20.500.12556/DiRROS-29096 Packaging of macroscopic material payloads needs, challenges, concepts, and future directions The packaging of various material goods is a necessary element in numerous sectors, ranging from the food and pharmaceutical industry to biotechnology and medicine to space missions. Packaging has a multifaceted complexity inherently linked to both the properties of the materials involved and the requirements of the intended application. This level of complexity calls for the development of smart materials engineering solutions, necessitating crossing the boundaries between various science disciplines. Despite this, discussions of packaging often remain fragmented by industrial sector and rarely treat it as a materials science and interfacial engineering problem. Here, we introduce a unified framework that decomposes any packaging system into the payload, packaging material, and packaging strategy, and combines them into a conceptual packaging equation: packaging strategy = payload + packaging material. We focus on payloads with sizes (volumes) ranging from approximately 100 μm (~pL) to 1 cm (~mL) and review relevant packaging strategies developed. To offer a systematic analysis, we categorize packaging strategies by the phase of the payload, and provide illustrative examples involving liquids, gases, solids, and mixed-phase payloads. Moreover, we discuss strategies based on their functionality (neutral, multifunctional, responsive) and packaging application location (in situ vs. ex situ). Our analysis is largely from the perspective of soft matter and interface science. Besides forming the basis of many of the examples discussed, these fields offer exciting opportunities for future research on packaging, both from a materials standpoint and a conceptual perspective. This includes the development necessary for smart packaging strategies that combine multifunctionality with responsiveness, as well as addressing traditional (e.g., cost-efficiency, scaling up) and emerging (e.g., sustainability, end-of-life) challenges. We intend to stimulate creativity and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration by inviting researchers and engineers from diverse fields to contribute novel ideas for addressing a truly complex yet highly fascinating problem. encapsulation interface science macroscopic payloads packaging responsive packaging smart packaging enkapsulacija znanost o mejnih plasteh makroskopski tovori embalaža odzivna embalaža pametna embalaža true false true Wiley Nemčija Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2026 The Author(s). Neznano 2026-04-20 15:31:47 2026-04-20 15:31:48 2026-04-21 04:15:27 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Opis vira z dne 20. 4. 22026; str. 1-31 iss. [article no.] 202502332 Vol. 8 April. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2025-09-09 2026-02-02 2026-04-08 620.1/.2 1527-2648 10.1002/adem.202502332 275779843 https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/adem.202502332 1 4a0340ec-3cbd-11f1-92e1-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=43467 RAZ_Jampani_Venkata_Subba_R._2026.pdf RAZ_Jampani_Venkata_Subba_R._2026.pdf 1 43FAE4338405EF954EA064A58D6158BD 820d3f21482d53b3ab4e7e9e1cd99d70637fe628589081196e34a9252f75b424 7f71f9dc-3cbd-11f1-92e1-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=43468 Institut Jožef Stefan 0 0 0