Introduction: What are Coatings?

Abstract

Thin film and coating science and technology is by far one of the oldest arts dating back to metal ages of ancient history. Consider the Egyptian Gold plating or Mali Empire Blood coating, which has been practiced continuously for several millennia. Egyptian covers their sculptures to preserve them from chemical degradation and Sculptors from the extraordinarily wealthy ancient Mali Empire, once the source of nearly half the world's gold, at times coated their works of art with blood of animals shed during ancient ceremonies. Throughout the history, our ancestors applied coatings of different materials and liquids to generate desirable properties such as durability, mechanical strength, and optical appearance. During the years, coating industry becomes more and more advanced as such, turned to a crucial segment of today's technology. Outnumbered applications in the area of protection, decoration, optics, electronics, energy, and biomedicine have been developed and coating market grows with a rapid pace. Thousands of articles are being published every year justifying novel applications of advanced coatings and thin films. Of those, bio-coating requires a special attention due to the fact that it deals with human life. Interest of funding agencies and governors to dedicate large financial budget in order to develop nanobiotechnology during the last 20 years in US and Canada, and last 10 years in UK and Europe reveals this importance. This book is a snapshot of recent improvements in this area and collects the fresh ideas of experts, those that push forward the boundary of bio-coating science and technology. In general, the surface of materials is routinely exposed to various environmental influences. These surfaces are subjected to Humidity, wear, corrosion, and interact with light and electromagnetic fields. Therefore, the choice of appropriate material that withstands these severe working conditions becomes too limited. Changing the properties of the surface enables us to continue the usage of conventional metals. For instance, beauty, outstanding electrical conductivity, and