Smart Thin Films and Nanomaterials for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Beyond

Velumani Subramaniam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, United States. He is presently working on novel micro- and nano-structured materials for harvesting renewable energy and for biomedical applications.Ruthramurthy Balachandran is a Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Adama Science and Technology University, Ethiopia. His research focuses on electronic materials, nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics.H. C. Ananda Murthy is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry in the Department of Applied Chemistry at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea. His areas of research interest covers the synthesis and application of composite materials and nanomaterials for biomedical, sensor, and environmental applications.Kar Ban Tan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Universiti Putra Malaysia. His research interests focus on the synthesis and characterization of functional electroceramics using different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques.Dr. Selvakumar Periyasamy is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Adama Science and Technology University. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. His academic profile combines teaching, graduate supervision, and research in bioenergy, nanotechnology, biochemical engineering, and environmental biotechnology. He has supervised numerous undergraduate and postgraduate projects, published in high-impact journals, and contributed book chapters, patents, and international conference proceedings. He has also served as an editorial board member, reviewer, and organizer of academic events. His interdisciplinary experience strengthens the methodological and application-oriented dimensions of this proposal, particularly at the interface of materials design, process engineering, and environmental sustainability.

• SECTION I1. Introduction to smart thin film and nanomaterials: The Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond2. Smart Organic Thin Films: Synthesis and Applications3. Thin-film electronics on active substrates: Review of materials, technologies and applications4. Lignin-based smart materials: a roadmap to processing and synthesis for current and future applicationsSECTION II5. Developments in 4D-printing: A review on current smart materials, technologies, and applications6. Physical methods of synthesizing smart nanomaterials, characterizations and applications7. Chemical methods of synthesizing smart nanomaterials, characterizations and applications8. Smart thin films deposited by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation9. Biological methods of synthesizing smart nanomaterials, characterizations and applicationsSECTION III10. Synthesis of smart nanomaterials for electronic applications11. 2D materials inks toward smart flexible electronics12. Synthesis of smart nanomaterials for electromagnetic applications13. ZnSe/FTO thin films: Towards smart multifunctional optoelectronic materialsSECTION IV14. Recent advances in binary oxides for chromogenics and beyond: Fundamentals, progress, and perspectives15. Wide-bandgap materials for gas sensors16. Smart tungsten oxide thin films for eye-readable sensor: Intuitive hydrogen monitoring17. Thin-film switchable mirror coatings for smart windows via gasochromic technologySECTION V18. Recent Advances in Layered MX2-Based Materials (M = Mo, W and X = S, Se, Te) for Emerging Optoelectronic and Photo(electro)catalytic Applications19. Synthesis of smart nanomaterials for optical applications20. Synthesis of smart nanomaterials for photonic applications21. Smart triboelectric nanogenerators22. Synthesis of smart nanomaterials for solar and photovoltaic applicationsSECTION VI23. Application of smart nanomaterials in biomedical research24. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles to enable photocatalytically active antimicrobial surfaces for biomedical devices25. Zinc oxide-based devices for tunable and multifaceted biomedical applications26. Promising two-dimensional rhenium diselenide nanosheets: Facile preparation, characterization, in vivo tumor photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapySECTION VII27. Characterization of smart oxide thin films: Image-driven machine learning28. Shape morphing smart 3D actuator materials for micro soft robot29. Nanotechnology and its influences on manufacturing sector prospects and challenges30. Current Challenges and Future Directions of Smart Nanomaterials and Thin Films