Topic: Towards 2035: The Next Decade of Soft Science

Towards 2035: The Next Decade of Flexible Science aims to chart the emerging landscape of intelligent, adaptive, and sustainable material systems that will define the future of flexible electronics. This Special Issue focuses on the transformative integration of flexible thermoelectric materials, hydrogel-based soft systems, advanced actuation technologies, soft robotics, and transient (biodegradable) electronics. By addressing long-standing challenges—such as the trade-off between mechanical compliance and functional performance, thermal–electrical–mechanical coupling, and the pursuit of environmental compatibility—this issue seeks to highlight frontier strategies for multifunctional integration and cross-scale design. Through contributions spanning materials chemistry, device physics, and bio-inspired engineering, we aim to illuminate new directions for flexible science in the next decade—where devices not only sense, harvest, and actuate, but also adapt, self-heal, and eventually vanish, enabling a seamless interface between humans, machines, and nature.

Flexible electronics, flexible thermoelectric materials, hydrogel-based soft systems, soft robotics and actuation, transient (biodegradable) electronics, thermal–electrical–mechanical coupling, bio-inspired engineering, self-healing and adaptive devices, human–machine–nature interface