**About the Editors**

#### **Paolo Mele**

Paolo Mele (Professor) is currently a Professor at SIT Research laboratories, the Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. He obtained a master's degree in chemistry and a Ph.D. in chemical sciences at Genova University (Italy). In 2003, he moved to ISTEC-SRL in Tokyo to study melt-textured ceramic superconductors. Then, he worked as a postdoc at Kyoto University (JSPS fellowship) from 2004 to 2007, at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (JST fellowship) from 2007 to 2011, at Hiroshima University (as a lecturer) from 2011 to 2014, and at the Muroran Institute of Technology (as an associate professor) from 2015 to 2018 before his current position. His research interests include materials for energy and sustainable development (superconductors and thermoelectrics); the fabrication and characterization of thin films of oxides, ceramics, and metals; the study of the effect of nanostructuration on physical properties; thermal transport; and vortex matter. He is the author of over 110 papers in international scientific journals and four book chapters, has two patents, and has contributed to hundreds of communications at international conferences. He co-edited nine books on superconductors, oxides, thin films, thermoelectrics, and other materials for energy production.

#### **Satoru Kaneko**

Satoru Kaneko (Doctor) received a B.S. from the Tokyo Metropolitan Univ., an M.S. from the Univ. of Arizona, and a Ph.D. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His study focuses on the synthesis of functional materials of oxides, superconductors, and graphite-related materials, and he is also interested in the fabrication of nanostructures, for example, the self-organization of periodic nanostructures by laser scanning. He has published more than 100 papers in reputable journals. He spends his weekends road biking and jogging, and enjoys making bacon and beer in his backyard.

#### **Tamio Endo**

Tamio Endo (Professor emeritus) holds a Ph.D. (Kyoto University, Japan) and an MSD (Gifu University, Japan). He is an Emeritus Professor at Mie University (Japan), a Special Researcher at Gifu University (Japan), and an Honorary Professor of Southwest Jiaotong University (China) and was a Visiting Researcher at the University of California, San Diego, in 1995 (USA). He currently works at Japan Advanced Chemicals in Kanagawa (Japan). His research interests include oxide thin films, heterostructures, plasma effects, and the bonding of polymer films. He has been part of many international academic projects such as the Japan–India Cooperative Science Program. He has been an organizer and plenary speaker at many international conferences, has given many guest talks at foreign universities , and is a representative of the Team Harmonized Materials (formerly Team Harmonized Oxides).

**Paolo Mele 1,2,\*, Satoru Kaneko <sup>3</sup> and Tamio Endo <sup>4</sup>**


It has been almost three years since we enthusiastically accepted the offer to be guest editors for this Special Issue of *Coatings*, entitled "Functional Oxide Thin Films and Nanostructures: Growth, Properties, and Applications".

Recent materials nanotechnologies have introduced the possibility of fabricating oxide thin films on a nanometric level, and this possibility also applies to nanocomposites. In parallel, recent measurement technologies can supply characterizations of their unique properties arising from limited regions of surfaces and interfaces. This Special Issue provides an opportunity to share surface-related science and engineering topics on oxide thin films and nanocomposites in an interactive and interdisciplinary manner. The goal is to elucidate commonalities and differences between multilayer interfaces and nanocomposite grain boundaries.

This Special Issue of *Coatings* was intended as an effort to bridge the gap between materials science and the applications of oxide thin films and nanostructures.

Originally, the topics of interest included but were not limited to: novel technologies to fabricate oxide nanomaterials; flexible and mechanically rigid oxide materials; wide categories of functional oxides (semiconducting, superconducting, magnetic, ferroelectric, multiferroic, optical); the understanding of structures and properties of oxide materials effectively exhibiting the above functions; the similarities and differences between "normal thin films" and "ultrathin films and multilayers", influenced by surfaces and interfaces; and the similarities and differences between "normal composites" and "nanocomposites", influenced by larger and smaller grains.

The ten published papers reflect the original spirit of the Special Issue, ranging from nanoparticles [1,2] to thin films [3–8] to heterostructures [9] and homojunctions [10] and covering various aspects of oxide-materials preparation, characterization, and applications.

We declare this Special Issue closed and thank all the colleagues and all the editorial staff of *Coatings* for their great contributions and unflagging support.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Citation:** Mele, P.; Kaneko, S.; Endo, T. Special Issue "Functional Oxide Thin Films and Nanostructures: Growth, Properties, and Applications". *Coatings* **2022**, *12*, 778. https://doi.org/10.3390/ coatings12060778

Received: 29 May 2022 Accepted: 2 June 2022 Published: 5 June 2022

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**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

#### **References**

