Multi-stimuli Responsive Materials for Smart Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

Stimuli-responsive materials that respond to specific external stimuli and provide a readable corresponding signal have received great scientific attention for potential application in wearable electronics, anticounterfeiting, self-powered light sources and displays, human–machine interactive systems, and intelligent sensing systems. These materials are of huge importance since changing their properties in response to the surrounding environment allows for fine control of the desired properties. These can be tuned by adjusting the temperature, pH, light, electric field and so forth. Several examples of these materials are reported in the literature, and noteworthy examples include redox-active and luminescent materials. As a result of redox reactions due to an electrical stimulus, there are materials that show a reversible “color” change (electrochromism), as well as materials that show a fluorescence change, both in terms of intensity and wavelength (electrofluorochromism). In these phenomena, the electrochemical monitoring of the absorption and fluorescence properties of the compounds occurs. Of course, all other external stimuli are welcome in this Special Issue.

Original research, reviews, and perspective articles on themes including but not limited to the following are welcome:

• New molecular approach to obtain multi-stimuli responsive materials;
• Experimental aspects that span from the design, synthesis and characterization of novel organic, inorganic, hybrid, small molecules or polymeric functional materials;
• The design and performance characterization of devices that have potential use in next-generation multi-stimuli responsive materials;
• Theoretical modelling for the prediction of materials and device features.

Several interesting molecular and device design strategies are expected to be proposed, indicating directions for obtaining high-performing functional materials worth further exploration.

Dr. Giuseppina Anna Corrente
Prof. Dr. Amerigo Beneduci
Guest Editors

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• stimuli-responsive materials
• organic compounds
• polymers
• molecular design
• molecular modeling
• intelligent systems
• smart devices
• external stimuli
• wearable electronics
• anticounterfeiting