Functional Polymers for Wearable Technology

Dear Colleagues,

Wearable technology has rapidly evolved from simple electronic accessories into complex systems that integrate sensors, energy storage units and actuators within soft, flexible and biocompatible materials. Polymers play a pivotal role in this transformation owing to their tunable mechanical, electrical and chemical properties, which allow them to adapt to the dynamic and deformable nature of the human body.

This Special Issue, “Functional Polymers for Wearable Technology,” aims to provide a platform for the latest advances in polymer materials and technologies that enable next-generation wearable systems. We invite contributions that explore the design, synthesis, processing and application of functional polymers with specific roles in wearable electronics, smart textiles, flexible sensors, energy devices and biomedical interfaces.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Functional polymer design and synthesis for stretchable, conductive or self-healing systems
2. Polymer nanocomposites and hybrid materials for wearable applications
3. Elastomers and hydrogels with tunable mechanical and electrical properties
4. Polymer-based energy devices, such as flexible supercapacitors, batteries and thermoelectric materials
5. Smart textile integration and polymer coating techniques
6. Sustainable and biodegradable polymers for eco-friendly wearable devices
7. Polymer interfaces for biosensing, health monitoring, or human–machine interaction
8. Modeling and characterization of polymer performance under mechanical deformation, laundering or environmental stress

Prof. Dr. Jem-Kun Chen
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. Polymers 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 2700 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.