Nanocomposite Coatings: Structure, Interface, and Properties

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to extend a warm welcome to you for submitting your work to this Special Issue on “Nanocomposite Coatings: Structure, Interface, and Properties”. Nanoparticles in very small amount are able to remarkably improve the properties of their composite materials. With great efforts of the scientists and engineers, nanoparticles, including their composites or hybrids have been widely studied and applied in many fields. It is interesting to find from these nanocomposite materials that their properties are closely affected by the structure of nanoparticles, the interfacial interaction between nanoparticles and base materials, and the synergistic effect between different nanoparticles.

Different from bulk materials that can be enhanced by microscale fillers, coatings in low thickness could just be reinforced with nanoparticles. Carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, graphene, and MoS₂ have been successfully used to improve the mechanical, electrical, and tribological properties of organic coatings. Due to their high strength, high conductivity, and other fantastic physical and chemical properties, 2D materials have been one of the most popular topics in recent years. More recently, nanocomposite particles with different types of materials and structures have also been prepared to further improve their properties, showing a superior synergy over the single kind of nanoparticles.

However, the interfacial problem widely exists in the preparation of nanocomposite materials. Surface modification is a very strong method to get the well distributed composites. Moreover, with a special structure or strong physical interaction, the nanoparticles can also be well dispersed in the base materials.

This Special Issue will present the latest experimental and theoretical developments in nanocomposite coatings, to shed more light into the influence of structure and interface on the properties of nanocomposite coatings. Review articles with deep understanding and analysis are also welcome.

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

• Synthesis of nanocomposite coatings by novel methods;
• Fundamentals of the interfacial problem in nanocomposite coatings;
• Novel nanoparticles or their composites in different shapes behaving excellent properties;
• Structure-property relationship of nanoparticles as coating additives;
• Enhanced interfacial interaction and improved property of nanocomposite coatings.

Prof. Dr. Yijun Shi
Dr. Jian Wu
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.