Introduction to engineering of soft materials for healthcare, energy, and environment

Kamlendra Awasthi

Dr Kamlendra Awasthi received his PhD in physics from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. Currently, he is Head and an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics at Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, India. His main area of research is soft materials. He is the recipient of reputed fellowships: Young Scientist Award (2008), DST, Government of India; Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2009) by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany; INSPIRE Faculty Award (2012) from the DST, Government of India; and Early Career Research Award (2017) from SERB-New Delhi, India, Brain Pool Fellowship, National Research Foundation of Korea (2023).

Eduard Llobet

Prof. Eduard Llobet is a full Professor at the Department of Electronic Engineering of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona (Spain). He was awarded a PhD in 1997 from the Technical University of Catalonia (Barcelona). He is an expert in gas sensors, low-dimensional metal oxides, MEMS, and flexible platforms. From 2010 to 2014, he was the Director of the Centre for Research in Materials Engineering and Micro/Nano Systems, a center that brings together researchers in physics, chemistry, materials, nanoscience and microsystems. He is the President of the Spanish Chapter of the IEEE Sensors Council. He has led over 40 regional, national and international projects. He was a founder of the spinoffs Green Smart Data and NanoChronia.

Anjali Awasthi

Dr Anjali Awasthi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. She completed her PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Her area of research is Molecular Biology and Nanobiotechnology. She is working on toxicity assessment for different nanomaterials in different in vivo and in vitro models, as well as in biosensor development and biofouling studies of nanomaterials. She is also a nominated member of CCSEA, Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India. She is the recipient of the Young Scientist Award by the DST-New Delhi.

Fatima Ezahra Annanouch

Dr Fatima Ezahra Annanouch is a Ramon y Cajal researcher at Rovira i Virgili University. She obtained her PhD (2015) from the Department of Electrical Electronic Engineering and Automation, Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona), Spain. Her research focuses on the synthesis of nanomaterials for gas sensing applications, including metal oxides, transition metal dichalcogenides and their hybrids. Throughout her research career, she has worked in centers of different countries (FR, ES, UK). She has been awarded competitive fellowships, including the Juan de la Cierva incorporation fellowship. She has also participated in multiple national and international projects, having been principal investigator in 3 of them. Moreover, she has mentored students and supervised 2 doctoral theses.

This themed collection in Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Biomaterials Science, and Molecular Systems Design & Engineering emphasises the engineering of soft materials for countless applications in advanced healthcare, energy, and the environment. The scope of this collection also aligns with the 6th International Conference on Soft Materials, held at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, from November 17 to 20, 2024. The areas of research covered in this meeting were broadly the areas coming under the umbrella of Soft Materials, extending from soft matter, colloids and interface, polymers and their wide range of applications in biological systems, including bioimaging, biosensing, drug delivery and tissue engineering, to electronic and energy applications like battery and fuel cells, gas sensors, etc. This collection brings articles and reviews from the researchers working in the areas mentioned above.

Soft materials, due to their high flexibility, can be easily deformed or structurally altered, making them a suitable target for biological applications. This collection covers some of the important topics in the areas of tissue engineering using soft materials. For example, Bhardwaj et al. reported chitosan/gelatin-based electrospun fibres loaded with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDC) and citric acid-based carbon dots (CDs) for wound healing purposes (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00800J). Maillard et al. presented a notable work on polysaccharide hydrogels for tissue repair (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5BM00117J). Song et al. exploited the cationic viologen derivatives for living cell imaging (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB00830A). Hooshiar et al., used 3D-printed multifunctional scaffolds (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB02788D) while Wang et al., reported a gelatin methacryloyl double-layer membrane incorporated with nano-hydroxyapatite for bone regeneration (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5BM00610D). In another study Ordoño et al., exploited laser induced graphene for skeletal muscle tissue engineering (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5BM00174A).

This thematic issue also focuses on environmental applications of soft materials and includes simulation studies. Lightfoot et al. studied the MIP system targeting 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), a nitroaromatic compound of environmental concern (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5ME00102A). Yoon et al. utilise MOF and natural polymer-derived carbon-aerogels for wastewater treatment (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03143E). Joshi and Debnath reported polyhydroxalkanotes production utilizing canola oil cake as a renewable carbon source and bacterial isolates for eco-friendly bioplastics, paving the way for future advancements in sustainable bioplastic development (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5BM00787A). Adhikari et al. developed SnS₂ nanosheets and polyaniline (PANI) heterojunction for the detection of ammonia at room temperature. The fabricated sensor also delineates promising results towards healthy and simulated breath (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01445J). McKay et al. presented a holistic approach to trace the intercellular fate of polymer-based soft nanoparticles for ratiometric pH sensing. Such a study will help to offer new avenues to explore fluorescence imaging using polymeric nanocarriers for drug delivery and theranostics (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01322D). O’Connor et al. have reported the use of carbonized porous silicon substrates as both scaffolds and electrodes for the electrochemical detection of bacterial biofilm growth (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01036E). Klein et al. introduced vinylogous urethane vitrimers derived from waste-wood lignosulfonate and enzymatic lignin to create homogeneous and recyclable lignin-based materials (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02533H).

Soft materials-based composite nanomaterials have an active application in the area of green energy. Yoon et al. fabricated MOF and natural polymer derived carbon aerogels as an efficient catalyst for a sulfate radical based advanced oxidation process (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03143E). Nabil et al. reported engineering of DTDO based porous polymers with tailored linkers for supercapacitor applications (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03907J). Sharma et al. discussed the oxygen vacancy engineering in MXenes for developing sustainable energy and conversion technologies (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01195G). Mondal and Tripathi presented a poly(naphthalene-co-biphenyl piperidinium)-based anion exchange membrane for energy conversion and storage (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02672E). Pati et al. have shown the energy storage behavior of asymmetric hybrid supercapacitors using Si-bridged redox active conjugate polymeric anodes (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02268A). Panigrahi et al. reported two novel photo crosslinkable diketopyrrolopyrrole based polymeric layers for achieving an impressive 18.2% under 800 lux and 7.28% under 1 sun efficiency (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01191D). Islam et al. examined the potential of PPy/Fe-WS2 nanocomposites as advanced microwave absorbers, suitable for applications in satellite communication and other technologies requiring superior electromagnetic wave attenuation (https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01332A).

We would like to thank all contributing authors, reviewers, and the Royal Society of Chemistry editorial team for their valuable efforts in shaping this themed issue. We sincerely hope that it will be well received by the scientific community and will serve as a catalyst for further research advancements in the field of soft materials in the coming years.

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