Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.6
5.0
Journals
Polymers
Special Issues
Stretchable and Smart Polymers
share announcement

Stretchable and Smart Polymers

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2020) | Viewed by 14991

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ho-Hsiu Chou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University No. 101, Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
Interests: organic semiconducting materials; soft functional materials and electronics; stretchable electronics; electronic skin; photocatalysis; energy coversion technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stretchable and smart polymers act as crucial materials for the next generation technology. This Special Issue focuses on the use of new strategies for developing polymers with innovative properties such as stretchability and smart functionalities, including self-healing and sensing ability. This topic covers the newest strategies and most recent progress in the preparation of such functional molecular polymers for different applications. The broad and growing interest in utilizing such functional polymers as active elements in various stretchable and self-healing materials and electronics, including conductors, sensors, smart elastomers, photovoltaics, transistors, batteries, and light-emitting diodes, is well represented in this Special Issue. Recent findings and reviews from experts in this frontier sector are welcome.

Prof. Ho-Hsiu Chou
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 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

  • Stretchable polymers
  • Smart polymers
  • Soft and bio-inspired materials
  • Self-healing and healable polymers
  • (Bio)nanocomposites
  • Flexible and stretchable (opto)electronics
  • Electronics skin/electronic synapse
  • Flexible sensors
  • Soft robots and actuators
  • Smart elastomers
  • Stretchable conductors
  • Biomaterials and bioelectronics

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 5341 KiB  
Article
Facile Preparation of Highly Stretchable TPU/Ag Nanowire Strain Sensor with Spring-Like Configuration
by Wei Pan, Juan Wang, Yong-Ping Li, Xiao-Bo Sun, Jin-Ping Wang, Xiao-Xiong Wang, Jun Zhang, Hai-Dong You, Gui-Feng Yu and Yun-Ze Long
Polymers 2020, 12(2), 339; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12020339 - 05 Feb 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3840
Abstract
Stretchable nano-fibers have attracted dramatic attention for the utility in wearable and flexible electronics. In the present case, Ag nanowires (AgNWs)-intertwined thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) unwoven nano-membrane is fabricated by an electrospinning method and dip coating technique. Then a strain sensor with a spring-like [...] Read more.
Stretchable nano-fibers have attracted dramatic attention for the utility in wearable and flexible electronics. In the present case, Ag nanowires (AgNWs)-intertwined thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) unwoven nano-membrane is fabricated by an electrospinning method and dip coating technique. Then a strain sensor with a spring-like configuration is fabricated by a twisted method. The sensor exhibits superior electrical conductivity up to 3990 S·cm−1 due to the high weight percentage of the Ag nanowires. Additionally, thanks to the free-standing spring-like configuration that consists of uniform neat loops, the strain sensor can detect a superior strain up to 900% at the point the sensor ruptures. On the other hand, the configuration can mostly protect the AgNWs from falling off. Furthermore, major human motion detection, like movement of a human forefinger, and minor human motion detection, such as a wrist pulse, show the possible application of the sensor in the field of flexible electronics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stretchable and Smart Polymers)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18 pages, 9037 KiB  
Article
Development of Self-Healable Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Materials Containing a Biobased Copolymer via Diels–Alder Chemistry and Their Application in Electromagnetic Interference Shielding
by Yi-Huan Lee, Wen-Chi Ko, Yan-Nian Zhuang, Lu-Ying Wang, Tao-Wei Yu, Shaio-Yen Lee, Tun-Fun Way and Syang-Peng Rwei
Polymers 2019, 11(11), 1755; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym11111755 - 25 Oct 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2954
Abstract
In this study, a novel biobased poly(ethylene brassylate)-poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether) copolymer (PEBF) copolymer was synthesized and applied as a structure-directing template to incorporate graphene and 1,1′-(methylenedi-4,1-phenylene)bismaleimide (BMI) to fabricate a series of self-healing organic/inorganic hybrid materials. This ternary material system provided different types [...] Read more.
In this study, a novel biobased poly(ethylene brassylate)-poly(furfuryl glycidyl ether) copolymer (PEBF) copolymer was synthesized and applied as a structure-directing template to incorporate graphene and 1,1′-(methylenedi-4,1-phenylene)bismaleimide (BMI) to fabricate a series of self-healing organic/inorganic hybrid materials. This ternary material system provided different types of diene/dienophile pairs from the furan/maleimide, graphene/furan, and graphene/maleimide combinations to build a crosslinked network via multiple Diels–Alder (DA) reactions and synergistically co-assembled graphene sheets into the polymeric matrix with a uniform dispersibility. The PEBF/graphene/BMI hybrid system possessed an efficient self-repairability for healing structural defects and an electromagnetic interference shielding ability in the Ku-band frequency range. We believe that the development of the biobased self-healing hybrid system provides a promising direction for the creation of a new class of materials with the advantages of environmental friendliness as well as durability, and shows potential for use in advanced electromagnetic applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stretchable and Smart Polymers)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

16 pages, 6173 KiB  
Article
Solvent Effects on Morphology and Electrical Properties of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Electrospun Nanofibers
by Jung-Yao Chen, Chien-You Su, Chau-Hsien Hsu, Yi-Hua Zhang, Qin-Cheng Zhang, Chia-Ling Chang, Chi-Chung Hua and Wen-Chang Chen
Polymers 2019, 11(9), 1501; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym11091501 - 14 Sep 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3817
Abstract
Herein, poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) nanofiber-based organic field-effect transistors were successfully prepared by coaxial electrospinning technique with P3HT as the core polymer and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as the shell polymer, followed by extraction of PMMA. Three different solvents for the core polymer, including chloroform, chlorobenzene [...] Read more.
Herein, poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) nanofiber-based organic field-effect transistors were successfully prepared by coaxial electrospinning technique with P3HT as the core polymer and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as the shell polymer, followed by extraction of PMMA. Three different solvents for the core polymer, including chloroform, chlorobenzene and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, were employed to manipulate the morphologies and electrical properties of P3HT electrospun nanofibers. Through the analyses from dynamic light scattering of P3HT solutions, polarized photoluminescence and X-ray diffraction pattern of P3HT electrospun nanofibers, it is revealed that the P3HT electrospun nanofiber prepared from the chloroform system displays a low crystallinity but highly oriented crystalline grains due to the dominant population of isolated-chain species in solution that greatly facilitates P3HT chain stretching during electrospinning. The resulting high charge-carrier mobility of 3.57 × 10−1 cm2·V−1·s−1 and decent mechanical deformation up to a strain of 80% make the P3HT electrospun nanofiber a promising means for fabricating stretchable optoelectronic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stretchable and Smart Polymers)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

13 pages, 2363 KiB  
Article
Deprotonation-Induced Conductivity Shift of Polyethylenedioxythiophenes in Aqueous Solutions: The Effects of Side-Chain Length and Polymer Composition
by Hailemichael Ayalew, Tian-lin Wang and Hsiao-hua Yu
Polymers 2019, 11(4), 659; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym11040659 - 10 Apr 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4066
Abstract
Deprotonation-induced conductivity shift of poly(3,4-ethylenedixoythiophene)s (PEDOTs) in aqueous solutions is a promising platform for chemical or biological sensor due to its large signal output and minimum effect from material morphology. Carboxylic acid group functionalized poly(Cn-EDOT-COOH)s are synthesized and electrodeposited on microelectrodes. [...] Read more.
Deprotonation-induced conductivity shift of poly(3,4-ethylenedixoythiophene)s (PEDOTs) in aqueous solutions is a promising platform for chemical or biological sensor due to its large signal output and minimum effect from material morphology. Carboxylic acid group functionalized poly(Cn-EDOT-COOH)s are synthesized and electrodeposited on microelectrodes. The microelectrodes are utilized to study the effect of carboxylic acid side-chain length on the conductivity curve profiles in aqueous buffer with different pH. The conductivity shifts due to the buffer pH are effected by the length of the carboxylic acid side-chains. The shifts can be explained by the carboxylic acid dissociation property (pKa) at the solid–liquid interface, self-doping effect, and effective conjugation length. Conductivity profiles of poly(EDOT-OH-co-C2-EDOT-COOH) copolymers are also studied. The shifts show linear relationship with the feed monomer composition used in electrochemical polymerization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stretchable and Smart Polymers)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop