Polymers Special Issue “Design and manufacturing of shape memory polymers and active structures"

Dear Colleagues,

Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) are polymeric smart materials which have the ability to return from a fixed temporary shape to their original permanent shape upon induction by an external stimulus such as heat, light, electric or magnetic field, or solution. Because of the capability of performing active actuation, SMPs have found various applications in aerospace, soft robots, biomedicals, and many other fields. In recent years, researchers have started to employ 3D printing to manufacture active structures made of SMPs. This emerging technology is now widely known as “4D Printing”. The design approaches that integrate nonlinear, multi-physics SMP models into complex multi-material 3D structures play key roles to guide the design and manufacturing of active structures with SMPs.

This Special Issue of Polymers will cover a broad range of research activities on the design and manufacturing of shape-memory polymers and active structures, including synthesis and characterization of SMPs, constitutive modelling of SMPs, design and manufacturing of active structures, and 4D printing with SMPs. In addition, review papers featuring progresses in a particular area are welcomed. This Special Issue aims to collect recent findings and comprehensive reviews from experts in this very active field of research and will hopefully be a useful source of information for researchers.

Prof. Qi (Kevin) Ge

Guest Editor

Digital Manufacturing and Design CentreSingapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 487372

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 papers will be 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 monthly 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 1500 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

• shape-memory polymers
• active structures
• 4D printing
• constitutive modeling
• structure design and manufacturing

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.