Materials Research Thrives at Sichuan University

This special issue of Advanced Materials, commemorating the 125th anniversary of the founding of Sichuan University (SCU), presents an overview of the latest progress of materials research at one of the most renowned comprehensive universities in China. Since its establishment in Chengdu in 1896, SCU has been upholding the motto and educational philosophy that “true greatness is like the sea embracing all rivers.” The university consists of 36 colleges and 4 affiliated hospitals that offer 12 disciplinary groups in liberal arts, sciences, engineering, and medicine. There are nearly 4600 faculty members including twelve fellows of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) teaching full-time at SCU. Over 37 000 undergraduate students study here, along with 29 000 master's and Ph.D. candidates and approximately 3000 international students. SCU has trained more than 700 000 talented professionals for China and the rest of the world since its inception. SCU has made remarkable achievements in scientific research over the years. It hosts 21 national key laboratories and research centers for science, engineering, and clinical medicine. In 2021, the research funding of SCU reached 3.3 billion RMB. Through close and committed cooperation with friendly partners from around the world, SCU has built joint educational programs with more than 260 prestigious universities and research institutes from 34 countries and regions, laying a firm foundation for over 20 significant international research platforms. SCU is considered one of the world's most innovative universities with internationally respected disciplines. A case in point is the university's stellar materials science program that covers research in polymeric, metallic, and inorganic materials. In as early as 1953, SCU was the first Chinese university to launch a program in polymer science and engineering under the leadership of the late Prof. Xi Xu, who was known as the “Father of Plastics in China.” After setting up China's first State Key Laboratory of Polymer Material Engineering, SCU's College of Polymer Science and Engineering became one of the largest and most influential bases for polymer research and training in China and the world. Under this big umbrella, the metallic materials program holds a relatively long history, originating from one of China's first metal physics programs. The emerging fields include those of vanadium–titanium and rare-earth functional materials as well as inorganic photoelectric materials. The sophisticated and impactful research output in these fields has gained attention from the international community. With unremitting efforts from dedicated scientists such as Prof. Xi Xu, Prof. Mingjing Tu, and Prof. Xingdong Zhang (all CAE or CAS members), materials research at SCU has budded and flourished. The torch has now been passed down to a new generation of leading material scientists, including Prof. Yanrong Li, Prof. Yuzhong Wang, and Prof. Qi Wang (all CAE members) and another 500 researchers and teaching faculty, who have trained over 30 000 high-caliber professionals for China's booming materials industry. Given the rising demands for innovative and advanced materials in the modern economy, enlightened integrations of materials science and adjacent disciplines are encouraged to push the key frontiers. An excellent example is the marriage of outstanding disciplines in materials, chemistry, bioscience, chemical engineering, light industry, clinical medicine, and dentistry, taking advantage of SCU's unique problem-solving power as a comprehensive research university. A number of crucial research findings have been produced in this manner. For instance, Prof. Xingdong Zhang (a CAE member and also international member of the US National Academy of Engineering) invented the unprecedented tissue-inducing biomaterials through interdisciplinary collaborations with research groups in material science, bioscience, chemical engineering, medicine, and dentistry. Prof. Qi Wang (a CAE member) took a similar cross-disciplinary approach to create new principles, technologies, and equipment for the preparation and processing of polymeric materials. Such cross-breeding and mutual learning have generated huge social and economic gains as well as academic successes. To promote the development of advanced biomedical materials, SCU established the multidisciplinary Med-X Center for Materials in 2019. The Center supports both fundamental and translational research in functional materials and advanced medical equipment, regenerative medicine and tissue-engineering materials, and controlled-release systems and tracer imaging of targeted drugs. The principle investigators have won major national grants with impressive research published in high-impact international journals. Additionally, scores of biomedical products have entered the market to benefit patients due to such exceptional research. This special issue features 1 Perspective, 10 Reviews, and 10 Research Articles and presenting key findings in innovative vaccine-delivery systems, tissue-engineering materials, intelligent materials, commodity polymeric materials, biomimetic materials, advanced energy materials, flame-retardant materials, and separation materials. Furthermore, promising new materials are introduced and discussed, i.e., framework nucleic-acid-based nanomaterials, and quantum dots and magic-size clusters. The team of Prof. Yuzhong Wang (a CAE member) present an in-depth review of the preparation methods, potential applications, and future prospects of advanced flame-retardant polymers (article number 2107905). The team of Prof. Bi Shi (a CAE member) examine in their review (article number 2107891) the recent developments of the designs, properties and potentials of collagen fibers-based separation materials. The review (article number 2107877) by Prof. Liangyin Chu's team highlights the progress of intelligent polymeric materials with advanced functions through combined micro-/nanostructures and molecular designs. By no means could this special issue cover all the brilliant progress of materials research at SCU; it merely serves as invitation to fellow researchers worldwide to join this wonderful and fast-evolving field. No doubt that the materials research community would benefit from increased cross-institutional cooperation. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to the competent and dedicated editorial team of Advanced Materials, whose tremendous efforts and support were instrumental in the successful publication of this special issue. We also acknowledge all contributing authors, whose incredible research output would be one of the most amazing gifts for the 125th anniversary celebrations of Sichuan University (Figures 1 and 2). The authors declare no conflict of interest. Ling Ye, M.D. and Ph.D., is the dean of the West China School/Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University. She has long engaged in bone/pulp biology research and the clinical trial of pulp regeneration. She serves as the vice chair of the Chinese Stomatological Association, the Executive Editor in Chief of International Journal of Oral Science and the Editor in Chief of West China Journal of Stomatology. Yunfeng Lin, D.D.S., M.D., and Ph.D., obtained his B.D. and Ph.D. from Sichuan University in 2001 and 2006, respectively. He joined the West China College of Stomatology, Sichuan University in 2006 and has been a full professor since 2008. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University from 2009 to 2010. He is Vice Dean of West China College of Stomatology, and Vice-Director of State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases. His research interests focus on DNA nanomaterial, stem cell biology and tissue regeneration. Jianshu Li received his B.E. (1999, Polymer Science and Eng.) and M.E. (2002, Biomedical Eng.) degrees from Sichuan University, China. He then obtained his Ph.D. (2006, Chemical Engineering) from University of New Brunswick, Canada. He is now a full professor at the College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University. His group consistently develops advanced functional polymeric materials for biomedical applications.

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