Piezoelectric Polymers: Modelling, Processing and Applications
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026 | Viewed by 20
Special Issue Editors
2. LASI—Intelligent Systems Associate LAboratory (LASI), 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: structural dynamics; viscoelastic damping; smart materials; vibration control; polymer piezoelectrets; dynamic characterization of polymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: flexible sensors and actuators; electrets; polymer ferroelectrets; piezoelectrets; piezoelectric sensors; piezoelectric sensors and actuators; soft electro-active materials; functional materials and wearable sensors
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Piezoelectric polymers are smart materials that convert mechanical stress into electric charge (direct effect) or deform under electric fields (inverse effect). Unlike rigid piezoelectric ceramics (e.g., PZT), they offer flexibility, lightweight design, and biocompatibility, enabling applications in wearables and implants. Key examples include polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and its copolymer PVDF-TrFE, prized for their piezoelectricity in the β-phase after poling; polyamides (Nylon-11), used in sensors and energy harvesters; poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), a biodegradable option for biomedical devices; and cellular polypropylene (PP), ideal for low-cost acoustic sensors.
Advantages include flexibility for conformable electronics, biocompatibility for medical use, low acoustic impedance enhancing ultrasound imaging, and ease of processing into films or 3D structures. These polymers excel in energy harvesting (e.g., converting motion to electricity), sensors/actuators (wearables, robotics, and aerosurfaces), biomedical devices (biomechanical implants and drug delivery), acoustic systems (microphones and active acoustic barriers), and structural health monitoring (distributed accelerometers and extensometers).
Despite their versatility, challenges like lower piezoelectric output compared to ceramics and durability concerns under cyclic stress persist. Future advancements focus on nanocomposites (e.g., PVDF with graphene or ZnO nanoparticles) to boost performance, biodegradable formulations for sustainability and ferroelectrets, addressing a broad range of active materials and structures, and metamaterials based on piezoelectrets.
Piezoelectric polymers are transformative in flexible electronics, biomedicine, and green energy. Ongoing material innovations promise to overcome current limitations, cementing their role in next-generation technologies.
This Special Issue is inviting the submission of studies on modeling, processing, and applications of piezoelectric polymers such as the following:
- anaytical and numerical modeling of polymer piezoelectrets (transformation and application),
- experimental analysis of piezoelectric polymers; etc.
We look forward to receiving your submissions.
Dr. Rui A. S. Moreira
Dr. Ruy Alberto Pisani Altafim
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 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.
Keywords
- smart materials
- piezoelectric polymers
- ferroelectrets
- energy harvesting
- transducers
- flexibility
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