Advanced Polymer-Based Composites as Smart Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Smart polymers as stimuli-responsive polymers, functional polymers, and polymers with shape memory effects are high-performance polymers that can respond to the surrounding environment or the influence of a number of stimuli, such as temperature, humidity, pH, mechanical stress, chemical compounds, light, and electrical or magnetic fields in various ways, such as through color changes or transparency, becoming conductive or permeable to water, or shape changes (shape memory polymers). Shape memory polymers are smart materials which can be deformed and fixed into a temporary shape through the application of external stimuli, before their permanent shape is restored after the release of the external effect. They are attracting more attention not only for use in medical applications but also in industrial and aerospace applications because of their interesting properties, such as their excellent structural versatility, light weight, low cost, easy processing, high elastic strain endurance, etc.

Shape memory polymers, hydrogels based on smart polymers, and self-healing polymer systems are considered the main applications of smart polymers in biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and medical devices. In addition, smart polymers can be also applied in textile applications, smart packaging, energy storage, optical data storage, environmental protection, and more.

This Special Issue will present the latest developments in advanced smart polymer composites, covering the following topics:

• Polymers with shape memory effect;
• Stimuli-responsive polymers and functional polymers;
• Self-healing polymers;
• Hydro- and aerogels based on polymer composites;
• Smart packaging polymers;
• Electroactive polymer composites;
• Improved polymeric actuators and artificial muscles.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit your full research papers, communications, and reviews for publication in the Special Issue "Advanced Polymer-Based Composites as Smart Materials".

Dr. Tarek Dayyoub
Prof. Dr. Victor Tcherdyntsev
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.