This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Recent Advances in Smart Materials for the Built Environment" that was published in Materials

The use of smart materials in architecture is a dynamic and innovative area merging research, development, and use. Smart materials, with their reversible characteristics, respond to stimuli such as light, temperature, and electrical field by changing their form, color, viscosity, etc. One of the most fascinating developments is the advent of Phase Change Materials. These materials make it possible, for example, to develop self-acting, kinetic facades and wallpaper that changes its color and pattern based on temperature and light. The book presents the development of these materials and also describes their use in the contexts of architecture, design, and art. It offers a systematic overview with a detailed discussion of properties, technologies, products, and projects based on twenty groups of smart materials.

Smart Buildings: Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology to Improve Energy Efficiency and Environmental Performance presents a thorough analysis of the latest advancements in construction materials and building design that are applied to maximize building efficiency in both new and existing buildings. After a brief introduction on the issues concerning the design process in the third millennium, Part One examines the differences between Zero Energy, Green, and Smart Buildings, with particular emphasis placed on the issue of smart buildings and smart housing, mainly the 'envelope' and how to make it more adaptive with the new possibilities offered by nanotechnology and smart materials. Part Two focuses on the last generation of solutions for smart thermal insulation. Based on the results of extensive research into more innovative insulation materials, chapters discuss achievements in nanotechnology, bio-ecological, and phase-change materials. The technical characteristics, performance level, and methods of use for each are described in detail, as are the achievements in the field of green walls and their use as a solution for upgrading the energy efficiency and environmental performance of existing buildings. Finally, Part Three reviews current research on smart windows, with the assumption that transparent surfaces represent the most critical element in the energy balance of the building. Chapters provide an extensive review on the technical features of transparent closures that are currently on the market or under development, from so-called dynamic glazing to bio-adaptive and photovoltaic glazing. The aesthetic potential and performance limits are also be discussed. - Presents valuable definitions that are given to explain the characteristics, requirements, and differences between 'zero energy', 'green' and 'smart' buildings - Contains particular focus on the next generation of construction materials and the most advanced products currently entering the market - Lists both the advantages and disadvantages to help the reader choose the most suitable solution - Takes into consideration both design and materials aspects - Promotes the existence of new advanced materials providing technical information to encourage further use and reduce costs compared to more traditional materials

This book presents select proceedings of the International Conference on Evolution in Manufacturing (ICEM 2020), and examines a range of areas including internet-of-things for cyber manufacturing, data analytics for manufacturing systems and processes and materials. The topics covered include modeling simulation and decision making in cyber physical systems for supporting engineering and production management, innovative approach in materials development, biomaterial applications, and advancement in manufacturing and material technologies. The book also discusses sustainability in manufacturing and supply chain management including circular economy. The book will be a valuable reference for beginners, researchers, and professionals interested in smart manufacturing in engineering, production management and materials technology.

Today, architects and designers are beginning to look toward developments in new "smart" or "intelligent" materials and technologies for solutions to long-standing problems in building design. However, these new materials have so far been applied in a diverse but largely idiosyncratic nature, because relatively few architects have access to information about the types or properties of these new materials or technologies. Two of the leading experts in this field - Addington and Schodek - have solved this problem by incorporating all the relevant information of all the latest technologies available to architects and designers in this one volume. They present materials by describing their fundamental characteristics, and go on to identify and suggest how these same characteristics can be exploited by professionals to achieve their design goals. Here, the wealth of technical understanding already available in the materials science and engineering literature is at last made accessible to a design audience.

This book explores the specific role that glazing technologies play within the world of smart architecture as important components of contemporary and future sustainable architectural and technological research. Smart Architecture begins with a definition of the concept of “smart” in architecture and examines how innovative technologies and materials have shaped buildings over the years. The author then provides a supporting database of contemporary smart architecture—mapping adopted strategies, recognizing common patterns, and evaluating current and future trends in the context of smart building envelopes, energy efficiency, and the development of high-potential innovative building components. The book proceeds with a focus on the specific role that glazing technologies play in this framework and provides a systematic methodology to quantify options for the effective integration of transparent building components within advanced and innovative building envelope systems.

The main aim of the 2nd international conference on recent advances in materials manufacturing and machine learning processes-2023 (RAMMML-23) is to bring together all interested academic researchers, scientists, engineers, and technocrats and provide a platform for continuous improvement of manufactur□ing, machine learning, design and materials engineering research. RAMMML 2023 received an overwhelm□ing response with more than 530 full paper submissions. After due and careful scrutiny, about 120 of them have been selected for presentation. The papers submitted have been reviewed by experts from renowned institutions, and subsequently, the authors have revised the papers, duly incorporating the suggestions of the reviewers. This has led to significant improvement in the quality of the contributions, Taylor & Francis publications, CRC Press have agreed to publish the selected proceedings of the conference in their book series of Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences. This enables fast dissemina□tion of the papers worldwide and increases the scope of visibility for the research contributions of the authors.

This book is a review of photonic materials and their applications. It presents 14 chapters, that give a snapshot of the field including basic sciences (photonics, plasmonics, advanced optics, nanophotonics) and applications (renewable energy, fiber-optics, lasers and smart materials). The book starts with a summary of recent developments in photonic crystal (PC) applications. This introduction is followed by chapters that present design concepts and investigations of PC devices such as: - All-optical XOR gates using 2D photonic crystals - One-dimensional PCs containing germanium (Ge). - Graphene surface plasmonics - Nanophotonics and fiber-optic lasers - Chalcogenides - Bragg Fibers and more The broad range of topics make this an informative source on current and exciting photonics research, and the variety of photonic materials. It serves as a reference for graduate scholars (in physics and materials science) and allied researchers who have a keen interest in photonics.

Smart Polymer Nanocomposites: Biomedical and Environmental Applications presents the latest information on smart polymers and their promising application in various fields, including their role in delivery systems for drugs, tissue engineering scaffolds, cell culture sports, bioseparation, and sensors or actuator systems. - Features detailed information on the preparation, characterization and applications of smart functional polymer composites - Covers a broad range of applications in both the biomedical and environmental engineering fields - Chapters are written by authors with diverse background expertise from the faculties of chemistry, engineering and the manufacturing industry