The design and development of functional materials is considered to be of high importance nowadays, in view of the numerous challenges that need to be addressed in today’s society. Functional polymers play a key role in providing solutions to such challenges. Their extremely high versatility in respect to their chemical composition, architecture and morphology, their ability to create well-organized nanomorphologies, along with the possibility to combine them with functional organic or inorganic (nano)fillers, enabled the development of innovative polymer-based functional materials with potential use in various areas.

This presentation provides an overview of our recent research activities on the fabrication, characterization and applications of polymer-based functional materials, focusing on 2 main pillars: (I) Electrospun fibers and fibrous nanocomposites and (II) 3D hydrogels and hydrogel nanocomposites. More precisely, the synthetic/fabrication strategies followed in the preparation of the afore-mentioned systems, along with the materials’ characterization and investigation of their potential applicability in various fields, are presented and discussed.