Polymer-Nanomaterial Composites for Bioinspired Sensing
A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Hybrid and Composite Crystalline Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 1443
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biomimetics; flexible electronics; wearable sensors; NEMS; nanoengineering; polymer; nanomaterials; composites
Interests: additive manufacturing; implant development; composite materials; biomaterials; healthcare
Interests: carbon materials; functional materials; batteries; energy storage materials
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Polymer–nanomaterial composite (PNC) materials have drawn the interest of the scientific community for the past few decades owing to their versatility and employability in a myriad of applications, encompassing wearable electronics, optoelectronics, construction materials, biomedical products, high-temperature applications, etc. The infiltration of low-dimensional material fillers in bulk polymer matrices allows for the fine-tuning of their thermal, electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. For instance, the dispersion of conductive low-dimensional fillers in non-conductive polymer matrices can lead to significant enhancements in their dielectric properties near the percolation threshold. Well-observed phenomena like Simmons tunnelling in PNCs can be employed for the development of highly sensitive piezoresistive sensors. Recently, PNCs have garnered renewed interest in the field of material science and engineering by virtue of their strong applicability in the rapidly evolving domain of flexible and wearable electronics. PNCs have been employed for the development of various novel sensors with piezoelectric, piezoresistive, and capacitive underlying sensing mechanisms.
Although the material science community has so far been successful in achieving a breakneck pace in the utilization of PNCs for the development of products for next-generation applications, the real-life utilization of these materials for commercial consumer products leaves much to be desired. Bioinspired strategies could play an important role in the current scenario by enabling researchers to choose the most appropriate Nature-based designs tailored for particular applications. For instance, Eiji Nakatsu was immensely inspired by kingfishers’ spectacular ability to dive into water bodies to catch prey with a minimal splash, which led to the beak-inspired front design of the Shinkansen (also known as the bullet train). Another great example is that of human skin, which can be considered a large-area pressure, temperature, and vibration sensor, and presents an excellent scope for biomimicry to develop next-generation ultra-sensitive, sophisticated, and self-healable wearable sensors. Similarly, lateral line systems in fish comprising superficial and canal neuromasts can be mimicked to develop power-efficient ultra-sensitive pressure, vibration, and flow sensors.
Through this Special Issue, we aim to explore, report, and disseminate the current research trends and developments in the study of novel PNCs. Interfacing polymer nanomaterial composites and bioinspiration strategies for the development of next-generation sensors would be desirable. Preference will be given to original research articles and reviews with a focus on bio/Nature-inspired sensing.
Dr. Debarun Sengupta
Dr. Ajay Mandal
Dr. Liqiang Lu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- bioinspiration
- wearable electronics
- polymer–nanomaterial composites
- organic electronics
- sensors
- piezoresistive sensing
- piezoelectric sensing
- piezocapacitive sensing
