Advances in Rubbers, Elastomers and Resins for Leading Edge Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

Today, polymers are essential for technological progress and are used in a wide range of applications such as electronics, 3D printing, robotics, etc. Therefore, understanding pre- polymers and polymers that can be crosslinked such as rubbers, elastomers, and resins and their impact on the technological fields of interest is a major challenge.

According to Scopus (as of September 19, 2024), nearly 449,000 scientific articles have been published in the last 10 years devoted to the study of "Rubber or Elastomer", "Thermoset and Resin", or "Photocurable and Resin". Growth prospects are promising due to (1) the advent of nanotechnology, (2) the development of 3D printing, and (3) new characterization techniques in advanced engineering fields. All of the above allow for conceptualization and demonstration through proof of concepts. Undoubtedly, the combination of these tools will lead to unprecedented advances. Therefore, it is essential to understand, from a fundamental science point of view, the phenomena that govern the properties necessary for their application in advanced technologies.

In this sense, our proposal is focused on providing a space to make visible and highlight research in the following topics: rubber and elastomer sciences; thermosetting or photocurable resins; current processing techniques, addressed to 3D printing; the influence of nanomaterials on polymer composite properties.

Dr. Marianella Hernández Santana
Dr. Héctor Aguilar Bolados
Prof. Dr. Miguel Ángel López Manchado
Topic Editors