Advances in Electrospun Stimuli‐Responsive Smart Fibers: A Review

Abstract

With the rapid evolution of flexible electronics and biomedical systems, stimuli‐responsive smart fibers have emerged as important functional materials. Electrospinning serves as a versatile fabrication route for micro/nanofibers, enabling tunable fiber morphologies, high porosity, and large specific surface areas to regulate the structure–property relationships of stimuli‐responsive smart fibers. This review systematically summarizes the fundamentals, structural design strategies, fabrication technologies, and applications of electrospun stimuli‐responsive smart fibers. The response mechanisms underlying seven typical stimuli, including temperature, light, pH, humidity, force, magnetism, and electricity, are first discussed. Subsequently, material selection, electrospinning strategies, and structural design approaches are discussed, highlighting how architecture and interfacial regulation govern response speed, sensitivity, and cycling stability. Furthermore, recent advances in five core application domains, including optical responses, wettability switching, shape‐morphing actuation, energy harvesting/storage, and signal transduction, are summarized. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities are discussed, with emphasis on multi‐stimulus coupling, artificial intelligence (AI)‐assisted fabrication, and green scalable production. Overall, this review provides comprehensive theoretical guidance for the development and industrial translation of high‐performance intelligent fiber materials.