Thin Film Coatings: Properties, Deposition, and Applications discusses the holistic subject of conventional and emerging thin film technologies without bias to a specific technology based on the existing literature. It covers properties and delves into the various methods of thin film deposition, including the most recent techniques and a direction for future developments. It also discusses the cutting-edge applications of thin film coatings such as self-healing and smart coatings, biomedical, hybrid, and scalable thin films. Finally, the concept of Industry 4.0 in thin film coating technology is examined.

This book:

• Explores a wide range and is not specific to material and method of deposition
• Demonstrates the application of thin film coatings in nearly all sectors, such as energy and anti-microbial applications
• Details the preparation and properties of hybrid and scalable (ultra) thin materials for advanced applications
• Provides detailed bibliometric analyses on applications of thin film coatings
• Discusses Industry 4.0 and 3D printing in thin film technology

With its broad coverage, this comprehensive reference will appeal to a wide audience of materials scientists and engineers and others studying and developing advanced thin film technologies.

Dr. Fredrick Madaraka Mwema is a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya and Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, respectively. He is currently Chair of the Department (COD) of Mechanical Engineering at the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya. Dr. Mwema is also the Director for the Centre for Nanomaterials and Nanoscience Research at the same university. He has over 7 years of undergraduate teaching at university level in Mechanical Engineering and 1 year of postgraduate teaching. His Research interests are the field of manufacturing and materials, specifically in surface engineering and coating technologies, severe plastic deformation, advanced materials, and characterizations. He has extensively worked on thin-film preparation through RF magnetron sputtering and published his works in several peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conferences. Dr Mwema has over 60 publications and has written two books. He also has an interest in additive manufacturing technologies including laser-based manufacturing and fused deposition modelling. Dr Mwema mentors several postgraduate students in the field of manufacturing and materials. He is currently supervising 3 masters and 2 PhD students on additive manufacturing, surface engineering, and advanced recycling of polymer-based composites for green building technologies. He is a registered graduate mechanical engineer with Engineering Board of Kenya (EBK) and member of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Prof. Jen joined University of Johannesburg on August 2015. Previously he was a faculty member at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Prof. Jen received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from UCLA, specializing in thermal aspects of grinding. He has received several competitive grants for his research, including those from the US National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy and the EPA. Prof. Jen has brought in $3.0 million of funding for his research, and has received various awards for his research including the NSF GOALI Award. Prof. Jen has recently established a Joint Research Centre with Nanjing Tech University of China on the "Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing." Prof. Jen is also the Director of Manufacturing Research Centre of the University of Johannesburg. Meanwhile, SA National Research Foundation has awarded Prof Jen a NNEP grant (National Nano Equipment Program) worth of USD 1 million to acquire two state-of-the-art Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) Tools for ultra-thin film coating. These two ALD tools will be the first in South Africa and possibly the first in Africa continent. Furthermore, in order to house these two state-of-the-art reactors, an ISO-7 industrial level cleanroom with a footage over 220m2 has been built (worth of roughly USD 1 million). In 2011, Prof. Jen was elected as a Fellow to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), which recognized his contributions to the field of thermal science and manufacturing. In 2020, Prof. Jen was inducted to as the Academician of the Academy of Science of South Africa (AASAf) for his significant research contribution in the fields of thermal sciences and advanced manufacturing. Prof. Jen has written 340 peer-reviewed articles, including 140 peer-reviewed journal papers, published in many prestigious journals. He also has written over 17 chapters in special topics book. Prof. Jen published a research book titled "Chalcogenide: Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Composites," published by Taylor & Francis in 2021. Dr. Lin Zhu is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Anhui Agricultural University, P. R. China. He received his Ph.D. in Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), specializing in flowing characteristics and structural analysis of a silicon-based micro-combustor. He was a postdoctoral research associate in mechanical engineering at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a visiting scholar of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The main research interests of Dr. Lin Zhu are focused on the following three aspects: I) performances and structures of plants and animals using mechanical engineering methods, II) optimization structures and performances of mechanical components, and III) micro-fluids and micro-structure. He also has an interest in additive manufacturing technologies including laser-based manufacturing and fused deposition modelling. He has received several competitive grants for his research, including those from the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Currently, he has over 80 publications and has written three books. Dr. Lin Zhu mentors several postgraduate students in the field of fluid mechanics. He is currently supervising 6 masters and 1 PhD students on liquid-solid interaction, spray mechanism, and additive manufacturing. He is a member of the Vibration Society of China.

Thin Film Coatings: Properties, Deposition, and Applications discusses the holistic subject of conventional and emerging thin film technologies without bias to a specific technology based on the existing literature. It covers properties and delves into the various methods of thin film deposition, including the most recent techniques and a direction for future developments. It also discusses the cutting-edge applications of thin film coatings such self-healing and smart coatings, biomedical, hybrid, and scalable thin films. Finally, the concept of industry 4.0 in thin film coating technology is examined.

• Explores a wide range and is not specific to material and method of deposition
• Demonstrates the application of thin film coatings in nearly all sectors, such as energy and anti-microbial applications
• Details the preparation and properties of hybrid and scalable (ultra) thin materials for advanced applications
• Provides detailed bibliometric analyses on applications of thin film coatings
• Discusses Industry 4.0 and 3D printing in thin film technology

With its broad coverage, this comprehensive reference will appeal to a wide audience of materials scientists and engineers and others studying and developing advanced thin film technologies.