International Polymer Characterization Conference (POLY-CHAR [Halle|Siegen] 2022)

The International Polymer Characterization Conference POLY-CHAR [Halle│Siegen] 2022 took place as a live digital event from 22nd to 25th May 2022. Organized jointly by the Fraunhofer IMWS in Halle, Germany, and the Institute of Physical Chemistry I of the University of Siegen, Germany, the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry)-endorsed conference brought together more than 100 participants from five continents, who shared their research findings ranging from theoretical to experimental and fundamental to applied aspects of polymers. As a a nonprofit, non-governmental organization POLY-CHAR is devoted to creating a friendly interdisciplinary environment to share information, organize student exchange and cooperation, to hold international meetings and to provide a platform for scientist from all over the word. The annual POLY-CHAR conferences are not limited to mere “POLYmer CHARacterization”. Instead, POLY-CHAR offers an open platform for sharing ideas, presenting results, meeting old and making new friends in the scientific community. Topics cover a wide area in synthesis, characterization, modification and application of polymeric materials and composites, probably best summarized under the terms “Advanced Materials' and ‘Functional Materials”. The live digital format chosen for POLY-CHAR [Halle│Siegen] 2022 enabled unrestricted worldwide participation in times of global uncertainty regarding travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the first day of the conference the POLY-CHAR Short Course was held. The topics of the lectures presented on the subsequent days by 5 plenary speakers, 24 invited speakers, 66 oral speakers, 9 poster presenters from 28 countries included (i) polymer synthesis, (ii) polymer characterization, (iii) polymer physics, theory and simulations, (iv) circular economy of polymers and sustainable applications, (v) polymers for biomedical applications, biopolymers, biomedical materials and biotechnology, (vi) biopolymers in nutrition and health, (vii) elastomers, amorphous materials, nanomaterials and smart materials, (viii) mechanics of polymers, and (ix) adhesives, coatings, and advanced hybrid materials. In addition to several POLY-CHAR and IUPAC prizes for outstanding oral presentations and posters of young scientists, the following prestigious prizes were awarded to well renowned scientists to honor their academic achievements: The Richard Robert Ernst Award went to Prof. Dr. Jianyong Jin (The University of Auckland, New Zealand), the Jean-Marie Lehn Award went to Prof. Dr. Zheng Li (Peking University, China) and the Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Award was awarded to José Luis Gómez Ribelles (Universitat Polìtècnica de València, Spain). This conference volume represents a focused selection of contributions from different areas of polymer and materials science. The next conference in the series, POLY-CHAR [Auckland] 2023, will be held in presence in Auckland, New Zealand, from January 22nd to 26th, 2023. This meeting will be co-hosted by Prof. Jianyong Jin and Prof. Duncan McGillvray. Sven Henning, Fraunhofer IMWS, Germany Ralf Lach, Institut für Polymerwerkstoffe e.V. (IPW), Germany Holger Schönherr, University of Siegen, Germany