New Functional Coatings and Thin Films for Sensor and Green Energy Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit your work to our Special Issue entitled "New Functional Coatings and Thin Films for Sensor and Green Energy Technologies”. The new challenges that we face in modern life, such as the expanding need to monitor health, the food quality and environmental control, along with the strategic areas related to clean energy, require the development of a wide range of products and technological applications, such as sensors, photoelectronic devices, low-cost and fast electronics, energy conversion, harvesting, and storage. Advances in functional materials, particularly in the area of nanotechnology, have sparked significant research progress in the fabrication of high-quality coatings used in a wide range of technological applications. The material composition, structure, and dimensionality have decisive impacts on their properties. Additionally, the ability to dope or to introduce side chemical groups can significantly alter material sensing properties, functionality, and high performance. The design of nanostructured organic, inorganic, and composite materials, if specially controlled by the aid of various techniques, can also lead to a reduction in fabrication cost for sensing and photovoltaic devices, as well as their practical application.

This Special Issue aims to gather and highlight recent research achievements in the design and use of functional materials for active coatings in a range of sensing applications, from photoelectronic to chemical and bio-sensing devices.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Synthesis, engineering, and characterization of new functional materials/coatings/thin films with maximized performance;
• Meso, micro, and nanoscale processing;
• Theoretical calculation of advanced materials for coatings;
• Adsorption phenomena, coatings for sensing, and protective coatings;
• New functional materials/coatings/thin films for solar energy conversion and storage.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Gergana Alexieva
Dr. Rositsa Gergova
Prof. Dr. Tsvetanka Babeva
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.

• advanced materials
• functional coatings
• thin films
• design
• sensing
• solar energy conversion and storage