Deposition Technologies for Functional Coatings

Dear Colleagues,

Functional coatings play a crucial role in enabling advanced performance in modern engineering systems, including aerospace, energy, electronics, biomedical devices, and structural components. By tailoring surface properties such as wear resistance, corrosion protection, thermal stability, radiation protection, electrical functionality, and chemical durability, surface coatings extend the service life and reliability of materials operating under demanding environments. Beyond composition alone, the functional performance of coatings is strongly governed by the deposition technology used to synthesize them, as deposition routes directly influence microstructural evolution, interfacial bonding, phase stability, defect formation, and long-term performance.

In recent years, significant advances have been achieved in coating deposition technologies, enabling the development of complex and multifunctional coating architectures. Techniques such as thermal spray processes, cold spray, physical and chemical vapor deposition, laser-based deposition, electrochemical methods, directed energy deposition and other advanced surface engineering approaches have expanded the ability to process metals, ceramics, polymers, and composite materials into high-performance coatings. In particular, composite and nanocomposite coatings have attracted increasing attention due to their ability to combine multiple functionalities, including enhanced mechanical strength, improved thermal stability, electrical conductivity, radiation shielding, and superior wear and corrosion resistance. These developments create new opportunities to engineer coating microstructures and interfaces with greater precision for advanced applications.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances in deposition technologies for functional coatings, with emphasis on both fundamental understanding and technological development. We welcome original research articles and review papers that explore innovative coating materials, deposition strategies, interfacial engineering approaches, and performance optimization. Contributions that integrate advanced characterization techniques, modeling, and emerging data-driven AI approaches to understand coating behavior are also encouraged.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Advanced deposition technologies for functional coatings
• Thermal spray and cold spray coating technologies
• Physical and chemical vapor deposition processes
• Laser-based and electrochemical coating techniques
• Functional ceramic, metallic, polymer, and composite coatings
• Composite and nanocomposite coating architectures
• Interface engineering and bonding mechanisms in coatings
• Microstructure evolution during coating deposition
• Coating performance in extreme environments (wear, corrosion, erosion, radiation shielding, high temperature)
• Advanced characterization and modeling of coating systems
• Coatings for aerospace and space applications
• Data-driven and AI-assisted approaches for coating design, process optimization, and performance prediction

Through this Special Issue, we aim to highlight scientifically rigorous contributions that advance both the fundamental understanding and technological development of next-generation functional, composite, and nanocomposite coating systems.

Dr. Denny John
Dr. Anil Lama
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.

• functional coatings
• deposition technologies
• thermal spray
• composite and nanocomposite coatings
• AI-assisted materials design