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Polyolefins play a crucial role in the polymer industry because of their low-cost monomers and well-established production processes. Recent years have witnessed tremendous progress in direct and tandem copolymerization strategies that provide an opportunity of developing polyolefins bearing polar groups with distinctive architectures and properties. In this perspective, we first highlight new routes for the proficient synthesis of tailor-made functional polyolefins and briefly discuss their designing tactics. Then, we attempt to categorize these, recently appeared in the literature, innovative functional polyolefins on the basis of their applications. The prospected future applications of polar olefin copolymers include biomedical materials, catalysts, energy storage devices, and conductive polymers, which open up new arenas and paradigms for academic research and industrial products development. Critical issues concerning intelligent functional polyolefins and green chemistry are discussed, too.

Biocompatible and electrically conductive porous scaffolds with a desirable hydrophilicity and degradation rate and suitable mechanical performance are highly favorable for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. In this study, we fabricated three-dimensional (3D) porous bioscaffolds from poly(ε-caprolactone) and polylactic acid containing different concentrations of zirconia nanoparticles (n-ZrO 2 ) through freeze-drying technique. Afterward, the surface of the scaffolds was coated with an electrically conductive layer through in situ polymerization of polypyrrole (PPy) on the samples. Bioscaffolds exhibited a favorable range of mechanical properties and electrical conductivity, meeting the required mechanical performances and conductivity for a broad range of tissue engineering applications. Coating PPy on the scaffolds resulted in significantly higher hydrophilicity and faster biodegradation rate, as well as a noticeable enhancement on the in vitro cell attachment, proliferation, and viability. Our findings indicated that the simultaneous presence of n-ZrO 2 and PPy in the system presents a noticeable synergistic effect in overall properties and introduces the fabricated 3D porous scaffolds as promising candidates for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

Nanocomposites containing clay nanoparticles often present favorable properties such as good mechanical and thermal properties. They frequently have been studied for tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine applications. On the other hand, poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS), a revolutionary bioelastomer, has exhibited substantial potential as a promising candidate for biomedical application. Here, we present a facile approach to synthesizing stiff, elastomeric nanocomposites from sodium‐montmorillonite nano‐clay (MMT) in the commercial name of Cloisite Na+ and poly(glycerol sebacate urethane) (PGSU). The strong physical interaction between the intercalated Cloisite Na+ platelets and PGSU chains resulted in desirable property combinations for TE application to follow. The addition of 5% MMT nano‐clay resulted in an over two‐fold increase in the tensile modulus, increased the onset thermal decomposition temperature of PGSU matrix by 18°C, and noticeably improved storage modulus of the prepared scaffolds, compared with pure PGSU. As well, Cloisite Na+ enhanced the hydrophilicity and water uptake ability of the samples and accelerated the in‐vitro biodegradation rate. Finally, in‐vitro cell viability assay using L929 mouse fibroblast cells indicated that incorporating Cloisite Na+ nanoparticles into the PGSU network could improve the cell attachment and proliferation, rendering the synthesized bioelastomers potentially suitable for TE and regenerative medicine applications.