Smart Materials
Viewpoints
2023
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November:
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October:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2022
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December/January:
2022: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2023 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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February:
2021
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December/January:
2021: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2022 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
Self-Propelling Liquid Crystals
Smart-Material Applications in Health Care -
February:
Flexible Thermoelectric Generators
Opportunities in Smart Wearables
Archived Viewpoints
2020
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December/January:
2020: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2021 -
November:
Smart Materials in Sports Gear
Commercial Development Parameters: IP and Marketing -
October:
Thermoelectrochemical Cells
Technology in Brief: Thermoelectrics -
September:
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August:
Lamborghini's Smart Cooling System
Opportunities in the Automotive Sector -
July:
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June:
The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials
Scenarios Presentation: The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Technology Development
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May:
The Pandemic Crisis: Key Forces That Will Shape the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Materials
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April:
Magnetoresponsive Acoustic Metamaterials
Synergistic Technologies -
March:
Smart Cellulose Nanomaterials
Low-Temperature Thermoelectric Photovoltaics -
February:
Nissan Demonstrates New Acoustic Metamaterial
Self-Healing Thermoelectric Generators
2019
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December/January:
2019: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2020 -
November:
Phototactic Hydrogel
Materials for Mechanocaloric Refrigeration -
October:
New Color-Changing Materials
Ultrathin 3D-Printed Piezoelectric Films -
September:
Triboelectric Pacemakers
Polymer Covalent Organic Frameworks -
August:
Low-Cost Room-Temperature Thermoelectric Generators
New Magnetically Activated Shape-Memory Material -
July:
Laser-Induced-Graphene Triboelectric Nanogenerators
Advances in Tin Selenide Thermoelectric Generators -
June:
Flexible, Self-Repairing Cement
UV-Activated Hemostatic Hydrogel -
May:
Phosphorene Nanoribbons
Snow-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator -
April:
Muscle-Like, Self-Strengthening Materials
Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerators -
March:
Piezoelectric Pacemakers
Cultivating Thermoelectric Paper from Bacteria -
February:
Thermoelectric Wearables
Controllable Phase-Change Materials
2018
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December/January:
2018: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2019 -
November:
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October:
High-Temperature Shape-Memory Alloys
Composite Nanomembrane Smart Patches -
September:
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August:
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July:
Thermoelectric Materials in Gaming
Conductive Self-Healing Robotic Skin -
June:
Acoustic-Metamaterials Cloaking Devices
Breakthrough Development of Piezoelectric Ceramics -
May:
Self-Healing Protective Metal Coatings
Commercial Benefits of Smart Glass -
April:
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March:
Biodegradable Implantable Pressure Sensors
Energy-Harvesting Internet of Things Devices -
February:
Smart Morphing Aircraft Wings
Self-Diagnostic Smart Skin on Vehicles
2017
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December/January:
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November:
Optical- and Brain-Inspired Computing Using Phase-Change Materials
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October:
Smart-Energy-Harvesting-Roads Research in the United Kingdom
Smart Textiles for Interactive Surfaces in Future Automobiles
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September:
Self-Healing Hybrid Rubber
3D Printing Light-Activated Smart Devices -
August:
Thermoelectric Materials that Simulate Sensation
Energy-Harvesting Pouch for Portable Electronic Devices -
July:
Shape-Memory Alloys for Soft-Robotics Applications
Optical Metamaterials in the Aerospace Industry -
June:
Next-Generation Pacemakers Powered by the Heart
Smart-Textiles Developments -
May:
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April:
Piezoelectric MEMS in Consumer-Electronics Devices
Nanomachine-Based Smart Materials -
March:
Artificial-Muscle Textiles
Smart Windows with Fast Switching Times -
February:
Shape-Engineerable Thermoelectric Paints
Harvesting Energy from Touch
2016
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December/January:
2016: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2017 -
November:
Stretchable Sun Sensors
Piezoelectric Roads for Renewable-Energy Generation -
October:
High-Resolution 4D Printing of Soft Active Materials
Third-Generation Textiles That Compute -
September:
Living Smart Bricks for Sustainable Buildings
World's First Stochastic Phase-Change Neurons -
August:
3D Printing of Electroactive-Polymer Muscles
Shape-Adaptive Energy-Harvesting Triboelectric Nanogenerators -
July:
Light-Emitting Smart Glass
Investments in Nitinol Orthopedics -
June:
Smart Threads for Interactive Textiles
Color-Changing Hydrogels for Disease Detection -
May:
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April:
Harvesting Wind Energy Using Triboelectric Grass
Reinstating Moore's Law with Piezoelectric Transistors? -
March:
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February:
Power Converters for Triboelectric Nanogenerators
Tunable Optical Transmittance
2015
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December/January:
2015: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2016 -
November:
Temperature-Responsive Hydrogel
Google Patents Smart Grips for Google Glass -
October:
New Market Data: Quantitative Confusion?
Materials That Change Texture -
September:
New Benchmark in Bismuth Telluride
Smart Paint Set to Emerge Commercially? -
August:
Flexible Bioelectronics
New Transparent, Flexible Ferroelectric/Piezoelectric Materials -
July:
Using Piezoelectricity to Improve Toughness
Demand for Morphing Materials? -
June:
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May:
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April:
Goodyear's Smart-Tire Concepts
Triboelectric-Nanogenerator Jacket -
March:
Surge of Market Interest in Smart Materials?
Car Glass in Transition: Smart Mirrors to Smart Glazing -
February:
Progress in Large-Scale Thermoelectric Waste-Heat Recovery
Molybdenum Disulfide Piezoelectrics
2014
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December/January:
2014: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2015 -
November:
Smart Materials Enable Smart Bicycles
Smart Materials Underpin Health Advances -
October:
Integrating Piezoelectrics and Microelectronics
Mimicking the Octopus -
September:
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August:
Self-Healing Materials: Commercial Progress?
Novel Robots, New Smart Materials -
July:
Thermoelectric Leaps
Combining Organic Electronics and Shape-Memory Materials -
June:
Triboelectric Energy Harvesting
Color-Changing Stress Sensors -
May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2013
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December/January:
2013: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2014 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
Progress in Thermoelectric Materials and Thermoelectric Products
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February:
2012
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December/January:
2012: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2013 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
Update: The Global Market for Smart Materials
Plasmonic Metamaterials
2011
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December/January:
2011: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2012 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
The Recovery: Cars and Electronics in Japan
Self-Repairing Lasers? -
June:
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May:
Self-Healing Plastics and Rubbers
Bird or Plane (Chinese Research Promises Radar Camouflage)? -
April:
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March:
Beyond Smart: Researchers Create Living Materials
Metamaterials to Improve Satellites? -
February:
2010
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December/January:
2010: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2011 -
November:
Electroactive Polymers: Developers, Approaches, and Applications
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October:
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September:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
Shape-Memory–Alloy Heat-Recovery System
Recent Developments: Living Materials? -
February:
2009
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December/January:
2009: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2010 -
November:
Smart Polymers and Artificial Muscles: Research and Development Analysis
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
Novel Piezoelectric Devices
Recent Developments: A Practical Use for Metamaterials? -
April:
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March:
Thermoelectric Technologies: An Introduction to Heat Recovery
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February:
2008
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December/January:
2008: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2009 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
Recent Developments: Shape-Memory Polymer Changes Color | CRF Pushes Smart Materials
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March:
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February:
2007
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December/January:
2007: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2008 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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April:
Intellectual Property and Smart Materials
The Global Market for Smart Materials -
March:
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February:
2006
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December/January:
2006: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2007 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
Future Opportunities: Smart Materials for Automotive Applications
2005
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December/January:
2005: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2006 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Recent Activity in Smart Materials for Aerospace Applications
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2004
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December/January:
2004: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2005 -
November:
Recent Developments: Biomimetic Smart Materials | Ferromagnetic Shape-Memory Alloys
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October:
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September:
Recent Developments: Thermoelectric Power Sources | Shape-Memory Fabrics | Smart Window Coatings
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August:
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July:
Intelligent Fasteners
Recent Developments: Smart Window Funding | Helimorph Actuators -
June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2003
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December/January:
2003: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2004 -
November:
Recent Developments: Energy-Harvesting Wireless Sensors | A Nitinol Blood-Clot Remover
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October:
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September:
Recent Developments: Developments at Gentex | Picture-Messaging Phones | Terfenol-D Funding
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August:
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July:
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June:
Recent Developments: U.S. Navy Funds Energy-Harvesting Research | Researchers Develop Smart Surfaces
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
A Look at CRF's Shape-Memory Actuators
Recent Developments: An Electroactive Polymer Composite
2002
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December/January:
2002: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2003 -
November:
Research Frontiers's SPD Technology
Recent Developments: Flexible Piezoelectric Actuators from NASA -
October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Recent Developments: Piezoelectric Polyimide | Electrorheological Fluids at Work | The Terfenol Toy
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May:
Impressions from SPIE's Smart Structures and Materials Symposium
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April:
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March:
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February:
2001
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December/January:
2001: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2002 -
November:
Recent Developments: A Nickel-Free SMA | Ferromagnetic Shape-Memory Alloys | Improving Piezoceramics
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
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April:
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March:
A New Shape-Memory Alloy
Recent Developments: Recyclable Electronic Equipment -
February:
Recent Developments: Automotive Market Increases for Self-Dimming Mirrors
2000
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December/January:
2000: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2001 -
November:
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October:
Recent Patents for Piezomaterials in Biosensors and Biochips
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Promise of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites for Sensors and Actuators
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May:
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April:
The SPIE Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials and Nondestructive Testing
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March:
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February:
1999
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December/January:
1999: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2000 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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Before August 1999, the Explorer service was called TechMonitoring, and Viewpoints were TechLinks.
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July:
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June:
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February:
1998
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December/January:
1998: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1999 -
November:
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1997
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December/January:
1997: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1998 -
November:
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1996
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December/January:
1996: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1997 -
November:
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March:
Ease of Use and Unique Benefits Are Very Important for SM Success in Broad Markets
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February:
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December/January:
1995: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 1996
About Smart Materials
Smart materials produce direct, inherent responses to signals such as temperature, voltage, pressure, magnetic fields, and light. The ability to use a very simple device to produce an action in response to specific conditions or signals can dramatically improve the overall performance of a device. Designers can use SMs to simplify products, add features, improve performance, or increase reliability with relatively little complexity. Key SMs include piezoelectrics, electrochromics, shape-memory materials, thermoelectrics, magnetorheological fluids, and self-healing materials. In addition to developments in SMs, developments continue in smart composites and metamaterials.
Notably, except piezoelectric materials, SM markets and technologies are relatively young. Nevertheless, a growing band of SM technologies have now entered commercial applications, albeit often in interesting niches. Existing SM applications are surprisingly numerous and diverse. Examples include simple piezoelectric speakers, smart sporting equipment (such as skis, tennis rackets, and exercise equipment), self-dimming automobile mirrors, magnetorheological suspension systems, medical-imaging devices, autofocus motors for cameras, active noise control for electric transformers or aircraft, and smart textiles.
Continuing commercialization of SM technologies benefits not only SM producers but also other participants across a number of value chains. Indeed, SMs benefit a wide range of companies across many industry sectors—including automotive, aerospace, medical, food, construction and infrastructure, consumer-products, Internet of Things, and robotics sectors. SMs will not only improve many existing products and services but will also enable the creation of completely new systems and approaches. Beyond "traditional" SMs—such as piezoelectrics and SMAs—wholly new materials and systems with smart functionalities are likely to emerge.