Thermoactive Smart Electrospun Nanofibers

The recent burst of research on smart materials is a clear evidence of the growing interest of the scientific community, industry, and society in the field. The exploitation of the great potential of stimuli-responsive materials for sensing, actuation, logic, and control applications is favored and supported by new manufacturing technologies, such as electrospinning, that allows to endow smart materials with micro- and nanostructuration, thus opening up additional and unprecedented prospects. In this wide and lively scenario, this article systematically reviews the current advances in the development of thermoactive electrospun fibers and textiles, sorting them, according to their response to the thermal stimulus. Hence, several platforms including thermoresponsive systems, shape memory polymers, thermo-optically responsive systems, phase change materials, thermoelectric materials, and pyroelectric materials, are described and critically discussed. The difference in active species and outputs of the aforementioned categories is highlighted, evidencing the transversal nature of temperature stimulus. Moreover, the potential of novel thermoactive materials are pointed out, revealing how their development could take to utmost interesting achievements.

Automated summary

The recent surge in research on smart materials indicates a growing interest in this field from the scientific community, industry, and society. The development of stimuli-responsive materials with the help of new manufacturing technologies such as electrospinning has opened up new possibilities. This article provides a systematic review of the current advancements in thermoactive electrospun fibers and textiles, categorizing them based on their response to thermal stimulus. Different platforms including thermoresponsive systems, shape memory polymers, thermo-optically responsive systems, and more are discussed, emphasizing the diversity and potential of temperature stimulus. Novel thermoactive materials are also highlighted for their promising achievements.