Smart and functional materials processed by printing technologies reveal an increasing interest due to small cost assembly, easy integration into devices and the possibility to obtain multifunctional materials over flexible and large areas. After introducing smart materials, printing technologies and inks, this review discusses the materials that are already being printed, mainly piezoelectric, piezoresistive, magnetostrictive, shape memory polymers (SMP), pH sensitive and chromic system materials. Since polymer-based smart materials are particularly attractive for device implementation, this review will focus on printed polymer-based smart materials. Finally, critical challenges and future research directions will be addressed.

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Printing electronic passive components suffer from the lack of a wide variety of appropriate materials for developing components with specific characteristics, for specific dimensions. This paper introduces a multilayer approach for the inkjet printing of resistors, inductors and capacitors, showing that it is possible to manufacture tailored passive circuit elements and therefore their implementation into functional printed electronics. The materials and process steps for the manufacturing, the individual component characteristics and the equivalent circuit is provided for all passive devices.

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