Nanocomposites

Stimuli-Responsive Nanocomposites: Mechanisms, Functionalities and Emerging Applications

Nanocomposites have attracted significant research interest because the incorporation of nanoscale fillers can provide tailored mechanical, thermal, electrical, magnetic, optical, and other functionalities. Recent advances in nanomaterial synthesis, surface modification, and processing have further enabled the development of stimuli-responsive nanocomposites, in which material properties can be actively controlled by external stimuli. Such materials provide opportunities for achieving on-demand and adaptive functionalities that cannot be easily achieved with conventional nanocomposites.

This ‘Collection’ aims to bring together recent developments in the design, fabrication, characterization, modelling, and application of stimuli-responsive nanocomposites. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding the relationships between composition, morphology, filler-matrix interactions, stimuli-response mechanisms, and resulting functionalities and structural-property relations.

Stimuli-responsive nanocomposites can provide controlled responses to thermal, electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical stimuli. The ability to remotely or locally activate a material response offers opportunities for applications including sensing, actuation, energy conversion, adaptive structures, smart interfaces, and advanced manufacturing. For example, magnetic or electrically responsive nanocomposites can enable localized heating, while appropriately designed nanocomposite systems can provide stimulus-triggered changes in adhesion, mechanical properties, morphology, or other functional characteristics.

Despite the progresses, challenges remain in controlling the magnitude, localization, reversibility, and repeatability of stimulus-induced responses. The influence of filler size, geometry, concentration, dispersion, morphology, surface chemistry, and interfacial interactions on the overall response also requires further understanding. Addressing these challenges through material design, processing, characterization, and multiscale modelling is important for translating stimuli-responsive nanocomposites from laboratory-scale demonstrations to practical engineering applications. Such functionalities may enable new approaches to the repair, disassembly, remanufacturing, and recycling of composite materials and structures.

The Collection welcomes original research articles, review articles, and short communications covering, but not limited to:

• Design and synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymeric, ceramic, and other nanocomposites
• Thermal, electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, and chemically responsive nanocomposites
• Field-induced and remotely activated nanocomposite functionalities
• Magnetic and electrically induced heating and associated thermal responses
• Influence of nanoparticle size, filler-matrix interactions, dispersion, concentration, and surface chemistry on stimulus-response behavior
• Stimuli-responsive adhesives, interfaces, bonded joints, and composite structures
• Self-healing, shape-memory, adaptive, and damage-responsive nanocomposites
• Nanocomposites for sensing, actuation, energy conversion, and electromagnetic applications
• Manufacturing, multiscale modelling, and simulation of structure–property relationships of stimuli-responsive nanocomposites
• Characterization of dynamic, reversible, and stimulus-induced changes in nanocomposite properties
• Applications in aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics, and advanced manufacturing
• Stimuli-responsive approaches for composite repair, disassembly, remanufacturing, and recycling

Keywords: Stimuli-responsive nanocomposites; Field-induced & remotely activated functionalities; Stimuli-responsive adhesive and interfaces; Multiscale modelling & structural-property relations; Disassembly & remanufacturing of joints/composites

­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is [23 July 2027].

Please contact [Agnes Zhou] at [Agnes.Zhou@taylorandfrancis.com] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select "Stimuli-Responsive Nanocomposites: Mechanisms, Functionalities and Emerging Applications" from the drop-down menu in the submission system

Amit Chanda is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with over eight years of research experience in polymer nanocomposites, multifunctional materials, composite mechanics, and stimuli responsive systems. His research focuses on stimuli responsive and recyclable composite materials, including electrically and magnetically activated adhesives, localized heating, on demand debonding, and sustainable approaches to composite repair, disassembly, remanufacturing, and recycling. He has extensive experience in nanofiller design and alignment, filler matrix interactions, fracture and interfacial mechanics, multiphysics modelling, and in situ and operando characterization of advanced materials.

Sridhar Idapalapati is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with extensive research experience in composite materials, adhesive bonding, fracture and damage mechanics, advanced manufacturing, and sustainable materials engineering. His research has focused on adhesive bonded composite structures, debonding and repair technologies, nanocomposites, multifunctional materials, additive manufacturing, and materials and structural sustainability, with particular emphasis on understanding and controlling interfacial and structural behaviour. He has led and contributed to numerous research projects with academic, government, and industrial partners, including work on debonding on demand, composite repair and remanufacturing, and advanced manufacturing of multifunctional structures. He has published extensively in the areas of composites, adhesive bonding, materials mechanics, and manufacturing, and has received multiple research grants and patents arising from his work on sustainable composite structures and advanced materials.