Multifunctional Thin Films and Nanostructures for Energy Conversion and Management

Dear Colleagues,

Multifunctional thin films and nanostructured coatings are increasingly enabling energy technologies where performance is governed by surfaces, interfaces, and engineered microstructures. Unlike bulk materials, thin film- and coating-based architectures allow precise control  over thickness, composition, defect chemistry, and interfacial transport, which is essential for optimizing charge, ion, and heat transfer. This Special Issue targets advanced thin films and nanostructures that support energy harvesting, conversion, and management across key application platforms, including perovskite solar cells and related semiconductor thin films, photoelectrochemical and catalytic coatings for solar fuels, thermoelectric coatings for waste heat recovery, and functional layers for electrochemical energy devices, such as protonic ceramic electrolysis cells (PCECs).

From a coatings and surface engineering perspective, device efficiency and lifetime are critically governed by functional coatings and engineered interfaces. Thin film absorbers, transport layers, catalytic and protective coatings, diffusion barriers, and passivation layers are commonly deposited on porous or dense substrates, where adhesion, microstructure, and interfacial chemistry dictate stability and performance. Consequently, coating composition, thickness, morphology, residual stress, and degradation under realistic operating environments such as humidity, thermal cycling, light exposure, and chemically aggressive media are decisive factors.

The growing interest in these technologies is driven by the global demand for decarbonized power generation, sustainable fuels, and efficient energy storage compatible with intermittent renewables. Despite rapid progress, practical deployment remains limited by coating related challenges, including achieving dense and defect-free functional layers when required, suppressing interfacial reactions, mitigating thermal mechanical mismatch, ensuring scalable and reproducible deposition routes, and improving long-term durability.

This Special Issue aims to present recent advances in coating materials, deposition techniques, surface and interface engineering, and degradation mechanisms relevant to multifunctional thin films and nanostructures for energy conversion and management. Original research articles and focused reviews addressing experimental, theoretical, and computational aspects are welcome.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

• Surface and interface engineering for energy devices;
• Perovskite solar cells and semiconductor thin films;
• Thin film electrolytes and functional layers for electrochemical devices (including PCECs);
• Thermoelectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and multiferroic thin films and nanostructures;
• Coating technologies (for example sputtering, ALD, PLD, CVD, sol gel, spray coating, printing);
• Degradation mechanisms, stability, and reliability;
• Modeling of coatings and interfaces.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jesús Eduardo Leal-Pérez
Dr. Zilong Zhuang
Dr. Abel Hurtado‑Macías
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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-anonymized 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.

• multifunctional thin films
• nanostructured coatings
• perovskite solar cells
• protonic ceramic electrolysis cells (PCECs)
• surface and interface engineering