To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), this special issue features NIMTE's state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research at the frontiers of materials science and engineering. We established an academic committee with Prof. Qunji Xue, a Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), as the advisor. Prof. Liping Wang, the president of NIMTE, Prof. Tao Chen, and Prof. Zhiyi Lu as guest editors are responsible for the issue. The special issue showcases a collection of Reviews reflecting the remarkable contributions of NIMTE faculty members, covering a wide range of hot topics in materials science and their highly important applications.

NIMTE, as a research institute affiliated with the CAS, was officially co-founded in 2004 by the CAS, Zhejiang Province, and Ningbo Municipality. NIMTE is dedicating itself to strengthening the cross-integration of the main discipline, i.e., materials science, with other disciplines of chemistry, physics, information technology, medical engineering, and mechanical engineering. NIMTE, including 12 academic and technology innovation units, now has a full-time regular faculty staff of more than 1000 from a diverse background and a student population of more than 2500. Named after “materials”, NIMTE pursues the goals with “materials” as the cornerstone, conducting fundamental, forward-looking, world-leading research in the field of materials. As a result, the research and development of marine materials and related technologies, magnetic functional materials and devices, polymers and composites, new energy materials and system technology, optoelectronic information materials and devices, biomedical materials and technology, etc., have shown distinctive features and advantages in recent years. In the near future, NIMTE will strive to become a cradle of original innovation and integrated innovation of key technologies in the new materials field, growing into a world-class scientific research institution.

This Special Issue of Advanced Materials features 31 Reviews, encompassing various disciplines within materials science and engineering, organized under 6 main themes: marine materials and related technologies, magnetic functional materials and devices, polymers and composites, new energy materials and system technology, optoelectronic information materials and devices, biomedical materials and technology.

The guest editors are excited and honored to present this carefully curated collection of reviews, showcasing a wide range of multidisciplinary materials research with a significant cross-section at NIMTE. We thank all the contributing authors for their invaluable contributions to this Special Issue. We would like to express our gratitude to the deputy editor, Dr. Duoduo Liang, who was instrumental in planning this special issue right from the beginning. His support and guidance have been invaluable. We trust that the readers of Advanced Materials will find this issue both enjoyable and enlightening, gaining insight into the forefront of NIMTE's contributions to fundamental and applied materials science. We are optimistic that this special issue will spark further fruitful interdisciplinary and international collaborations, strengthening NIMTE's position, and growing into a world-class scientific research institution. (Advanced Materials)