Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.0
2.9
Journals
Coatings
Special Issues
Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science
share announcement

Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Functional Polymer Coatings and Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2025 | Viewed by 12357

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hongbin Lu

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, China
Interests: anticorrosive coating; epoxy; acrylic; corrosion mechanisms; self-healing; Ti3C2Tx; stainless steel; proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Duan Bin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong, China
Interests: electrocatalysts; water splitting; electrode materials; aqueous rechargeable batteries; nanoparticles; layered materials; intercalation; guest spices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Li Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
School of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215009, China
Interests: corrosion protection for metals; functional coatings; nanomaterials; metallic glasses

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit your works to a Special Issue on “Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science”.

Surface coating is an effective strategy for modifying substrates to meet usage needs. In recent years, with the rapid development of energy saving, energy storage, electronic devices, healthcare, aerospace, and other fields, traditional coatings can no longer meet the demand, which promotes the development of functional coatings. Functional coatings with protection, heat insulation, cooling, conductivity, antibiosis, heat resistance, electromagnetic shielding, and other functions have been developed for different applications.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for researchers to publish their recent research efforts on functional coatings, including research on the preparation methods, structure characterization, properties, and performance analysis of functional coatings, whether theoretical or experimental. In this Special Issue, original papers or reviews on functional coatings are welcome. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Anticorrosive coatings;
  • Heat insulating or conducting coatings;
  • Electronic or ionic conducting coatings;
  • Passive cooling coatings;
  • Electromagnetic shielding coatings;
  • Antimicrobial coatings;
  • Heat-resistant coatings;
  • Photothermal coatings;
  • Hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings;
  • Smart coatings.

Prof. Dr. Hongbin Lu
Dr. Duan Bin
Guest Editors

Dr. Li Jiang
Guest Editor Assistant

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

  • anticorrosive coatings
  • heat insulating or conducting coatings
  • electronic or ionic conducting coatings
  • passive cooling coatings
  • electromagnetic shielding coatings
  • antimicrobial coatings
  • heat-resistant coatings
  • photothermal coatings
  • hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings
  • smart coatings

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

13 pages, 3667 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Properties of PEDOT-PSS/Waterborne Acrylic Resin Coating
by Congcong Li, Haifeng Bian, Yongkang Wang, Xiao Liu, Linyan Su, Wenhao Bu, Yunfei Wang, Beibei Yang, Duan Bin, Peng Zhu and Hongbin Lu
Coatings 2025, 15(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15010014 - 27 Dec 2024
Viewed by 685
Abstract
Stainless steel (SS) is highly susceptible to corrosion in acidic environments, which significantly limits its applicability in such conditions. In this paper, a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT-PSS)/waterborne acrylic resin (AR) composite coating was designed and prepared for enhancing the corrosion resistance of 304SS. [...] Read more.
Stainless steel (SS) is highly susceptible to corrosion in acidic environments, which significantly limits its applicability in such conditions. In this paper, a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT-PSS)/waterborne acrylic resin (AR) composite coating was designed and prepared for enhancing the corrosion resistance of 304SS. Corrosion current density (jcorr) of the PEDOT-PSS/AR-coated 304SS at the simulated PEMFCs’ operating temperature (80 °C) is only 0.86 μA·cm−2 which achieves the 2025 DOE goal (jcorr < 1 μA·cm−2). The improved corrosion resistance would be attributed to both the anode protection and barrier effect provided by the PEDOT-PSS/AR coating. Moreover, the 304SS coated by the PEDOT-PSS/AR obtains a lower interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of 37.01 mΩ·cm2 at 1.4 MPa than that coated by the pure AR coating with the ICR of 167.95 mΩ·cm2. This eco-friendly, conducting, and anti-corrosive PEDOT-PSS/AR coating offers a new insight into high-performance applications for SS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 2905 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Piezoelectric Properties of Wurtzite AlN Films under In-Plane Strain: A First-Principles Study
by Guoqiang Qin, Ziyuan Zhao, Ao Wang, Wentao Wang, Shengjian Qin, Hongya Wu, Zhigang Yang, Gang Yu and Guanglei Zhang
Coatings 2024, 14(8), 984; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14080984 - 4 Aug 2024
Viewed by 3456
Abstract
This research article presents a comprehensive first-principles study on the piezoelectric properties of Wurtzite Aluminum Nitride (AlN) films under in-plane strain conditions. By calculating the piezoelectric tensor coefficients (e33, e31, and e15), we investigate the variation patterns of these constants with respect to [...] Read more.
This research article presents a comprehensive first-principles study on the piezoelectric properties of Wurtzite Aluminum Nitride (AlN) films under in-plane strain conditions. By calculating the piezoelectric tensor coefficients (e33, e31, and e15), we investigate the variation patterns of these constants with respect to in-plane strain. Our results indicate significant changes in the piezoelectric constants within the range of in-plane strain considered, exhibiting a linear trend despite opposite trends for e33 compared to e31 and e15. This study highlights the extreme sensitivity of AlN films’ piezoelectric performance to in-plane strain, suggesting its potential as an effective means for tuning and optimizing the piezoelectric properties of AlN-based devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 7162 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Assessment of Al-Si Coating Growth at Various Heating Rates, Soaking Temperatures, and Times
by Siyu Wu, Alexander Bardelcik, Constantin Chiriac and Cangji Shi
Coatings 2024, 14(4), 399; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14040399 - 28 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1635
Abstract
In conventional hot stamping, an Al-Si-coated blank is first heated above the austenitization temperature and then soaked for a period of time within a furnace, prior to the stamping operation. In this work, the impacts of furnace heating rate, soaking temperature, and soaking [...] Read more.
In conventional hot stamping, an Al-Si-coated blank is first heated above the austenitization temperature and then soaked for a period of time within a furnace, prior to the stamping operation. In this work, the impacts of furnace heating rate, soaking temperature, and soaking time on the Al-Si coating evolution were investigated for two commercial coating weights, 80 and 150 g/m2. These heat treatment parameters during heating and soaking affect the coating microstructure and the thickness of the interdiffusion layer, which affect the properties of the as-formed coatings. The transformation and growth of binary Fe-Al and ternary Fe-Al-Si intermetallic layers were characterized and quantified for soak times up to 240 s. The results show that the effect of the heating rate on the Al-Si intermetallic distribution and ternary phase morphology was more severe than the soaking time and soaking temperature. The Fe2Al5 (η) phase was the dominant layer at the beginning of the soaking stage with a Fe3Al2Si3 (τ1) layer formed within it, and then the Fe3Al2Si3 layer transformed into FeAl (β2) as the soaking time increased due to the interdiffusion of Fe and Al. The transformation of Fe3Al2Si3 to FeAl occurred at a higher rate for elevated soaking temperatures due to the greater diffusivity of Al and Fe. The interdiffusion layer (IDL) consisted of FeAl,Fe3Al(β1) and α−Fe. Higher soaking temperatures of 1000 °C resulted in a thicker IDL for the same soak time when compared with 900 °C and 950 °C, but when the heating rate was lower, the IDL was thicker than that at the higher heating rate since a longer heating time was required to reach the soaking temperature of 900 °C, which prolonged the diffusion time during the heating stage. The findings were similar for AS80. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 6027 KiB  
Article
An Image Classification Method of Unbalanced Ship Coating Defects Based on DCCVAE-ACWGAN-GP
by Henan Bu, Teng Yang, Changzhou Hu, Xianpeng Zhu, Zikang Ge and Honggen Zhou
Coatings 2024, 14(3), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14030288 - 27 Feb 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1711
Abstract
Affected by the improper operation of the workers, environmental changes during drying and curing or the quality of the paint itself, diverse defects are produced during the process of ship painting. The traditional defect recognition method relies on expert knowledge or experience to [...] Read more.
Affected by the improper operation of the workers, environmental changes during drying and curing or the quality of the paint itself, diverse defects are produced during the process of ship painting. The traditional defect recognition method relies on expert knowledge or experience to detect defects, which is not conducive to ensuring the effectiveness of defect recognition. Therefore, this paper proposes an image generation and recognition model which is suitable for small samples. Based on a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), the model combines a conditional variational autoencoder (DCCVAE) and auxiliary conditional Wasserstein GAN with gradient penalty (ACWGAN-GP) to gradually expand and generate various coating defect images for solving the overfitting problem due to unbalanced data. The DCNN model is trained based on newly generated image data and original image data so as to build a coating defect image classification model suitable for small samples, which is conducive to improving classification performance. The experimental results showed that our proposed model can achieve up to 92.54% accuracy, an F-score of 88.33%, and a G mean value of 91.93%. Compared with traditional data enhancement methods and classification algorithms, our proposed model can identify various defects in the ship painting process more accurately and consistently, which can provide effective theoretical and technical support for ship painting defect detection and has significant engineering research value and application prospects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

42 pages, 10483 KiB  
Review
A Comprehensive Review of Cathodic Arc Evaporation Physical Vapour Deposition (CAE-PVD) Coatings for Enhanced Tribological Performance
by Musa Muhammed, Mousa Javidani, Tahere Ebrahimi Sadrabadi, Majid Heidari, Tom Levasseur and Mohammad Jahazi
Coatings 2024, 14(3), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14030246 - 20 Feb 2024
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4248
Abstract
In the realm of industries focused on tribology, such as the machining industry, among others, the primary objective has been tribological performance enhancement, given its substantial impact on production cost. Amid the variety of tribological enhancement techniques, cathodic arc evaporation physical vapour deposition [...] Read more.
In the realm of industries focused on tribology, such as the machining industry, among others, the primary objective has been tribological performance enhancement, given its substantial impact on production cost. Amid the variety of tribological enhancement techniques, cathodic arc evaporation physical vapour deposition (CAE-PVD) coatings have emerged as a promising solution offering both tribological performance enhancement and cost-effectiveness. This review article aims to systematically present the subject of CAE-PVD coatings in light of the tribological performance enhancement. It commences with a comprehensive discussion on substrate preparation, emphasizing the significant effect of substrate roughness on the coating properties and the ensuing tribological performance. The literature analysis conducted revealed that optimum tribological performance could be achieved with an average roughness (Ra) of 0.1 µm. Subsequently, the article explores the CAE-PVD process and the coating’s microstructural evolution with emphasis on advances in macroparticles (MPs) formation and reduction. Further discussions are provided on the characterization of the coatings’ microstructural, mechanical, electrochemical and tribological properties. Most importantly, crucial analytical discussions highlighting the impact of deposition parameters namely: arc current, temperature and substrate bias on the coating properties are also provided. The examination of the analyzed literature revealed that the optimum tribological performance can be attained with a 70 to 100 A arc current, a substrate bias ranging from −100 to −200 V and a deposition temperature exceeding 300 °C. The article further explores advancements in coating doping, monolayer and multilayer coating architectures of CAE-PVD coatings. Finally, invaluable recommendations for future exploration by prospective researchers to further enrich the field of study are also provided. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress on Functional Films and Surface Science)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-5
Back to TopTop