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Advances in Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties and Applications
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Advances in Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2021) | Viewed by 15841

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Marco Laurenti

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Applied Science and Technology Department, Politecnico di Torino – C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
Interests: thin films growth and characterization; metal oxides; graphene and related materials; piezoelectric and semiconductor materials; thin-film catalysts; antibacterial coatings; smart materials for tissue engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zinc oxide thin films are widely investigated thanks to their outstanding and multifunctional properties, coupled with the ease of preparation. A wide plethora of deposition techniques has been developed so far, ranging from vapor-phase methods to wet chemistry synthetic approaches. In both the cases, doping of ZnO may be also easily obtained, turning into a successful tool to confer ZnO improved rather than unprecedented physico-chemical properties. These aspects fostered a deep investigation of ZnO thin films and the related properties, to design and fabricate smart biocompatible systems. Indeed, pure and doped ZnO found widespread use in several practical applications, including but not limited to, energy harvesting systems, photocatalysis and biomedical ones. 

This Special Issue of Coatings is dedicated to the most recent advances in the preparation of pure and doped ZnO thin films and the related application properties. Participation with original research and critical review articles, focused on these topics and ranging from the synthesis and characterization of the raw materials, up to their transposition into final application products, is highly encouraged.

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

  • Synthesis and characterization of pure and doped ZnO thin films
  • Unveiling innovative properties of pure and doped ZnO thin films
  • New emerging technologies based on ZnO thin films

Dr. Marco Laurenti
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 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.

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 3164 KiB  
Article
Rapid Processing of In-Doped ZnO by Spray Pyrolysis from Environment-Friendly Precursor Solutions
by Nina Winkler, Adhi Rachmat Wibowo, Bernhard Kubicek, Wolfgang Kautek, Giovanni Ligorio, Emil J. W. List-Kratochvil and Theodoros Dimopoulos
Coatings 2019, 9(4), 245; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9040245 - 11 Apr 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3589
Abstract
This study focused on the deposition of indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) films at high growth rates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. We investigated the influence of processing parameters, such as temperature and solution flow rate, on the structural, optical, and electrical film properties. For [...] Read more.
This study focused on the deposition of indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) films at high growth rates by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. We investigated the influence of processing parameters, such as temperature and solution flow rate, on the structural, optical, and electrical film properties. For all depositions, low-cost and low-toxicity aqueous solutions and metal salt precursors were used. Through the optimization of the spraying parameters and pattern, a spatially homogeneous IZO layer with transparency greater than 80%, resistivity of 3.82 × 10−3 Ω·cm for a thickness of 1800 nm (sheet resistance of 21.2 Ω/sq), Hall carrier density of 1.36 × 1020 cm−3, Hall mobility of 12.01 cm2 V−1 s−1, and work function of 4.4 eV was obtained. These films are suitable for implementation in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties and Applications)
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15 pages, 3436 KiB  
Article
Photocatalytic and Photostability Behavior of Ag- and/or Al-Doped ZnO Films in Methylene Blue and Rhodamine B under UV-C Irradiation
by Adeel Riaz, Amna Ashraf, Hymna Taimoor, Sofia Javed, Muhammad Aftab Akram, Mohammad Islam, Mohammad Mujahid, Iftikhar Ahmad and Khalid Saeed
Coatings 2019, 9(3), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings9030202 - 20 Mar 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 5514
Abstract
Silver (Ag) and/or aluminum (Al)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Ag, ZnO:Al) films with different concentrations were produced using sol-gel process and investigated for wettability and photocatalysis. Water contact angle (CA) measurements indicated the films to be hydrophilic with reduced solid/liquid interfacial surface energy upon metal [...] Read more.
Silver (Ag) and/or aluminum (Al)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Ag, ZnO:Al) films with different concentrations were produced using sol-gel process and investigated for wettability and photocatalysis. Water contact angle (CA) measurements indicated the films to be hydrophilic with reduced solid/liquid interfacial surface energy upon metal doping. The films were highly transparent (>94%) with red or blue shift in the absorption edge depending on the dopant type (Ag or Al) owing to the Burstein–Moss effect. The ZnO:Ag and ZnO:Al films with 0.5 and 1.0 wt.% metal dopant showed high degradation efficiency in methylene blue (MB) solution under UV irradiation, mainly due to an increase in the photogenerated electron–hole pair recombination time and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) generation. The MB degradation followed pseudo-first-order reaction with maximum apparent reaction rate constant of 2.40 h−1 for the 0.5 wt.% ZnO:Al film. ZnO films with 1.0 wt.% dopant demonstrated excellent photostability and recyclability even after several runs presumably due to reduced Zn2+ dissolution as well as blocking of the active surface area. ZnO:(Ag + Al) film containing 0.5 wt.% Al and Ag showed excellent UV photodegradation of MB and rhodamine blue (RhB) with high levels of photostability over five cycles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties and Applications)
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Graphical abstract

15 pages, 4185 KiB  
Article
Porous ZnO/2–Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate Eluting Coatings for Ureteral Stent Applications
by Marco Laurenti, Marta Grochowicz and Valentina Cauda
Coatings 2018, 8(11), 376; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings8110376 - 23 Oct 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5915
Abstract
High-surface-area porous coatings represent an interesting option to fabricate eluting stents with additional functionalities, as controlled drug delivery and antibacterial resistance properties. ZnO is a biocompatible material available in various high-surface-area morphologies, with promising antibacterial properties. Hydrophilic 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) polymers (pHEMA) have [...] Read more.
High-surface-area porous coatings represent an interesting option to fabricate eluting stents with additional functionalities, as controlled drug delivery and antibacterial resistance properties. ZnO is a biocompatible material available in various high-surface-area morphologies, with promising antibacterial properties. Hydrophilic 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) polymers (pHEMA) have been widely investigated for their biomedical applications, thanks to their biocompatibility, absence of toxicity, and tunable swelling properties. This work aims to demonstrate the use of porous ZnO/polymer bilayer coatings for future drug eluting stent applications. Sputtered mesoporous ZnO layers were coated with pHEMA and p(HEMA-co-acrylic acid (AA)) films through vacuum infiltration and drop-casting methods. The last approach was found to be the most suitable one for achieving a good polymer infiltration within the ZnO matrix and to avoid the mechanical detachment of the porous film from the substrate. The corresponding release properties were evaluated by loading a fluorescent dye in the host ZnO matrix, before drop-casting the polymer coating. For pure ZnO, the release of the dye was completed after 2 h. For ZnO/pHEMA, the sustained release of the molecule was achieved with only 30% released after 2 h and 100% released after seven days. In this case, the pH-triggered delivery properties were also demonstrated by switching from neutral to acidic pH conditions. No significant changes were obtained for the ZnO/p(HEMA-co-AA) system, which exhibited a faster swelling behavior and a release profile similar to pure ZnO. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Properties and Applications)
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