Design and Application of Hybrid Materials for Enhanced Stability and Bioavailability of Bioactive Compounds

Organic–inorganic hybrid soft materials represent a rapidly advancing area that combines biopolymers such as proteins and polysaccharides with inorganic phases including layered silicates, silica, calcium phosphates, clays, oxides, and metal–organic frameworks. These materials create intricate interfacial architectures that critically influence phenomena like adsorption, multilayer growth, particle orientation, and network tortuosity, thereby dictating the stabilization and transport of encapsulated active agents. Across a spectrum of material platforms - ranging from layer-by-layer (LbL) emulsions and coatings to Pickering droplets, hybrid microcapsules, reinforced gels, and MOF–hydrogel composites - the properties of these interfaces are central to the performance of the hybrid systems. Recent advances in experimental techniques such as isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), adsorption isotherms, interfacial rheology, QCM-D, and in situ scattering and microscopy have enabled more accurate mapping of binding thermodynamics, assembly, and co-assembly mechanisms under realistic pH and ionic strengths. Notwithstanding these developments, significant challenges remain in predicting and generalizing how interfacial structure directs functional outcomes such as controlled release, processing resilience, and reconstitution, especially in practical application contexts.

This Research Topic aims to establish mechanistic and predictive frameworks for the design of organic–inorganic hybrid carriers by explicitly linking interfacial thermodynamics and assembly pathways to functional stability and release behavior. The overarching goal is to deepen our understanding of how protein and polysaccharide binding to various inorganic phases (examined through enthalpy, entropy, and binding site heterogeneity) translates into generalizable design principles in multilayer growth, particle and platelet orientation, as well as interfacial mechanics and permeability. We welcome studies that integrate advanced characterization (e.g., ITC, QCM-D, interfacial rheometry, SAXS/SANS, TEM/cryo-EM, AFM, microstructural image analysis) with kinetic and transport modeling (such as Fickian and non-Fickian diffusion, tortuosity models) to connect interfacial properties with functional performance. Of particular interest are studies that extend these insights to systems relevant for food, cosmetic, and related non-clinical domains, where regulatory and real-world performance constraints (such as pH, ionic strength, thermal and mechanical stress, dehydration/rehydration) are paramount.

The scope of this Research Topic is defined by studies that quantitatively interrogate the interfacial thermodynamics and transport properties of organic–inorganic hybrids in processing-relevant environments, with validation across LbL emulsions, Pickering systems, microcapsules, gels, and MOF–hydrogel/silica–biopolymer composites. Submissions are encouraged to emphasize comparative and cross-platform approaches to distill general design rules, and to include reproducible metrics, protocols, and datasets whenever possible.

To gather further insights in these areas, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Quantitative interfacial thermodynamics and binding analysis (e.g., ITC, adsorption isotherms)
- Interfacial structure and orientation in multilayers and Pickering systems
- Permeability, tortuosity, and controlled transport across hybrid interfaces
- Structure–transport modeling and predictive design of hybrid carrier systems
- Functional validation of hybrid matrices under processing-relevant stressors (pH, heat, ionic strength, shear, dehydration/rehydration)
- Comparative studies across inorganic chemistries, morphologies, and biopolymer interactions
- Benchmarking against non-hybrid controls to isolate hybrid-specific interfacial effects

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Keywords: Materials; polymers; composites; Emulsion; Encapsulation; nanoparticles

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.