Dear Colleagues,

A remarkable amount of functional materials has been elaborated due to the synergetic coupling of different components (molecular precursors, colloids, (bio)-organic molecules, polymers, complex fluids, templating agents, liquid crystalline phases, etc.) and the development of processing and patterning techniques (electrodeposition, chemical/physical vapor deposition, extrusion, lithography, etc.). The design of complex and multifunctional materials has led to the exploration of numerous synthetic strategies that are eventually combined with shaping techniques to control their composition (single or multicomponent phase), structure, texture and interfacial properties. A promising method for the preparation of these materials is afforded by the in-situ synthesis approach in which the synthesis and self-assembly of components take place in one-step procedure together with the shaping of materials. This strategy allows a rational design of materials with tailored architecture and microstructure while reducing the number of manufacturing steps.

This Special Issue is intended to cover novel in-situ synthesis approaches of a wide range of functional materials differing by their composition (inorganic or organic solids, hybrids, polymers, composites, etc.), texture (porous or dense) and functionality. Moreover, it is well known that the control over the physico-chemical and structural properties of inorganic and hybrid materials is generally based on the appropriate tailoring of the parameters that influence nucleation and growth. Therefore, the rational design of materials requires the understanding of their growth mechanism which can be studied by sampling and characterizing the reaction medium by in-situ or ex-situ methods at different times. This special issue may also consider the understanding of the formation mechanism of materials through the development of in-situ complementary experimental tools. 

It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

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. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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.

• In-situ synthesis
• inorganic and/or organic materials
• hybrids
• composites
• multifunctional materials
• mechanism of formation
• nucleation/growth