Functional Hydrogels for Soft Electronics and Robotic Applications
A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Processing and Engineering".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2025 | Viewed by 45
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The emergence of various soft functional materials has shown significant promise in advancing the fields of electronics and robotics toward various human-friendly applications. In sharp contrast to conventional electronic and robotic devices, which are often limited by the rigidity and brittleness of composing hard materials, soft electronics and soft robotics provide distinctive advantages, such as enhanced flexibility, stretchability, adaptability, and biocompatibility. These characteristics enable seamless integration with biological tissues, safe human–machine interactions, and novel functionalities that are challenging to achieve with rigid systems. Among these soft materials, functional hydrogels have attracted considerable attention as a promising class of electronic and robotic materials owing to their unique properties such as tunable mechanical compliance, high water content, incorporation of third components, stimuli-responsiveness, and biocompatibility.
This Special Issue, entitled “Functional Hydrogels for Soft Electronics and Robotic Applications”, aims to highlight recent advances in the synthesis, processing, and application of functional hydrogels in electronic and robotic systems. By bringing together cutting-edge research in this field, we aim to provide insights into the latest developments and future directions for this rapidly advancing area of study.
Dr. Jongkuk Ko
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- synthesis of functional hydrogel
- processing of functional hydrogel
- stimuli-responsive hydrogel
- conductive hydrogel
- organogel
- ionogel
- soft electronics
- soft robotics
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
