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The IUPAC Subcommittee on Polymer Education has been pursuing the development of a compact syllabus covering the essential topics required for a tertiary education in polymer science, with numerical and short answer exercises addressing each topic. The primary goal of the document is to provide a framework for a complete course made freely available worldwide so that any educator can implement a professionally-curated course in polymer science for their students without needing expensive textbooks or reliable internet access. An important secondary goal is to popularize the use of approved IUPAC terminology in polymer science by using it consistently throughout the document and providing references to IUPAC source documents. Professor Melissa Chin Han Chan was an active and enthusiastic participant in the project who played a significant role in its design and implementation. The late Professor Richard ‘Dick’ Jones also had a keen interest in the project and had a great influence on its direction and structure. This brief note is dedicated to these two illustrious polymer scientists.

Nanofibers serve as widely employed tissue engineering scaffolds in diverse biomedical applications. When implanted in vivo, it is crucial for tissue engineering scaffolds to be visualizable, enabling the monitoring of their shape, position, and performance. This capability facilitates the effective assessment of implant deformations, displacements, degradations, and functionalities. However, in many biomedical imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the contrast of tissue engineering scaffolds is often inadequate. MRI is particularly notable for its effectiveness in imaging soft tissues. Previous endeavors to enhance the contrast of tissue engineering scaffolds in MRI have involved the use of negative contrast agents (CAs). Nonetheless, negative CAs can result in artifacts, thus favoring the preference for positive CAs due to their ability to generate clearer boundaries. In this study, we successfully prepared composite polyamide 6 nanofibrous scaffolds with ultrafine dispersion Fe(OH)3 nanoparticles using electrospinning and in-situ growth techniques. The relaxation properties of the magnetic nanofibrous scaffolds confirmed the successful production of scaffolds suitable for positive imaging. In vitro cell seeding experiments demonstrated the efficient proliferation and adhesion of endothelial cells and fibroblasts. In vivo studies further revealed the biocompatibility and functionality of the scaffolds. These findings indicate that the prepared PA6/Fe(OH)3 composite nanofibrous scaffolds can enable straightforward, safe, and efficient in vivo positive contrast MRI monitoring, thereby playing a pivotal role in the integration of diagnosis and treatment within tissue engineering scaffolds.

We report for the first time a reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerisation-induced self-assembly (RAFT-PISA) formulation in ionic liquid (IL) that yields worm gels. A series of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(benzyl methacrylate) (PHEMA-b-PBzMA) block copolymer nanoparticles were synthesised via RAFT dispersion polymerisation of benzyl methacrylate in the hydrophilic IL 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium dicyanamide, [EMIM][DCA]. This RAFT-PISA formulation can be controlled to afford spherical, worm-like and vesicular nano-objects, with free-standing gels being obtained over a broad range of PBzMA core-forming degrees of polymerisation (DPs). High monomer conversions (≥96%) were obtained within 2 hours for all PISA syntheses as determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy, and good control over molar mass was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Nanoparticle morphologies were identified using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and further detailed characterisation was conducted to monitor rheological, electrochemical and thermal characteristics of the nanoparticle dispersions to assess their potential in future electronic applications. Most importantly, this new PISA formulation in IL facilitates the in situ formation of worm ionogel electrolyte materials at copolymer concentrations >4% w/w via efficient and convenient synthesis routes without the need for organic co-solvents or post-polymerisation processing/purification. Moreover, we demonstrate that the worm ionogels developed in this work exhibit comparable electrochemical properties and thermal stability to that of the IL alone, showcasing their potential as gel electrolytes.

The in situ formation of hydrogels has potential for a number of biomedical applications but their generation via conventional polymerization techniques has a number of limitations, such as toxicity and reaction time. The use of macromers in hydrogel formulations can help overcome these limitations. In this work, we synthesized a new functionalized macromer formed via the copolymerization of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt (AMPS) and acid-functional monomers that can undergo a ring-opening reaction with allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) to generate the desired pendant vinyl macromer functionality. These macromers were characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) to provide evidence for successful macromer synthesis and subsequent polymerization. Using a UV-initiated crosslinking approach with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), the hydrogels were fabricated from the macromer solution, with the gelation time being reduced from 1200 s to 10 s when compared to hydrogel formation from regular vinyl monomers. While different acidic monomers result in distinct tensile properties, hydrogels containing 2-carboxyethyl acrylate (CEA) exhibit low strength but high elongation. In contrast, those with methacrylic acid (MAA) demonstrate higher strength and lower elongation. Therefore, using a balanced combination of each is a logical approach for achieving a robust final hydrogel film. In summary, we have produced a new macromer possessing characteristics highly conducive to rapid hydrogel synthesis. This macromer approach holds potential for use in in situ hydrogel formation, where a viscous solution can be applied to the target area and subsequently hardened to its hydrogel. We envisage its application primarily in the biomedical field.

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is a versatile and readily accessible method to produce nanoparticles of various morphologies in situ as polymerization progresses. PISA exploits the chain extension of a solvophilic macromolecular chain-transfer agent with monomers that are miscible in the continuous phase but form a solvophobic, immiscible polymer, driving self-assembly. However, the ability to monitor in situ the onset of self-assembly and the evolution of morphology during the PISA process remains a significant challenge, which critically limits our understanding of the mechanisms of particle formation. In this work, we demonstrate that a maleimide-based small-molecule fluorophore can act as a powerful probe to study PISA over time using fluorescence and fluorescence lifetime as outputs. We show that the aminochloromaleimide (ACM) fluorophore can be readily incorporated within a PISA system to produce fluorescent nanostructures without affecting their final morphology in comparison to their nonfluorescent analogues. The ACM probe exhibits diagnostic increases in fluorescence lifetime first with the onset of self-assembly and then with the evolution of particle morphology in the order of spheres > vesicles > worms. Excitingly, monitoring the change in fluorescence lifetime in situ during PISA yielded insights into the mechanism of particle formation when targeting higher-order morphologies. Finally, we demonstrate that these maleimide-functionalized nanostructures can be used as cell imaging agents using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), whereby each morphology produces distinct lifetime decay patterns within a cell environment. Overall, we envision this becoming a powerful tool for the analysis of nanoparticle states within complex environments, inspiring further investigations of the study of PISA using this simple and accessible method.

To bolster the series of Brief Guides released by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), here we introduce the first Brief Guide to Polymer Characterization. This article provides a concise overview of characterization methods for teachers, students, non-specialists, and newcomers to polymer science as well as being a useful manual for researchers and technicians. Unlike pure low molar mass chemical substances, polymers are not composed of identical molecules. The macromolecules which comprise a single polymer sample vary from one another, primarily in terms of size and shape, but often also in the arrangement or positioning of atoms within macromolecules (e.g., chain branching, isomerism, etc.). Polymer properties are often drastically different from those of other substances and their characterization relies on specialist equipment and/or common equipment used in a specialized way (e.g., particular sample preparation or data analysis). This Brief Guide focuses uniquely on the structural characterization (i.e., analyzing the molecular and multi-molecular aspects) of polymers. The complex nature of the structural variables possible in macromolecular materials often presents a challenge with regard to the detailed structural characterization of polymers. This Brief Guide provides a useful starting point to direct the reader to the most commonly used and useful techniques to characterize these structural variables.

Bacterial-induced infectious diseases have always caused an unavoidable problem and lead to an increasing threat to human health. Hence, there is an urgent need for effective antibacterial strategies to treat infectious diseases. Current methods are often ineffective and require large amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), with harmful effects on normal healthy tissue. Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) provides an ideal infection microenvironment (IME)-activated paradigm to tackle bacterial-related diseases. To take full advantage of the specificity of IME and enhanced CDT for wounds with bacterial infection, we have designed an intelligent antibacterial system that exploits nanocatalytic ZIF-67@Ag2O2 nanosheets. In this system, silver peroxide nanoparticles (Ag2O2 NPs) were grown on ultrathin zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanosheets by in situ oxidation, and then, ZIF-67@Ag2O2 nanosheets with the ability to self-generate H2O2 were triggered by the mildly acidic environment of IME. Lamellar ZIF-67 nanosheets were shown to rapidly degrade and release Co2+, allowing the conversion of less reactive H2O2 into the highly toxic reactive oxygen species hydroxyl radicals (•OH) for enhanced CDT antibacterial properties. In vivo results revealed that the ZIF-67@Ag2O2 nanosheet system exhibits excellent antibacterial performance against both Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The proposed hybrid strategy demonstrates a promising therapeutic strategy to enable antibacterial agents with IME-responsive nanocatalytic activity to circumvent antibiotic resistance against bacterial infections.