Advanced Manufacturing of Smart Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Smart materials represent a revolutionary class of materials that respond to environmental stimuli such as changes in magnetic fields, temperature, light, solvents, electric fields, and, in some instances, multi-stimuli sources. These are intelligent materials that are designed to change their properties in response to stimuli in a controlled fashion. The advanced manufacturing of these smart materials combines cutting-edge fabrication techniques with innovative material design to create responsive, adaptive solutions for numerous applications.

At the forefront of smart material manufacturing is additive manufacturing (3D printing), which enables the precise spatial control of material composition and structure. This technology allows for the creation of complex geometries with programmed responses, such as 4D-printed structures that change shape and functionality when exposed to heat, moisture, or light. Multimaterial 3D printing is one of the most straightforward approaches to producing smart materials, in which differences in material properties are leveraged to produce complex, bending, folding, programmable, and twisting 4D structures. 

Nanomanufacturing techniques have also been used extensively to produce smart materials with responses at the molecular level. Methods such as atomic layer deposition, electrospinning, and self-assembly processes enable the fabrication of materials with precisely controlled nanostructures with adaptive functionalities, resulting in enhanced performance characteristics. These approaches have led to advances in photochromic materials, superhydrophobic surfaces, and nanoscale sensors.

Roll-to-roll manufacturing processes are normally used to produce large-scale flexible smart material structures, particularly for electronic and energy applications. This continuous fabrication method allows for the cost-effective production of piezoelectric films, flexible displays, and printable batteries.

The emerging trend of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into various smart material manufacturing processes represents another significant advancement. The introduction of AI into the manufacturing process permits the use of AI algorithms to optimise process parameters to enhance material performance and manufacturing efficiency. The integration of AI provides real-time sensing during the manufacturing process and enables the programming of smart material structure responses. 

The continued advancement of smart material manufacturing processes provides a myriad of opportunities for manufacturing smart material structures for various industrial applications. The maturation of these technologies used to produce smart material structures would usher in the fabrication of sophisticated structures with seamlessly embedded sensors, actuators, and computational capabilities to create truly adaptive systems.

Dr. Thywill Cephas Dzogbewu
Prof. Dr. Deon De Beer
Guest Editors

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• smart materials
• advanced manufacturing
• 4D printing
• roll-to-roll manufacturing
• environmental stimuli
• multimaterial