Functional Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications

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 (20 September 2021) | Viewed by 5015

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland
Interests: thin films; surface nanostructures; self-organization; crystallography; silsesquioxane

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For centuries in material science, we have been striving to achieve full control over material design, to obtain products with specific chemical and physical properties. Nanotechnology in the modern world has become a "Philosopher’s Stone", which, out of common materials like silica, creates structures with incredible functionality in areas such as electronics, optics, and energy science. Surface functionalization by thin film deposition, among numerous other innovations, has created numerous applicational possibilities in fields such as corrosion protection, sensors, anti-reflection coatings, and catalysis to name a few. The Special Issue is dedicated to advances in thin-film technology, focusing on novelties in synthesis and structure properties and possible application areas.

I am pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts in the form of full research papers, short communications, or reviews. The “Functional Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications” issue will present recent advances in organic, inorganic, or hybrid thin films. This section does not limit any thin film deposition techniques. All thin film studies, including those based on spin-coating, dip-coating, atomic layer deposition, chemical of physical vapor deposition, and other deposition techniques are welcome. The physical or chemical functionality of thin films remains the only key.

All manuscripts will undergo a rigorous peer review procedure and decisions will be based on the recommendations of independent reviewers.

In particular, the topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Thin film deposition techniques;
  • Thin film structure;
  • Morphology of thin-film growth;
  • Self-assembly and self-organization in thin films;
  • Optical and electronic properties;
  • Anti-reflective coatings;
  • Corrosion protection;
  • Thin film sensors.

Dr. Bartosz Handke
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.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4181 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Organically Modified Derivatives of Silica on the Structure and the Wetting Angle Values of Silica Coatings
by Anna Adamczyk
Coatings 2021, 11(9), 1058; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11091058 - 01 Sep 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1514
Abstract
The surrounding environment often acts in a destructive way on materials we apply in our everyday life. The best way to protect them against such activity is to cover the basic materials with coatings possessing different properties, tailored to their applications. Anticorrosive layers [...] Read more.
The surrounding environment often acts in a destructive way on materials we apply in our everyday life. The best way to protect them against such activity is to cover the basic materials with coatings possessing different properties, tailored to their applications. Anticorrosive layers are one of the biggest groups of such protective coatings, especially those containing silica or its derivatives. Depending on a type of silica precursor and a method of deposition, one can obtain coatings of different structures and properties. In this work, three different silica precursors were applied: TEOS (tetraethylorthosilane), DDS (dimethyldiethoxysilane) and AerosilTM (the powder silica). Sols of different concentrations of the aforementioned precursors as well as commercially available preparations (Sarsil H1 4/2 and SILOXAN W290) were applied for thin films deposition by a dip coating or an infiltration method. The substrates could be divided in two groups: metallic (steel and titanium or titanium alloys) and porous (represented by old brick, sandstone and limestone). Following the deposition process, the layers on metallic substrates were additionally annealed at 500 °C to improve their adhesion and mechanical properties, while those on porous materials were dried in air. All prepared coatings were primarily studied by FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The morphology of their surfaces was imaged by SEM and AFM microscopies, which also allowed determination of the roughness of obtained materials. The measurements of wetting angle values enabled to find the relationship between the surface topography, the type of silica precursor and the hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties of the samples. The results confirmed the hydrophobic properties of coatings obtained by the infiltration technique on the porous materials and the high hydrophilicity of the annealed thin film deposited on the metallic substrates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications)
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12 pages, 2157 KiB  
Article
Modeling of Poly(methylmethacrylate) Viscous Thin Films by Spin-Coating
by Navid Chapman, Mingyu Chapman and William B. Euler
Coatings 2021, 11(2), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11020198 - 09 Feb 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2795
Abstract
A predictive film thickness model based on an accepted equation of state is applied to the spin-coating of sub-micron poly(methylmethacrylate) viscous thin films from toluene. Concentration effects on density and dynamic viscosity of the spin-coating solution are closely examined. The film thickness model [...] Read more.
A predictive film thickness model based on an accepted equation of state is applied to the spin-coating of sub-micron poly(methylmethacrylate) viscous thin films from toluene. Concentration effects on density and dynamic viscosity of the spin-coating solution are closely examined. The film thickness model is calibrated with a system-specific film drying rate and was observed to scale with the square root of spin speed. Process mapping is used to generate a three-dimensional design space for the control of film thickness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications)
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