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Coatings
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Surface Engineering and Nanofilms
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Surface Engineering and Nanofilms

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2018) | Viewed by 12689

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jeff Rao

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Guest Editor
Department of Manufacturing and Materials, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK
Interests: material science and nanotechnology; thin films; magnetron sputtering deposition; functionalized nanoscale and nanostructured materials and surfaces; self-cleaning thin film coatings; functional surfaces
Dr. Adrianus Indrat Aria

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Guest Editor
Surface Engineering & Nanotechnology Institute, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK
Interests: nanostructured materials; low dimensional materials; luminescent materials; solar energy materials; functional thin films; surface functionalisation; vapour phase deposition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Surface engineering, such as functionalisation, interfacing, and coatings, as well as smart thin films, are fundamental to the advancement of engineering and manufacturing industries. Everyday products and components to which we do not give a second thought such as aircraft, cars, trains, to electronics, rely upon surface engineering methodologies which enhance the capabilities of performance components that lead to the creation of competitive advantage. Topics of interest related to "Surface Engineering and Nanofilms" include, but are not limited to:

  • Protective and tribological coatings;
  • Thin films for energy conversion, catalysis and related processes;
  • Growth and tribology of thin films;
  • Functionalisation and characterisation of nanofilms;
  • 2D materials, graphene and beyond;
  • Sensors and instruments based on nanofilms;

Dr. Jeff Rao
Dr. Adrianus Indrat Aria
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 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 (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 5226 KiB  
Article
On the Effect of Thin Film Growth Mechanisms on the Specular Reflectance of Aluminium Thin Films Deposited via Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc
by Gonzalo Rincón-Llorente, Irene Heras, Elena Guillén Rodríguez, Erik Schumann, Matthias Krause and Ramón Escobar-Galindo
Coatings 2018, 8(9), 321; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8090321 - 13 Sep 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4641
Abstract
The optimisation of the specular reflectance of solar collectors is a key parameter to increase the global yield of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. In this work, the influence of filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition parameters, particularly working pressure and deposition time, on [...] Read more.
The optimisation of the specular reflectance of solar collectors is a key parameter to increase the global yield of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. In this work, the influence of filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition parameters, particularly working pressure and deposition time, on the specular and diffuse reflectance of aluminium thin films, was studied. Changes in specular reflectance, measured by ultraviolet–visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (UV-vis-NIR) spectrophotometry, were directly correlated with thin film elemental concentration depth profiles, obtained by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), and surface and cross-sectional morphologies as measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and profilometry. Finally, atomic force microscopy (AFM) provided information on the roughness and growth mechanism of the films. The two contributions to the total reflectance of the films, namely diffuse and specular reflectance, were found to be deeply influenced by deposition conditions. It was proven that working pressure and deposition time directly determine the predominant factor. Specular reflectance varied from 12 to 99.8% of the total reflectance for films grown at the same working pressure of 0.1 Pa and with different deposition times. This transformation could not be attributed to an oxidation of the films as stated by RBS, but was correlated with a progressive modification of the roughness, surface, and bulk morphology of the samples over the deposition time. Hence, the evolution in the final optical properties of the films is driven by different growth mechanisms and the resulting microstructures. In addition to the originally addressed CSP applications the potential of the developed aluminium films for other application rather than CSP, such as, for example, reference material for spectroscopic diffuse reflectance measurements, is also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Engineering and Nanofilms)
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13 pages, 3425 KiB  
Article
Interconnections between Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of Multilayer Nanolaminate TiAlN/Ag and Al2O3/Ag Coatings
by Dmitry Wainstein, Anatoly Kovalev, Vladimir Vakhrushev, Raul Gago and Jose L. Endrino
Coatings 2018, 8(8), 290; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8080290 - 18 Aug 2018
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3722
Abstract
Multilayer nanolaminate TiAlN/Ag and Al2O3/Ag metal-insulator-metal (MIM) coatings with thicknesses of individual layers from a few to several hundreds of nanometers were fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering. Their optical transmittance and reflectance spectra were measured for photon energies [...] Read more.
Multilayer nanolaminate TiAlN/Ag and Al2O3/Ag metal-insulator-metal (MIM) coatings with thicknesses of individual layers from a few to several hundreds of nanometers were fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering. Their optical transmittance and reflectance spectra were measured for photon energies 1–5 eV (1240–248 nm). The spectra were non-monotonous as their transmission and reflection bands were strongly dependent on the coating architecture. A set of advanced electron spectroscopy methods was used to analyse the electronic structure of the coatings controlling optical properties. Energies of plasmons peaks and the distribution of their intensities are functions of the Ag layers thickness as well as the composition and thickness of the dielectric nanolayers in the MIM nanocomposite. Statistical analysis established the cross-correlations between geometrical parameters of the coatings, transmissions and reflection bands on the optical spectra and parameters of the electronic structure. Particularly, the blue side of the transmittance band is controlled by plasmons while the dielectric band gap determines the transmittance of the red side. The obtained experimental results allowed us to fulfil the computed architectural design of a multilayer Al2O3/Ag coating with a narrow bandwidth in the visible light region and strong reflection in the infrared and ultraviolet regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Engineering and Nanofilms)
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9 pages, 2645 KiB  
Article
Tribooxidation as a Way to Improve the Wear Resistance of Cutting Tools
by Dmitry Wainstein and Anatoly Kovalev
Coatings 2018, 8(6), 223; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8060223 - 18 Jun 2018
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3751
Abstract
This paper generalizes the results of our research, which was aimed at the development of adaptive cutting tool coatings for high speed dry cutting, from the inception of the idea to complex multilayer coatings for processing tough metals. Typically, the streams of external [...] Read more.
This paper generalizes the results of our research, which was aimed at the development of adaptive cutting tool coatings for high speed dry cutting, from the inception of the idea to complex multilayer coatings for processing tough metals. Typically, the streams of external energy and matter during high speed cutting are causing damage to the tool materials and to the hard, protective coatings through multiple mechanical and chemical processes including oxidation, however these oxidation processes could be used to improve the tools’ lifetime. The structure and the phase transformations on the wear surface in the nanostructured single layer and nanolaminated multilayer PVD coatings were investigated by a set of electron spectroscopy methods. The dynamics of the secondary phase formation on the various stages of tool life is demonstrated. The obtained results show that the enhancement of non-equilibrium processes during friction leads to a dominating formation of protective triboceramics on a base of sapphire-like, tungsten, and niobium polyvalent oxides with a structure which decisively improves the wear performance. The mechanisms of the formation of non-equilibrium protective oxides at high speed dry cutting and the non-equilibrium thermodynamics approaches for the tribooxidation description are discussed. Polyvalent metals and multilayer coatings provide a wider set of protective oxide nanofilms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Engineering and Nanofilms)
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