The latest developments in smart systems for improved human lives with advanced biomedical devices have evolved out of multi‐disciplinary scientific studies, including medicine, biology, material sciences, design, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, microelectronics, and so forth. The growth of such intelligent systems is primarily possible with innovative materials, which demonstrate the response to various external stimuli like temperature, heat, moisture, light, electromagnetic field, and chemical alteration. Such materials have been recently fabricated using different additive manufacturing techniques to devise personalized unique, complex, and novel structures that can adjust to external conditions over time and are specifically attributed to 4D printing. Novel materials that can further improve such systems continued to be explored and employed. This review paper investigates the additive manufacturing of functional polymer nanocomposites, which offer compliant structures with flexible manufacturing processes with high strength, low cost, and long‐term stability. This study aims to deliver a comprehensive and deep understanding of the latest developments in materials, design, manufacturing, fundamental mechanisms involved, and future possibilities in this area of research.
The sports industry is an ever-growing sector worldwide. With technological advancements in information technologies, the sports industry has merged with the entertainment industry, reaching and influencing billions of people globally. However, to ensure and advance the safety, security, and sustainability of the sports industry, technological innovations are always needed in several manufacturing and materials processes to achieve cost-effectiveness, efficiency, durability, reusability, and recyclability of products used in this industry. For example, 90% of the field hockey equipment produced in the world comes from Sialkot, Pakistan. Most export quality field hockey equipment is currently produced via reinforcement of glass/carbon fibers in epoxy resin. The current study aimed to introduce new materials for field hockey equipment to reduce manufacturing costs and the environmental impact of synthetic materials, without comprising the quality of the final product. Our literature review on natural fibers revealed that they offer excellent and compatible mechanical properties. Based on extensive experimental studies, we concluded that banana fiber reinforced hybrid composites could be an alternative to pure glass fiber reinforced composites, with comparable and even higher load withstanding capabilities. Using banana fiber reinforced hybrid composites for the fabrication of hockey products would cut costs and lower the environmental impact stemming from the uses of biodegradable organic materials. It will also lead to the development of a domestic economy based on domestic resources.
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