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Polymers
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Polymer Microfabrication and 3D/4D Printing
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Polymer Microfabrication and 3D/4D Printing

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 961

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yi-Je Juang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 717005, Taiwan
Interests: micro/nanofabrication; polymer microembossing; microfluidics; BioMEMS
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microfluidics has been receiving significant attention thanks to its ability to manipulate the quantity of fluids and particles on a minute level, which renders it highly valuable in the fields of biological and chemical analysis, diagnostics and drug discovery, microscale chemical production and energy systems, combinatorial synthesis and assays, organoids, and environmental sensing. The utilization of polymers as the substrate material has compelling advantages over other materials owing to their versatile properties, such as biocompatibility, surface functionality/modification, mechanical strength, chemical resistance, and low electrical and thermal conductivities. Moreover, the mass production capability of polymeric materials makes it possible to manufacture low-cost products such that they become affordable for one-time use, which is necessary for clinical diagnostics and many biomedical applications. The global market size for microfluidic devices is estimated to be around USD 60 billion by 2030. Moreover, with recent advances in 3D/4D printing, not only has a novel and versatile gadget been added to the toolbox of fabricating microfluidic devices, but a variety of functional structures have also been constructed, such as polymer printed textiles, tissue and scaffolds, self-powered sensors and actuators, smart grippers, etc. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to collect ongoing scientific research on and developments in polymer microfabrication and 3D/4D printing for their potential applications in every field of interest. Research and review articles are both welcome.

Prof. Dr. Yi-Je Juang
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. 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.

Keywords

  • microfabrication
  • 3D/4D printing
  • polymer
  • elastomer
  • micro-embossing
  • micro-injection molding
  • roll-to-roll
  • roll-to-plate
  • mold making
  • numerical simulation
  • manufacturing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4407 KB  
Article
Centrifugal Fiber-Spinning Device Using Two Pairs of Counter-Facing Syringes for Fabricating Composite Micro/Nanofibers and Three-Dimensional Cell Culture
by Asuka Shinagawa and Shogo Miyata
Polymers 2026, 18(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010016 - 21 Dec 2025
Abstract
Biomimetic scaffolds are required in tissue engineering to provide structural support as well as promote cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Fibrous scaffolds composed of micro- and nanofibers replicate the architecture of the native extracellular matrix. Electrospinning is widely used for fabricating nanofibers; however, [...] Read more.
Biomimetic scaffolds are required in tissue engineering to provide structural support as well as promote cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Fibrous scaffolds composed of micro- and nanofibers replicate the architecture of the native extracellular matrix. Electrospinning is widely used for fabricating nanofibers; however, constructing fibrous scaffolds that integrate multiple fiber scales into a single structure is difficult. We addressed this issue by developing a fiber-spinning device using two pairs of counter-facing syringes that simultaneously produce micro- and nanofibers under different processing conditions. Poly(ε-caprolactone) solutions are ejected through needle-type nozzles via centrifugal force, and fiber diameter is controlled by adjusting the polymer concentration and nozzle diameter. We fabricated scaffolds with the proposed device, which exhibited a random three-dimensional fibrous network in which microfibers and nanofibers were homogeneously integrated. C2C12 myoblasts cultured on the composite scaffolds strongly adhered to the fibrous network, remained viable, and extended along the fibers to form multinucleated cells within the structure. The developed system produced composite micro/nanofiber scaffolds with tunable morphology and biocompatibility, providing a platform for fibrous tissue engineering applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Microfabrication and 3D/4D Printing)
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18 pages, 2191 KB  
Article
Low-Temperature Glass 3D Printing via Two-Photon and Single-Photon Polymerization of Oligo-Silsesquioxanes
by Liyuan Chen, Masaru Mukai, Yuki Hatta, Shoma Miura and Shoji Maruo
Polymers 2025, 17(23), 3204; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17233204 - 1 Dec 2025
Viewed by 517
Abstract
Recent advances in 3D printing of silica glass have highlighted the limitations of conventional stereolithography (SLA), which requires high-temperature sintering (≈1000 °C) and often uses slurry-based materials. To address these limitations, a sinterless approach using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-based resin has gained attention, [...] Read more.
Recent advances in 3D printing of silica glass have highlighted the limitations of conventional stereolithography (SLA), which requires high-temperature sintering (≈1000 °C) and often uses slurry-based materials. To address these limitations, a sinterless approach using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-based resin has gained attention, as it can form transparent fused silica at only 650 °C. However, previous POSS-based systems suffered from high shrinkage owing to the addition of organic monomers. In this study, a novel low-viscosity polymerizable POSS resin was synthesized without additional monomers, maintaining its sinterless properties while reducing shrinkage. Experimental results showed that our POSS resin has a silica content of 41%, with a shrinkage rate of only 36 ± 1%, which effectively reduced cracking and warping when calcinating large-volume models. It was demonstrated that this resin can be applied not only to high-resolution glass 3D printing with sub-200 nm line widths using two-photon polymerization, but also to low-cost glass 3D printing using single-photon polymerization. The 3D-printed objects can be converted into silica glass structures at significantly lower temperatures than traditional sintering, offering a promising route for efficient and precise glass manufacturing. Potential applications of our POSS resin include the production of multi-scale devices, such as microfluidic devices and optical components, and hybrid processing with semiconductors and MEMS and photonic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Microfabrication and 3D/4D Printing)
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