Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Technologies for Advanced Functional Coatings and Materials

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Surface Characterization, Deposition and Modification".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2025) | Viewed by 694

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Laboratory of Tests, Wear and Materials, Instituto Pedro Nunes (LED & MAT, IPN), Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: thin films and nanotechnology; materials characterization; surface modification; polymers; polyesters; nanocomposites; graphene-based materials; nanoparticle preparation; nanotechnology in drug delivery
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Functional coatings add value by enhancing surfaces through the deposition of advanced, refined materials.

This Special Issue on coatings and advanced functional materials aims to collate cutting-edge research on coatings, encompassing both reviews and original studies with practical or potential applications. The focus is on integrating functionalities that contribute to green energy solutions and foster scientific innovation in sustainable practices.

Desired functionalities include intrinsic characteristics such as self-cleaning, superhydrophobic, superhydrophilic, anticorrosion, antibacterial, antiviral, antistatic, antireflective, antifouling, and barrier properties. Additionally, the exploration of functionalities induced by external stimuli is encouraged.

These functionalities are envisioned to address various end-use applications across industries such as transportation, aviation, aerospace, energy, and electronics. Moreover, the development of functional coatings aligns with the quest for green energy solutions, contributing to sustainability efforts in these sectors.

Coating preparation processes encompass a range of techniques, including chemical and physical vapor deposition, dipping, spraying, the incorporation of micro and nanoparticles, multilayer deposition, and sol–gel methods. Each process offers unique advantages in terms of efficiency, scalability, and environmental impact, underscoring the pivotal role of functional materials in advancing green energy solutions.

This Special Issue aims to spotlight the innovative role of surface engineering in seeking solutions for sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies.

Dr. Sandra M. A. Cruz
Guest Editor

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.

Keywords

  • coating
  • thin film
  • sputtering
  • sustainability
  • energy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4465 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Use of Expired Metoprolol as Corrosion Inhibitor for Carbon Steel in Saline Solution
by Mircea Laurențiu Dan, Nataliia Rudenko, Cristian George Vaszilcsin and George-Daniel Dima
Coatings 2025, 15(7), 742; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15070742 - 22 Jun 2025
Viewed by 303
Abstract
The current paper examines the sustainable possibility for recycling unused or expired Metoprolol (MET), a benzodiazepine derivative, as an effective corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in saline solutions. Repurposing expired medicinal drugs aligns with green chemistry concepts and supports circular economy initiatives by [...] Read more.
The current paper examines the sustainable possibility for recycling unused or expired Metoprolol (MET), a benzodiazepine derivative, as an effective corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in saline solutions. Repurposing expired medicinal drugs aligns with green chemistry concepts and supports circular economy initiatives by reducing pharmaceutical waste and averting the production of new synthetic inhibitors. The technical benefit of recycling expired MET drugs pertains to the elimination of costs associated with organic inhibitor manufacturing and the decrease in disposal expenses for the expired medication. A combination of electrochemical techniques (potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and quantum chemical calculations was employed to evaluate the inhibitory mechanism and efficacy of MET. At a concentration of 10−3 M, MET reduced the corrosion current density from 19.38 to 5.97 μA cm−2, achieving a maximum IE of 69.1%. Adsorption Gibbs free energy, determined using different adsorption isotherms, revealed that interactions between metal atoms and MET adsorbed molecules have a chemical character with a ∆Goads value of −50.7 kJ·mol−1. Furthermore, quantum chemistry calculations indicate that the investigated drug, owing to its molecular structure (EHOMO = −9.12 eV, ELUMO = 0.21 eV, µ = 3.95 D), possesses the capacity to establish an adsorption layer on the metal surface, thereby impeding the diffusion of molecules and ions involved in the overall corrosion process. The results obtained using the different techniques were in good agreement and highlighted the effectiveness of MET in the corrosion inhibition of carbon steel. Full article
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