Advanced Lightweight Multifunctional Materials

Advanced Lightweight Multifunctional Materials presents the current state-of-the-art on multifunctional materials research, focusing on different morphologies and their preparation and applications. The book emphasizes recent advances on these types of materials as well as their application. Chapters cover porous multifunctional materials, thermochromic and thermoelectric materials, shape memory materials, piezoelectric multifunctional materials, electrochromic and electrorheological, soft materials, magnetic and photochromic materials, and more. The book will be a valuable reference resource for academic researchers and industrial engineers working in the design and manufacture of multifunctional materials, composites and nanocomposites.

• Provides detailed information on design, modeling and structural applications
• Focuses on characteristics, processing, design and applications
• Discusses the main types of lightweight multifunctional materials and processing techniques, as well as the physico-chemical insights that can lead to improved performance

Pedro Costa graduated in Physics and obtained his PhD degree in Materials Engineering at the University of Minho, Portugal in 2013. He is currently a researcher at the same university working in polymer-based composites for energy harvesting, sensors and actuator applications. He participates in several international conferences, has published in scientific journals and has one patent registered. His research interests are in the field of polymer-based smart material composites and their applications, including energy harvesting and generation.

Carlos Miguel Costa is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. His work is focused on the development electroactive polymer based porous membranes, anode and cathode material for energy storage applications in lithium-ion batteries and printed batteries. He also has experience in the processing, characterization, and optimization of sustainable polymers and polymer nanocomposites for sensors and actuators.

Senentxu Lanceros-Méndez is Research Professor and Scientific Director at the Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, Leioa, Spain. His work is focused in the area of polymer-based smart materials for sensors and actuators, energy, and biomedical applications.