Advances in 3D and 4D Printing of Polymer and Polymer-Composite Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Additive manufacturing has greatly expanded the possibilities for designing polymer and polymer composite materials with complex geometries and tailored functional performance. Recent advances in 3D and 4D printing, together with the development of smart and adaptive polymer systems, have enabled improved control over material architecture, mechanical behaviour, and multifunctional performance.

This Special Issue focuses on recent progress in the additive manufacturing of polymer-based materials, with particular emphasis on material development, processing, and structure–property relationships. Contributions addressing smart polymers and polymer composites, computational modelling and simulation, and experimentally validated mechanical characterisation are especially encouraged. Topics of interest include stimuli-responsive polymer systems, biomechanically inspired and bio-integrated structures, sustainable and recyclable polymer materials, and multiscale analysis of additively manufactured architectures. Applications in biomechanics, biomedical engineering, soft robotics, and sustainable manufacturing are of particular interest. By bringing together material science, computational mechanics, and advanced manufacturing, this Special Issue aims to provide insights into both fundamental understanding and practical engineering applications.

Dr. Zhongpu (Leo) Zhang
Prof. Dr. Richard (Chunhui) Yang
Guest Editors

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. 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.