Radiation Effects in Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

It is indeed my pleasure to announce the plan for publication a Special Issue on “Radiation Effects in Polymers”. The ionizing radiation effects and radiation-induced synthesis of polymers are very dynamic disciplines. Thus, this Special Issue will present up-to-date and pioneering works on the interactions of various high-energy charged particles, such as electrons, positrons, alpha particles, proton, heavy ions, neutron, and high-energy photons (gamma and x-rays) with synthetic and biopolymers. In addition, this issue will also cover new and innovative works on radiation-induced synthesis of various types of polymers and composites for advanced technology for various nano structures applications. This issue will feature papers on the development of new mechanisms, theories, and approaches to elucidate the complex radiation chemistry mechanisms of radiation-induced polymerization and the radiation chemistry mechanism on crosslinking and scission of polymers. In addition, these papers will also focus on the fast kinetic formation of the anions, cations, and free radicals from irradiated monomers, and their kinetics and mechanisms of triggering the initiation, propagation and termination reactions.

Whereas the mechanisms of radiation chemistry of polymers, induced by light charge particles, such as electrons and high-energy photons, are fairly understood as is evidenced by the large body of literature, radiation chemistry of polymers induced by heavy charged particles and ions is still poorly understood and needs further investigation. Hence, this issue will also cover the ongoing and rapid advancements of polymer radiation chemistry of heavy charged particles and ions-induced synthesis of nano-structures, ion-track technology, polymer membranes, electrochemical deposition, thermo-electrics, and size-dependent properties of nano-structures.

This issue will also include papers on graft radiation co-polymerization. Over the last decade, radiation graft polymerization has been extensively used in the synthesis of membranes and other nanostructures for advanced technology. Specifically, ionizing radiation has been used as a power tool for surface and bulk grafting.  Understanding direct and indirect mechanisms of graft radiation copolymerization enhances our efforts to synthesize more complicated and more-desired complex materials.

Finally, since the radiation chemistry of biopolymers, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, constitutes the basic science, on the molecular level, the discipline of radiation oncology, this Special Issue will cover the radiation of these biopolymers irradiated using low energy transfer (LET), such as electrons and gamma and x-rays, and high LET, such as proton and carbon ions. The papers in this issue will also cover the direct and indirect effects of ionizing radiation effects on these biopolymers.

Prof. Dr. Mohamad Al-Sheikhly
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Cationic, ionic, and free radical-polymerization
• Polymer crosslinking and degradation
• Ionizing radiation
• Low LET and high-LET effects on polymers
• Pulse radiolysis
• Biopolymers
• Graft copolymerization