Biomaterials are generally substances other than food or drugs contained in therapeutic or diagnostic systems that are in contact with tissue or biological fluids. Bioactive materials and their design technology enable an extensive range of applications in medicine and related fields. The goal in this field is to develop novel materials that can provide specific bioactive signals to control the biological environment around them during the process of materials integration and wound healing. In addition, materials have been developed that can respond to changes in their environment, such as changes in pH or cell-associated enzymatic activity.
Novel functional nanomaterials are the basis of newly emerging nanotechnologies for various applications. Nanomaterials possess unique optical, electronic, magnetic, mechanical and chemical properties. These properties can be attributed solely to their special size and shape. As the size of the material decreases, its surface-to-volume ratio increases. The manipulation and structuring of materials at the nanoscale opens up the possibility for revolutionary new applications in biology and medicine. The most critical part of nanomaterials that makes them special is their surface. Furthermore, nanomaterials can be very easily functionalised on the surface with synthetic ligands to effect significant change in properties for biomedical applications. It is the surface that makes the nanomaterials significantly more useful.
There are several different categories of nanomaterials. Not surprisingly, the field of nanomaterials is quite vast, diverse and evolving rapidly as tremendous amounts of research are being conducted in this burgeoning area. This special issue focuses exclusively on classes of nanomaterials that are biomedically important.
Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
- Synthesis of functional nanomaterials for biomedical applications
- Characterisation of functional nanomaterials
- Functional nanomaterials applications in biology and biomedicine
- Magnetic nanomaterials and their biomedical applications
- Metal nanostructures in biomedical applications
- Quantum dots in biomedical applications
- Carbon nanostructure in biomedical applications
Submission of manuscripts: 31 July, 2011
Communication of peer reviews to authors: 31 October, 2011
Submission of revised manuscripts: 31 December, 2011
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