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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0323416.].

As a traditional photocatalyst, UV-responsive TiO.sub.2 has been widely favored, but its light energy utilization is lower than that of g-C.sub.3N.sub.4 with a visible light response. However, the photogenerated carriers of g-C.sub.3N.sub.4 have a low separation efficiency. In this study, SiO.sub.2 was utilized as a carrier to compound with TiO.sub.2 and g-C.sub.3N.sub.4 to ameliorate these flaws and advance their photocatalytic function. FT-IR, SEM, AFM, UV-Vis DRS, and PL were used to examine the optical performance, surface structure, and appearance of the composites. Taking the compounding ratio of SiO.sub.2 and photocatalysts as a variable, NO purification rate as the evaluation index of photocatalyst pollution purification effect, and water and oil contact angle as the evaluation index of hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of photocatalytic coatings, the photocatalysts of SiO.sub.2:TiO.sub.2 = 3:1 and SiO.sub.2:g-C.sub.3N.sub.4 = 5:1 were discovered to have the best photocatalytic effect among the same series of materials, with the latter having the greatest impact. The coatings of SiO.sub.2:TiO.sub.2 = 5:1 and SiO.sub.2:g-C.sub.3N.sub.4 = 5:1 combined with PDMS exhibited the best hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of the same series of coatings, with the latter having the greatest effect. By varying the PDMS percentage in the SiO.sub.2:g-C.sub.3N.sub.4 = 5:1/PDMS coatings, the optimal SCN5-1/P coating with 75% PDMS content was finally obtained, which had NO purification rate of 38.43%, and water and oil contact angles of 131.86° and 135.16°. This work provides a preparation method for producing high-efficiency photocatalytic self-cleaning coatings, which will aid in the advancement of photocatalytic self-cleaning technology.

In this review, several cost-effective thin-film coating methods, which include dip-coating, spin-coating, spray-coating, blade-coating, and roll-coating, are presented. Each method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages depending on the proposed application. Not all of them are appropriate for large-scale production due to their certain limitations. That is why the coating method should be selected based on the type and size of the substrate, including the thickness and surface roughness of the required thin films. The sol–gel method offers several benefits, such as simplicity in fabrication, excellent film uniformity, the capacity to cover surfaces of any size and over vast areas, and a low processing temperature. Nevertheless, these coating methods are somewhat economical and well managed in low-budget laboratories. Moreover, these methods offer thin films with good homogeneity and low-surface roughness. Furthermore, some other thin-film deposition methods, for instance, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), are also discussed. Since CVD is not restricted to line-of-sight deposition, a characteristic shared by sputtering, evaporation, and other PVD methods, many manufacturing methods favor it. However, these techniques require sophisticated equipment and cleanroom facilities. We aim to provide the pros and cons of thin-film coating methods and let the readers decide the suitable coating technique for their specific application.

\"Suspension Plasma Spray Coating of Advanced Ceramics presents the significance of suspension plasma spray coating of ceramics for thermal barrier applications. It covers suspension formation and optimization in different oxide and non-oxide mixtures and ceramic matrix composites (CMC) of sub-micron and nanosized powders. The book will be useful for professional engineers working in surface modification and researchers studying materials science. This book discusses advanced topics on nanomaterials coatings in monolithic or composite forms as thermal barriers through organic and non-organic based suspensions using high energy plasma spray methods\"-- Provided by publisher.

Thermal spraying has been present for over a century, being greatly refined and optimized during this time. It has become nowadays a reliable and cost-efficient method to deposit thick coatings with a wide variety of feedstock materials and substrates. Thermal-sprayed coatings have been successfully applied in fields such as aerospace or electricity production, becoming an essential component of today’s industry. To overpass the traditional capabilities of those coatings, new functionalities and coherent responses are being integrated, opening the field of functional and smart coatings. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the current state of functional and smart coatings produced using thermal spraying deposition. It will first describe the different thermal spraying technologies, with a focus on how different techniques achieve the thermal and kinetic energy required to form a coating. It will as well focus on the environment to which feedstock particles are exposed in terms of temperature and velocity. It will first deal with the state-of-the-art functional and smart coatings applied using thermal spraying techniques; a discussion will follow on the fundamentals on which the coatings are designed and the efficiency of its performance; finally, the successful applications both current and potential will be described. The inherent designing flexibility of thermal-sprayed functional and smart coatings has been exploited to explore exciting new possibilities on many different fields. Some applications include, but not limited to, prevention of bacteria contamination and infection on hygienic environments. Here, thermal spray has been used to efficiently deposit antimicrobial compounds on medical furniture and appliances and to develop biocidal and biocompatible coatings for prosthetic implants. The attachment of hard and soft foulers such as algae or molluscs, which represents a considerable issue for any marine or freshwater installation, can be prevented on components where the use of traditional anti-fouling strategies such as paints is not optimal for certain materials (i.e., polymers). Another interesting approach pursued is the development of superhydrophobic surfaces, with contact angles as high as 160° and slide angles below 5°, leading to high droplet mobility. This adds capabilities as self-cleaning or corrosion resistance in addition to the characteristic robustness of thermal-sprayed coatings. The electric and magnetic properties of the feedstock materials have also led to the application of thermal spraying techniques in the creation of patterned structures with desired electromagnetic properties for their use on microelectronics. The possibility to intercalate layers of thermal-sprayed materials doped with optical-reactive elements has led to the development of online and offline temperature sensors which can be readily integrated in current thermal barrier coatings. To finalize the examples of the many applications of thermal-sprayed functional and smart coatings, autonomous self-healing or self-lubricant coatings have been developed. Advantage has been taken of a beneficial phase transformation triggered by the corresponding event (such as a crack or the tribological interactions, respectively) to promote self-healing. Another approach has been the release of an encapsulated component which effectively heals the coating or provides lubrication when required. All these exciting developments pave the way for the numerous applications that are to come in the next decade, making the field of thermal-sprayed coatings a unique opportunity for research and development.

Properties of atmospheric black carbon (BC) particles were characterized during a field experiment at a rural background site (Melpitz, Germany) in February 2017. BC absorption at a wavelength of 870 nm was measured by a photoacoustic extinctiometer, and BC physical properties (BC mass concentration, core size distribution and coating thickness) were measured by a single-particle soot photometer (SP2). Additionally, a catalytic stripper was used to intermittently remove BC coatings by alternating between ambient and thermo-denuded conditions. From these data the mass absorption cross section of BC (MAC.sub.BC) and its enhancement factor (E.sub.MAC) were inferred for essentially water-free aerosol as present after drying to low relative humidity (RH). Two methods were applied independently to investigate the coating effect on E.sub.MAC : a correlation method (MAC.sub.BC, ambient vs. BC coating thickness) and a denuding method (MAC.sub.BC, ambient vs. MAC.sub.BC, denuded). Observed E.sub.MAC values varied from 1.0 to 1.6 (lower limit from denuding method) or â¼1.2 to 1.9 (higher limit from correlation method), with the mean coating volume fraction ranging from 54 % to 78 % in the dominating mass equivalent BC core diameter range of 200-220 nm. MAC.sub.BC and E.sub.MAC were strongly correlated with coating thickness of BC. By contrast, other potential drivers of E.sub.MAC variability, such as different BC sources (air mass origin and absorption Ãngström exponent), coating composition (ratio of inorganics to organics) and BC core size distribution, had only minor effects. These results for ambient BC measured at Melpitz during winter show that the lensing effect caused by coatings on BC is the main driver of the variations in MAC.sub.BC and E.sub.MAC, while changes in other BC particle properties such as source, BC core size or coating composition play only minor roles at this rural background site with a large fraction of aged particles. Indirect evidence suggests that potential dampening of the lensing effect due to unfavorable morphology was most likely small or even negligible.

In this work, one-dimensional conductive TiO.sub.2 whiskers coated with antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO@TiO.sub.2) were prepared with a method of hydrothermal coprecipitation. Specially, sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) was used as an interfacial reactor to form sufficient active groups on the surface of TiO.sub.2 whiskers, which not only increased the reaction sites, but also formed the electric double-layer structure to promote the dispersion of TiO.sub.2 whiskers in aqueous solution. Additionally, four kinds of ATO@TiO.sub.2 nanomaterials with different appearances were introduced into waterborne polyurethane (WPU) emulsion to prepare the conductive paint for the surface coating of polyester fabrics. During the process of curing reaction, ATO@TiO.sub.2 whiskers are located in the coating mold to organize a conductive network in the form of a rod-to-rod connection. Compared with particle-type ATO@TiO.sub.2, the percolation threshold was drastically decreased from 45 to 7.5 wt%, meanwhile, this conductive paint shows excellent covering performance and the whiteness is up to 83.