Functional Coatings for Smart Textiles
A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 1228
Special Issue Editors
Interests: innovative manufacturing technology to produce performance textiles; needleless electrospinning technology to manufacture nanofibers; green method to reuse wasted textile materials
Interests: advanced functional and performance textiles; polymeric and nanomaterials for biomedical and wearable applications; scalable manufacturing technologies for fibrous and nanofibrous materials (including electrospinning-based platforms); sustainable and circular approaches to textile and polymer waste reuse; surface modification and interfacial science of fibres and composites; the design and evaluation of materials for thermal, moisture, sensing and physiological comfort in next-generation textiles and medical devices
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to submit your latest research to this Special Issue, titled “Functional Coatings for Smart Textiles”.
Smart textiles represent one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving areas in materials science and engineering. By integrating textile substrates with advanced functional materials, smart textiles can sense, respond to, and interact with their surrounding environment. In this context, functional coatings play a pivotal role, enabling textiles to acquire new capabilities such as chemical and biological sensing, electrical conductivity, thermal regulation, self-cleaning, environmental remediation, and health monitoring.
Despite significant progress in recent years, several critical challenges remain. These include achieving durable adhesion on flexible and porous fibrous substrates, maintaining coating performance under mechanical deformation (e.g., bending, stretching, and abrasion), ensuring washability and long-term stability, and developing scalable fabrication methods suitable for industrial production. At the same time, there is a growing demand for sustainable, low-cost, and environmentally benign coating strategies that align with circular economy principles.
This Special Issue aims to highlight the latest advances in the design, fabrication, characterisation, and application of functional coatings specifically tailored for smart textile systems. We welcome high-quality original research articles and comprehensive review papers that bridge fundamental materials science with practical, real-world applications.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Novel functional coating materials for smart textiles;
- Bio-inspired and dopamine-based coating systems on fibrous substrates;
- Nanomaterial-based coatings for sensing and diagnostics;
- Colorimetric and smartphone-readable textile or paper-based sensors;
- Conductive coatings for wearable electronics and energy harvesting;
- Responsive and stimuli-sensitive textile coatings;
- Coatings for environmental monitoring and water quality analysis;
- Sustainable, biodegradable, or low-impact coating materials;
- Durability, washability, and mechanical performance of functional coatings;
- Scalable fabrication techniques for industrial textile coating applications.
We look forward to your valuable contributions to this timely and rapidly advancing field.
Dr. Xin Wang
Dr. Shadi Houshyar
Prof. Dr. Deshan Cheng
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- functional coatings
- smart textiles
- nanocoatings
- sustainable coatings
- textile surface engineering
- textile finishes
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
