Recent Advances in Metal Oxide Thin Films and Nanostructures for Diverse Applications

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit your work to this Special Issue, focused on “Recent Advances in Metal Oxide Thin Films and Nanostructures for Diverse Applications”. This Special Issue aims to bring together papers with topics involved in thin film/coating depositions, synthesis, and characterizations of metal oxides (MOs).
The preparation techniques include molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), sputtering-based techniques (DC, RF, HiPIMS), thermal evaporation, ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP), spray coating, dip-coating, drop casting, electrospinning, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), anodizing oxidation, plasma electrolytic oxidation, etc., for growing MO thin films/coatings. In addition, MO nanostructures (e.g., nanoparticles, nanowires, nanofibers, nanosheets, nanobelts, nanoflowers, nanospheres) can be synthesized via various chemical approaches, such as precipitation, template-assisted fabrication, electrospinning, hydrothermal, microwave-assisted synthesis, reverse micelle, sol–gel techniques, a vapor phase approach, etc. 

The characterizations of MO materials could include the clarifications of crystal structures (XRD, HRTEM), morphology (AFM, SEM), composition–stoichiometry (EDS, XPS), Raman, electrochemical properties (HER, OER), photocatalyst and electrocatalyst, nanomechanical properties (nanoindentation), and many other functional properties. Metal oxide thin films and nanostructures have been extensively investigated for different applications, such as water remediation, photocatalysis, fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, biomedical applications, sensing, electronic chips, memories, optoelectronics, etc.

This Special Issue aims to provide a snapshot of the state of the art in the preparations, characterizations, and applications of MO thin films and nanostructures.

In particular, the topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• MO thin film growths and characterization techniques;
• Synthesis of MO nanostructures, properties, and applications;
• Nanomechanical properties of MO thin films and nanostructures studied by the nanoindentation technique;
• Photocatalytic degradation of pollutants and photoelectrochemical activity of MO thin films and nanostructures;
• Functional properties and applications of MO thin films and nanostructures (e.g., HER, fuel cells, solar cells, hard coatings, antimicrobial activity, anti-bacteria, photodetectors, sensing, electronic devices, optoelectronics, memories, etc.);
• Theory, modeling, atomistic simulation, and numerical analysis of MO thin films and nanostructures.

Dr. Phuoc Huu Le
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Micromachines 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 2100 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.