Sustainable Polymer Composites and Smart Materials for Advanced Engineering Applications

The growing demand for sustainable, lightweight, and high-performance materials is transforming modern engineering across automotive, aerospace, construction, energy, biomedical, marine, and electronic sectors. Polymer composites and smart materials have emerged as promising solutions due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, design flexibility, and multifunctional capabilities. At the same time, increasing environmental concerns have accelerated the development of bio-based polymers, natural fibre-reinforced composites, recycled materials, and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes that support global sustainability goals. Recent advances in nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and computational materials engineering have significantly improved the design, optimization, and performance prediction of polymer composites and smart materials. Intelligent materials capable of self-sensing, self-healing, shape-memory behavior, energy harvesting, and adaptive responses are expanding the possibilities for next-generation engineering systems. However, several scientific and technological challenges remain, including enhancing interfacial bonding, improving durability under harsh environments, ensuring recyclability, reducing manufacturing costs, and achieving reliable large-scale production. This Research Topic aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for researchers, engineers, and industrial practitioners to share recent advances in sustainable polymer composites and smart materials for advanced engineering applications. The collection welcomes high-quality original research articles, review papers, mini-reviews, perspectives, and case studies that address innovative material development, processing techniques, characterization methods, computational modeling, and industrial implementation. Topics of interest include sustainable polymer matrices, natural fibre and bio-based composites, nanocomposites, multifunctional and hybrid composite materials, smart materials and structures, advanced manufacturing and additive manufacturing technologies, AI-assisted material design, digital twin approaches, predictive modeling, structural health monitoring, and lifecycle assessment. Contributions exploring mechanical, thermal, electrical, tribological, environmental, and functional performance are particularly encouraged. Studies integrating experimental investigations with numerical simulations or data-driven optimization methods are also welcome. By bringing together contributions from materials science, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, manufacturing, and computational disciplines, this Research Topic seeks to advance scientific knowledge and accelerate the development of sustainable and intelligent materials for future engineering systems. The collection will provide valuable insights into emerging technologies, promote interdisciplinary collaboration between academia and industry, and support the development of innovative materials that enhance performance, resource efficiency, and environmental sustainability in advanced engineering applications. Topic editors: Manikandan Durairaj, MILON SELVAM DENNISON, Ramaswamy Krishnaraj Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84791/sustainable-polymer-composites-and-smart-materials-for-advanced-engineering-applications