
Nowadays, polymer self-assembly has become extremely attractive for both biological (drug delivery, tissue engineering, scaffolds) and non-biological (packaging, semiconductors) applications. In nature, a number of key biological processes are driven by polymer self-assembly, for instance protein folding. Impressive morphologies can be assembled from polymers thanks to a diverse range of interactions involved, e.g., electrostatics, hydrophobic, hots-guest interactions, etc. Both 2D and 3D tailor-made assemblies can be designed through modern powerful techniques and approaches such as the layer-by-layer and the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, hard and soft templating. This Special Issue highlights contributions (research papers, short communications, review articles) that focus on recent developments in polymer self-assembly for both fundamental understanding the assembly phenomenon and real applications.
Subjects
evaporative self-assembly encapsulation microstructure solvent vapor annealing drug delivery polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane protein adsorption resistance photo-sensitive calcium carbonate fluorescence mucin polymerisation marine exopolysaccharide transglutaminases porous hydrogel adsorption aprotinin nanoparticle calcium alginate protamine nanocrystalline self-assembly morphological transformation cell culture block polymers stimuli-responsive polymer crosslinking mesoporous Ti6Al4V polymer flexible geometric confinement layer-by-layer surface modification co-synthesis nanolithography CaCO3 synthetic polypeptide air-liquid interface food industry stimuli-responsive polymers field-effect transistor Marangoni convection polymer scaffold collagen biomedicine thin films controlled release tension gradient monolayer