3D/4D Printing Application for Shape Memory Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Three-dimensional printing belongs to the emerging technologies of our time, offering an extensive freedom of design, as well as the possibility to create individualized objects, e.g., for medical or protection applications.

Some 3D printing materials, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA) often used in fused deposition modeling, show an additional shape memory effect, meaning that the material “remembers” its original shape after a deformation, being able to recover with the application of an external stimulus, e.g., heat. On the other hand, the area of 4D printing uses this effect to change the shape of an object with time, either once or even bidirectionally. Such materials can be used for a broad range of applications, from design to functional properties, and from medical purposes to soft robotics.

This Special Issue aims at collecting recent material innovations and applications of 3D-printed shape memory materials for shape recovery and 4D printing. Recent experimental and theoretical studies are as welcome as comprehensive reviews regarding these topics.

You are cordially invited to submit manuscripts to this Special Issue, whose topics include, but are not limited to, the following.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Ehrmann
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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.