Smart Materials

Smart materials, also known as intelligent or responsive materials, are created materials with one or more characteristics that can be significantly altered in a controlled manner by external stimuli, such as stress, moisture, electric or magnetic fields, light, temperature, pH, or chemical compounds. Numerous applications, such as sensors, actuators, and artificial muscles, are built on smart materials, notably electroactive polymers (EAPs). Shape memory technology (SMT) and shape memory material (SMM) are terms used to refer to smart materials (SMT). There are many different kinds of smart materials, many of which are already popular. There are some examples are- Materials known as piezoelectric materials generate a voltage while under stress. A voltage applied across the sample will result in tension within the sample since this effect also occurs in the opposite direction. It is consequently possible to create structures from these materials that bend, expand, or shrink in response to an applied voltage. Shape-memory alloys and polymers allow for substantial deformation to be generated and recovered by changes in temperature or stress (pseudoelasticity). At higher temperatures, martensitic phase shift and induced elasticity both contribute to the shape memory effect. Light is converted to electrical current using photovoltaic materials or optoelectronics. Voltage or electric fields can alter the volume of electroactive polymers(EAPs).