The multifunctional smart coatings and surfaces market will exceed $1.4 billion by 2021, with multifunctional smart coatings gradually taking over from more mature multi-purpose materials during that period, according to a recent report entitled “Multifunctional Smart Coatings and Surfaces: 2016-2025” from n-tech Research. n-tech believes that the coming decade will see substantial new business revenues generated by smart surfaces that exhibit multiple functionalities, such as various combinations of color shifting, antimicrobial, self-cleaning, self-healing, self-dimming glass and photovoltaics.

In most cases, smart surfaces will be created through multi-layer coating approaches, but in some instances, embedded sensors or special surface patterning will be used to achieve the required functionality. There will also a growing number of smart coatings capable of delivering multi-functionality in a single layer.

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