Themed collection Pioneering Investigators

This themed issue of Polymer Chemistry highlights the work of pioneering investigators in the polymer chemistry field. Associate Editors Emily Pentzer and Holger Frey introduce the issue.

Control of cell functions by layer-by-layer assembly has a great challenge in tissue engineering and biomedical applications. We summarize current hot approaches in this review.

In the past two decades researchers have shown great interest in mimicking biological structures and their complex structure–property relationships. Herein we highlight examples of hydrogels and bioelectronic materials that illustrate the rational design of material properties and function.

This article discusses protein-binding polymer brushes and the various strategies that can be used to immobilize proteins on these films.

Recent advances in colloidal nanocomposite design by heterogeneous polymerization are reviewed, with a specific focus on encapsulation and particle-based stabilization for specific materials applications.

The design and development of a multi-stimuli trigger enables temporal control over trigger cleavage and subsequent depolymerization of self-immolative polymer.

Vitrimer particles with excellent osmotic and hydrolytic stability were synthesized by miniemulsion polymerization thanks to in situ generation of surfactants.

We report the one-pot aqueous phase synthesis of cisplatin drug loaded micellar nanoparticles using Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization-Induced Self-Assembly (ROMPISA).

Herein we report the self-amplified depolymerization of an aryl oligo(thiourethane) (OTU) for the release of COS/H₂S.

Antifreeze proteins are site-specifically conjugated onto polymer-stabilised gold nanoparticles, resulting in hybrid materials capable of modulating ice growth processes.

We demonstrate the first integration of metal-free ROMP and organocatalyzed ROP to provide entirely metal-free syntheses of block copolymers.

A fluorescent pillarene-based coordination polymer was constructed from dicarboxylic acid-functionalized copillar[5]arene and Cr³⁺, for sensing of Fe³⁺, acetone, and nitrophenols.

An efficient copper-based ionic liquid-catalyzed azide–alkyne click polymerization was developed, and functional polytriazoles were produced which could be used as sensors.

Visible light was used as a tool to control hydrogel mechanical properties via defect formation, and subsequently dangling end defects generated with this approach were reacted for temporal stiffening.

Well-defined high-molecular weight star polymers based on low-T_g water-soluble polymers enable bottom-up design of model network elastomers and functional hydrogels.

Biobased epoxy resins, derived from lignin, phenolic acids, and vegetable oils, exhibited rapid degradation through hydrolysis in basic solution.

We describe the development of a technique to transfer micrometer patterns of organic thin films with sub-50 nm edge resolution and sub-20 nm pattern fidelity.

Highly conjugated, hydrophobically modified gelatin hydrogels were synthesized, polymerized and degraded with orthogonal wavelengths of light.

Polymer membranes with narrow pore size distribution demonstrate great performance in high-resolution and high-efficiency separation.

In this work, coil–rod–coil organogold(I) complexes have been successfully assembled into supramolecular polymers with green phosphorescent emission signal.

We report the synthesis and self-assembly of a library of squaramide-based bolaamphiphiles with variable hydrophobic and hydrophilic domain sizes to understand their effect on the formation of supramolecular polymer nanoparticles.

Miniemulsion copolymerization of vinyl acetate, N-vinylcaprolactam, vinyl benzyl Rose Bengal and divinyl adipate to synthesize switchable photosensitizer-grafted polymer colloids for interfacial photooxygenation reactions.

We present the preparation of luminophore–peptide conjugates that self-assemble into phosphorescent supramolecular polymers in neutral buffer.

Effect of annealing conditions on the hierarchical ordering of PCDA monomers within the block copolymer supramolecules and their subsequent topochemical polymerization.

Spatially controlling self-assembly of block copolymer thin films through photoinduced molecular interactions that significantly impact on the glass transition temperature.

The assembly of oppositely charged block copolymers, containing small thermoresponsive moieties, was investigated as a function of salt concentration and temperature.

This work reports the synthesis and characterization of HDPE vitrimers obtained via reactive extrusion in the presence of bis-nitroxide dioxaborolanes.

A recently revisited biobased styrenic monomer, acetyl-protected 4-vinylguaiacol (AC4VG), was used for the synthesis of partially biobased, functional core–shell polymers.

A ring-fused γ-butyrolactone can be selectively ring-open polymerized at room temperature by N-heterocyclic carbenes to cyclic polyester or by bifunctional (thio)urea and base pairs in a living fashion to high molecular weight linear polyester that can be organocatalytically and quantitatively recycled at 120 °C.

An efficient K₃PO₄-mediated thiol–yne click polymerization was established, and regio- and stereoregular poly(vinylene sulfide)s with Z-isomers were produced.

Well-defined miktoarm (polystyrene)₄-(polylactic acid)₄ ((PS)₄-(PLA)₄) block copolymers were synthesized and their phase behaviors were compared with linear PS-b-PLA block copolymers, in which the miktoarm architecture enhanced the phase segregation.

Platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents are considered first-line treatments for various cancers but their application is limited by the lack of site specificity and severe side effects.

Controlling the amount and the distribution of vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol units within a copolymer is attractive to modulate the properties of the parent major industrial homopolymers, i.e. poly(vinyl amine) and poly(vinyl alcohol).

Eliminating small molecules from dioxolane rings affords isotactic poly(mandelic acid), with competing chain transfer overcome through dynamic vacuum polymerisation.

The photoinitiated radical polymerization pathway of MILRad polymerization towards its ability to polymerize a variety of vinyl polar functional monomers is investigated.

Regioregular–regiorandom poly(3-hexylthiophene) copolymers, synthesized by chain-transfer polycondensation, show strong crystallinity due to their one-sided distribution of regiodefects.

An evolutionary route to polymer vesicles with diverse higher-order membrane structures has been discovered.

We herein introduce a versatile platform of graft copolymers featuring a polyampholytic backbone and side chains of varying length and polarity using post-polymerization modification of polydehydroalanine (PDha).