Co-Crystalline and Nanoporous Crystalline Polymers: From Structure–Property Relationships to Functional Applications

Polymeric co-crystalline phases are common across synthetic regular and stereoregular polymers and biopolymers, and play a key role in thermoreversible gelation. The inclusion of active guest molecules — with physical, optical, or pharmaceutical properties — into an ordered crystalline lattice is particularly appealing for functional applications: encapsulation reduces guest diffusivity, preventing self-aggregation and enabling controlled release.Selective removal of the guest molecules generates nanoporous structures across a range of morphologies — powders, films, fibres, foams, and aerogels. These nanoporous materials show high sorption capacity for volatile organic compounds from water and air, even at low activities, and are well suited to industrial gas separation (including carbon capture and hydrogen storage), water purification, sensing, flexible electronics, and heterogeneous catalysis. Despite this potential, structure–property relationships that link host architecture, guest chemistry, and macroscopic performance remain incompletely understood, limiting rational design of next-generation materials.This Research Topic gathers recent and novel research on the design, characterisation, and applications of co-crystalline and nanoporous polymers and biopolymers. We aim to bring together fundamental crystallographic and thermodynamic studies with application-driven work in separation, storage, sensing, and catalysis, and to surface the structure–property relationships that connect them.We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Perspective, Methods, and Brief Research Report articles that deliver fundamental insights or application-oriented advances in the design of co-crystalline structures with active guests and in materials with nanoporous crystalline phases. Submissions on biopolymer systems, sustainable processing, and structure–property modelling are particularly encouraged. Contributions should bridge structural characterisation and functional performance, and articulate how the proposed materials advance current limits in sorption capacity, selectivity, processability, or stability.Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):• Co-crystallization mechanisms and guest–host interactions.• Crystal-structure determination of polymer–guest inclusion compounds.• Polymer and biopolymer thermoreversible gelation.• Functional materials based on co-crystalline structures.• Stimuli-responsive release from co-crystalline carriers.• Nanoporous crystalline aerogels, membranes, and foams for sorption and separation.• Sensing and heterogeneous catalysis with nanoporous polymer hosts.• Co-crystalline biopolymers for sustainable packaging and bio-applications.• Scale-up and processing of nanoporous polymer materials. Topic editors: Christophe Daniel, Aurel Radulescu, Alberto Saiani, Erathimmanna Bhoje Gowd Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82316/co-crystalline-and-nanoporous-crystalline-polymers-from-structure-property-relationships-to-functional-applications