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Advanced Functional Coatings for Surface Engineering: Deposition, Properties and Applications

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films and Interfaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 309

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, AGH University of Krakow, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Interests: surface functionalization; light-weight alloys; shape memory materials; hybrid coatings; anti-wear coatings; chemical vapour deposition; physical vapour deposition; immersion method; bioengineering
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advancements in surface engineering, encompassing techniques, characterization methods, and applications, are significant to the development of many other disciplines of science and technology. In the case of functional materials, there is a growing need for hybrid coatings, multi-layered materials, and nanoscale materials that assure increased surface properties, including hardness, wear resistance, low friction coefficient, biocompatibility, etc. For instance, coatings deposition technologies, also provided in hybrid systems, allow thin layers on different materials (polymeric, ceramics, and metals) and ensure a good adhesion to the substrate. In this regard, technologies carried out in reduced pressure conditions involving physical phenomena and chemical reactions in plasma have excellent prospects, as well as with immersion methods. New, potential technologies are related to selecting the chemical and phase composition of thin coatings and designing individual stages of the synthesis process. These lead to the obtaining of novel materials with specific functional properties. Thus, importantly, intentional processes in hybrid systems can be useful in obtaining layered materials for operating in the working conditions of a given structural element.

In view of the foregoing, we invite you to present your valuable research focused on the perspective possibility of obtaining functional coatings with the application of different deposition systems on metallic, polymeric, or ceramic substrates in the Special Issue of Materials entitled: “Advanced Functional Coatings for Surface Engineering: Deposition, Properties and Applications”. In particular, the topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Plasma-based processes;
  • Additive manufacturing processes;
  • Dip-coating, spin-coating, and spray-coating methods;
  • Thermal barrier coatings;
  • Anti-wear properties, anti-corrosion properties;
  • Bioactive, biocompatibility, drug delivery systems;
  • Self-healing coatings, self-cleaning;
  • Gradient coatings, microstructure evolution;
  • Anti-wear application, cutting tools, motor industry, and aviation industry;
  • Optical and electronic devices, bioengineering.

Dr. Karol Kyzioł
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • surface modification
  • functional coatings
  • hybrid coatings
  • layered materials
  • surface properties
  • bio-functional coatings
  • drug delivery systems
  • anti-wear application
  • anti-corrosion protection
  • biocompatibility

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 3370 KiB  
Article
Effect of Anodic Aluminium Oxide Structure on the Electroless Ni-P Distribution into Nanopores
by Boriana Tzaneva, Olena Okhay, Vesselina Milusheva, Stela Atanasova-Vladimirova, João Ventura and Alexander Tkach
Materials 2025, 18(16), 3797; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18163797 - 13 Aug 2025
Viewed by 125
Abstract
The anodization of aluminium/aluminium alloys is widely used to produce anodic nanoporous networks for metal layered structures, with applications in energy harvesting technologies and sensor systems. Anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) with thickness of ~10 μm and average pore diameter of 13, 33, and [...] Read more.
The anodization of aluminium/aluminium alloys is widely used to produce anodic nanoporous networks for metal layered structures, with applications in energy harvesting technologies and sensor systems. Anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) with thickness of ~10 μm and average pore diameter of 13, 33, and 95 nm is prepared by tuning acids and voltages, being further used for electroless nickel deposition, performed for 10 min using conventional electrolyte with sodium hypophosphite reductor and pH 4.5. The formation of Ni nanotubes or nanorods is found to be strongly dependent on AAO pore size. Ni is detected in the whole pore depth and found to form 5–7 μm long continuous tube-like structures only in AAO with pore diameter of 95 nm, being kept just on the AAO top for smaller pore diameters. Nickel distribution in pores along cross-section of AAO is studied as well revealing continuously decreasing ratio to phosphorus amount. The magnetic properties of the resulting Ni 3D structure of a flat conductive layer and nanotubes perpendicular to it do not show significant differences in parallelly and perpendicularly oriented magnetic fields. These observations are discussed considering possible formation mechanisms for an electroless deposited Ni layer on AAO with different structures. Full article
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