Smart advanced responsive materials, synthesis methods and classifications: from Lab to applications

As high levels of complexity and efficiency are required in various applications, there has been growing interest in smart materials, which are known as responsive or intelligent materials. They response to external inputs, such as chemical stimuli (e.g. changes in concentration, humidity, and pH), mechanical stimuli (e.g. stress, strain, pressure), physical stimuli (e.g. light, sound, temperature, color), and electromagnetic stimuli (e.g. electric field, magnetic field, charge injection). A great deal of development of smart-responsive material in many areas has achieved more attention and is widely studied in the last decade. The unique and excellent properties of smart-responsive material allow the type of material to be used specifically and accurately in a particular application. In this review, the recent advances and several factors that influence the performance of smart-responsive material have been discussed. Synthesis pathways, composition, and chemical structure of smart-responsive material play an important factor in the characteristics and performance of responsive material. Moreover, some other affecting factors and mechanisms of the responsive material also have been discussed. Additionally, some prospects for improving the performance of the type of materials have been reported.