Functional Thin Films: Growth, Characterization, and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Functional, as well as functionalized, thin films represent one of the most dynamic areas of modern materials science. By enabling the precise tailoring of electronic, optical, magnetic, mechanical, and chemical properties, they open pathways to highly specialized applications. These films are increasingly utilized in energy harvesting and storage, catalysis, sensors, protective coatings, biomedical devices, advanced optoelectronics, and more.

The development of such thin films requires not only novel material design, fabrication strategies, and deposition methods tailored to the film type, but also advanced characterization techniques to understand their structure–property relationships.

The objective of this Special Issue is to collect high-quality research and review articles focusing on the design, fabrication, deposition, characterization, and application of functionalized thin films.

Contributions may address, but are not limited to:

• Functional and functionalized films of various material types with different electronic conductivity, including metals, semiconductors, insulators, and others;
• Two-dimensional layered materials, MXenes, polymers, and hybrid thin films;
• Deposition of 2D and 3D layers;
• Novel deposition and functionalization techniques;
• Surface functionalization and interface engineering;
• Computational approaches for predicting thin film and heterostructure properties;
• Thin films and devices for applications in energy conversion and storage, sensing, catalysis, and biomedicine.

We warmly invite you to contribute to this Special Issue and share your latest research results with the broader community working on functional thin film materials.

Dr. Miłosz Grodzicki
Dr. Dominika Majchrzak
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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