
Garrett F. Bass and Thomas H. Epps, III
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 4130-4158

Sustainable synthesis of CO2-derived polycarbonates from ᴅ-xylose
David K. Tran, Ahmed Z. Rashad, Donald J. Darensbourg and Karen L. Wooley
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 5271-5278

Access to high-molecular-weight poly(γ-butyrolactone) by using simple commercial catalysts
Yihuan Liu, Xin Yuan, Jiaqi Wu, Xin Hu, Ning Zhu and Kai Guo
Polymer Chemistry, 2022, 13, 439-445

Novel imino- and aryl-sulfonate based photoacid generators for the cationic ring-opening polymerizarion of ε-caprolactone
Xabier Lopez de Pariza, Erick Cordero Jara, Nicolas Zivic, Fernando Ruipérez, Timothy E. Long and Haritz Sardon
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 4035-4042

Renewable and recyclable covalent adaptable networks based on bio-derived lipoic acid
Maher A. Alraddadi, Viviane Chiaradia, Connor J. Stubbs, Joshua C. Worch and Andrew P. Dove
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 5796-5802

All the articles in the collection are currently FREE to read until 2 May 2022!

We are very pleased to announce the Polymer Chemistry special collection on Synthetic methodologies for complex macromolecular structures, in honour of Professor Yusuf Yağci’s 70^th birthday

Professor Yusuf Yağci has worked on various aspects of polymer synthesis during his long research career and has developed several new synthetic methodologies to create functional macromolecules. He has benefited from ionic polymerizations, photo-initiated polymerizations, as well as controlled or living radical polymerization techniques. This collection is not just limited to these topics but also aims to reflect the inspiring, creative and entertaining character of Yusuf. The Guest Editors for this collection are:

• Dr Hatice Mutlu (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
• Professor Filip Du Prez (Ghent University, Belgium)
• Professor Remzi Becer (University of Warwick, UK)

In their Editorial, Guest Editors Hatice, Filip and Remzi, discuss the impact that Professor Yağci has had on the advancement of many fields, his commitment to the polymer chemistry community and his entertaining character.

The full collection can be found here and we have also highlighted a selection of articles below. We hope you enjoy these, and the rest of the articles included in the collection.

Synthesis of core-crosslinked star polymers via organocatalyzed living radical polymerization
Yichao Zheng, Jit Sarkar, Hiroshi Niino, Shunsuke Chatani, Shu Yao Hsu and Atsushi Goto
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 4043-4051

Trehalose coated nanocellulose to inhibit the infections by S. aureus
Yimeng Li, Małgorzata Milewska, Yee Yee Khine, Nicholas Ariotti and Martina Stenzel
Polymer Chemistry, 2022, 10.1039/D1PY01422F

Bromoform-assisted aqueous free radical polymerisation: a simple, inexpensive route for the preparation of block copolymers
Helena Hutchins-Crawford, Padarat Ninjiaranai, Matthew Derry, Robert Molloy, Brian Tighe and Paul Topham
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 4317-4325

Redox-sensitive ferrocene functionalised double cross-linked supramolecular hydrogels
Nikolai Liubimtsev, Tom Kösterke, Yunjiao Che, Dietmar Appelhans, Jens Gaitzsch and Brigitte Voit
Polymer Chemistry, 2022, 13, 427-438

Effect of halogen and solvent on iron-catalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization
Sajjad Dadashi-Silab, Khidong Kim, Francesca Lorandi, Dirk Schild, Marco Fantin and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski
Polymer Chemistry, 2022, 13, 1059-1066

Upconversion nanoparticle-assisted cationic and radical/cationic hybrid photopolymerization using sulfonium salts
Xiaoyan Meng, Longji Li, Yaoxin Huang, Xin Deng, Xiaoxuan Liu and Zhiquan Li
Polymer Chemistry, 2021, 12, 7005-7009

All the articles in the collection are currently FREE to read until 17 April 2022!

Guest Editors Justin Chalker (Flinders University, Australia), Rongrong Hu (South China University of Technology, China) and Jeffrey Pyun (University of Arizona, USA) would like to extend an invitation to all researchers working on chalcogen-containing polymers, to contribute an article of their work to an exciting upcoming themed collection of Polymer Chemistry, dedicated to Chalcogen-rich polymers.

Submissions are open from now until 25 May 2022

Chalcogen-based polymers have seen a resurgence in interest over the last several years. Due to the versatile and intriguing chemistry of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium, polymers containing these elements have found diverse applications in polymer and material science. This themed collection will include synthesis and applications of chalcogen-rich polymers, as well as fundamental theoretical and mechanistic studies. Our aim is to celebrate progress in this area of polymer science and inspire new research.

If you wish to submit to the collection, please contact polymers-rsc@rsc.org to receive a personal submission link.

Please note all manuscripts must be within scope for the journal and will be subject to the journal’s standard rigorous peer review procedures, managed by the journal editors.

Accepted manuscripts will be added to the online collection as soon as they are online and they will be published in a regular issue of Polymer Chemistry.

If you have any questions, please contact us at polymers-rsc@rsc.org

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for our latest themed collection on “Tailoring dispersity and shape of molecular weight distributions” Guest Edited by Athina Anastasaki (ETH Zurich) and Brett Fors (Cornell University).

This special issue will cover new synthetic or engineering methods to tailor polymer dispersity or the shape of molecular weight distributions. This includes discrete or nearly monodispersed materials and the properties thereof. Submissions where the effect of varying either the dispersity or the shape of molecular weight distributions are also encouraged and can be illustrated in any type of property of applications.

You can access the online collection here to look at the first few contributions to this collection.

Manuscripts should be submitted via the Royal Society of Chemistry’s online submission service available at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/py. Please add a “note to the editor” in the submission form when you submit your manuscript to say that this is a submission for the themed collection. The Editorial Office reserves the right to check suitability of submissions in relation to the scope of the collection.

All manuscripts will be subject to the journal’s usual peer review process. Accepted manuscripts will be added to the online collection as soon as they are online and they will be published in a regular issue of Polymer Chemistry.

If you have any questions about the journal or the collection, then please do contact the Editorial Office at polymers-rsc@rsc.org.

Issue 1 of volume 8 of Polymer Chemistry is a themed issue on stimulus-responsive polymers, guest edited by Peter J. Roth (University of Surrey, UK) and Andrew B. Lowe (Curtin University, Australia). 

Stimulus-responsive, or “smart”, (co)polymers are fundamental to broad, and ever-growing, fields of research that encompass phase behaviour of unimer solutions, smart nanoparticles, and intelligent bulk materials with shape memory or self-healing abilities. In recent years, (co)polymers have been developed that respond to a fascinating range of chemical, physical, and mechanical stimulation and have been crafted into materials serving a multitude of applications. This special issue of Polymer Chemistry dedicated to stimulus-responsive polymers features articles on the cutting-edge development of novel “smart” materials, as well as up-to-date and in-depth reviews covering a range of specialist areas.

Check out the Editorial by the Guest Editors here.

A few articles from the themed issue are highlighted below

Is biopolymer hair a multi-responsive smart material?
Xueliang Xiao, Jinlian Hu, Xiaoting Gui, Jing Lu and Hongsheng Luo 

Field responsive materials: photo-, electro-, magnetic- and ultrasound-sensitive polymers
Theodore Manouras and Maria Vamvakaki

Self-healing of glucose-modified polyurethane networks facilitated by damage-induced primary amines
Ying Yang and Marek W. Urban

The Polymer Chemistry themed issue on Sustainable Polymers: replacing polymers derived from fossil fuels is online now. Guest Editor Stephen Miller (University of Florida) introduces the issue in his Editorial.

Here is a small selection of articles from the issue, which brings together the most recent reasearch achievements in the development of sustainable alternatives to replace classic polymers derived from fossil fuel feedstocks.

On the cover

MacroRAFT agents from renewable resources and their use as polymeric scaffolds in a grafting from approach Sanne De Smet, Sophie Lingier and Filip E. Du Prez

Review articles

The quest for sustainable polyesters – insights into the future Carla Vilela, Andreia F. Sousa, Ana C. Fonseca, Arménio C. Serra, Jorge F. J. Coelho, Carmen S. R. Freire and Armando J. D. Silvestre

Functionalization of cardanol: towards biobased polymers and additives Coline Voirin, Sylvain Caillol, Nilakshi V. Sadavarte, Bhausaheb V. Tawade, Bernard Boutevin and Prakash P. Wadgaonkar

Papers

Thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers from bio-based poly(δ-decalactone) diols Donglin Tang, Christopher W. Macosko and Marc A. Hillmyer

Sustainable cycloolefin polymer from pine tree oil for optoelectronics material: living cationic polymerization of β-pinene and catalytic hydrogenation of high-molecular-weight hydrogenated poly(β-pinene) Kotaro Satoh, Atsuhiro Nakahara, Kazunori Mukunoki, Hiroko Sugiyama, Hiromu Saito and Masami Kamigaito

Bringing D-limonene to the scene of bio-based thermoset coatings via free-radical thiol–ene chemistry: macromonomer synthesis, UV-curing and thermo-mechanical characterization Mauro Claudino, Jeanne-Marie Mathevet, Mats Jonsson and Mats Johansson

Polyoxalates from biorenewable diols via Oxalate Metathesis Polymerization John J. Garcia and Stephen A. Miller

More articles can be downloaded here.

This issue is part of a joint collection on Sustainable Polymers, published in collaboration with Green Chemistry. Green Chemistry published their themed issue on Sustainable Polymers: reduced environmental impact, renewable raw materials and catalysis earlier this month. It was Guest Edited by Michael Meier (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany).

Take a look at the Green Chemistry themed issue here.