Advances in Laser Surface Treatment Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

Laser surface treatment technologies have emerged as a transformative approach in materials science and engineering, offering precise, controllable, and environmentally friendly methods for modifying surface properties without altering bulk material characteristics. These technologies enable the creation of tailored surface functionalities including enhanced wear resistance, improved corrosion protection, optimized adhesion properties, and specialized optical characteristics. As industries increasingly demand materials with superior performance under extreme conditions, laser-based surface engineering has become critical for aerospace, biomedical, automotive, and energy applications. The non-contact nature, precision, and versatility of laser treatments make them particularly valuable in developing next-generation coatings and surface modifications, representing a significant advancement over traditional surface engineering techniques.

This special issue directly aligns with Coatings journal's scope, which specifically covers "Processes for coating deposition and modification" and "Applied surface science" among its key focus areas. The special issue maintains an appropriate scope—neither too broad to lack focus nor too narrow to limit contributions—by concentrating specifically on laser-based surface treatment technologies while encompassing various materials systems and industrial applications. By focusing on this specialized area within the broader field of surface engineering, the special issue will provide a comprehensive platform for researchers to share innovations that advance both fundamental understanding and practical applications. With a goal of collecting at least 10 high-quality papers, this special issue will serve as a valuable resource for the coatings community and may be published as a dedicated volume upon reaching the target number of contributions.

The scope of this special issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Laser surface modification techniques for enhanced coating adhesion;
• Laser cladding and remelting processes for protective coatings;
• Ultrafast laser processing for functional surface engineering;
• Laser-induced surface texturing for tribological applications;
• In-situ monitoring of laser surface treatment processes;
• Computational modeling of laser-material interactions;
• Hybrid laser processes combined with other surface treatment methods;
• Laser surface treatment for biomedical coating applications;
• Environmental and economic aspects of laser surface engineering.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Xingyu Jiang
Prof. Dr. Kai Zhang
Dr. Boxue Song
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

• laser surface treatment
• surface modification
• coating technologies
• laser-material interactions
• functional coatings