Dear Colleagues,

Coatings in the form of films on the surface of any material significantly improve the functional properties and also form a protective layer against corrosion, water proofing, anti-icing and deicing, friction, antibacterial, antifouling, radiation/thermal resistance, and self-cleaning and thermal management properties. Coatings can be either micro- or nanotype depending on the methodology and thickness used. Materials coated with multispecialty chemicals offer various benefits and applications in different industries such as electronics, medical, food and packaging, defense, construction, aerospace, oil and petroleum, shipping, marine engineering, and energy. In the coating industry in particular, nanocoatings use is expected to grow, with a CAGR of 21% by 2022 and a global market size of $13.94 billion by 2022. This Special Issue shall focus on the current trends, theories, challenges, production, and fabrication cost–benefit analysis, novel methodologies utilized in improving uniform coating thickness, mechanism of adhesion on the material surface, composition, rheology, and several more, along with their application in various industries. The current research topics covered in this Special Issue welcome a broad horizon of research, simulations, and reviews, including but not limited to the following research areas:

• Synthesis and characterization of mutlifunctional specialty coatings;
• Nano/micro material-based coatings;
• Deposition, functionalization, growth process, and mechanism;
• Current research, patent trends, applications of thin-film-based synthesis and their techniques;
• 2D/3D film assembly material synthesis and applications;
• Surface, interface modification by high energy deposition processes, including plasmas;
• Multifunctional material properties and their effects;
• Novel Janus particle-based multilayered composite films.

I look forward to your contribution in the form of original research, simulation data, and review articles for the forenamed topics which shall aid in designing different novel coatings for multidisciplinary fields.

Prof. Dr. Kyong Yop Rhee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• nanocoatings
• adhesion
• deposition
• 2D/3D thin-film assembly
• application
• simulation