This book provides the fundamentals of, and advances in, a range of different smart protective and functional coatings in one comprehensive knowledgebase. It covers smart self-healing coatings, self-reporting coatings, self-healing-reporting hybrid coatings, sensor-embedded coatings and various smart functional coatings for diverse applications. Self-healing coatings are designed to repair damage to the coating, while self-reporting coatings are expected to sense and display the damage early. A hybrid coating must sense/show the damage early and heal it appropriately. Sensor-embedded coatings work through the embedment of a stand-alone sensor within the coating. The book includes contributions on polymeric, inorganic, metallic, ceramic, and composite smart protective coatings. Smart functional coatings in different application areas, including construction, textiles, protective clothing, wearable electronics, healthcare, batteries, supercapacitors, energy-saving windows, food packaging,aerospace, and direct air capture are also provided. This work adds a comprehensive book addressing smart coating's fundamentals, advances, and applications to the current literature.

• Serves as a ready reference  for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in numerous industries
• Stands as the only collective book that brings together the entirety of diverse smart protective coatings
• Provides a comprehensive and exhaustive account of self-healing, self-reporting and sensor-embedded smart coatings

Dr. Viswanathan S. Saji is a Senior Research Scientist at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Advanced Materials, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia (2025–present). Previously, he served as Research Scientist II (Associate Professor, 2022–2025) and Research Scientist III (Assistant Professor, 2018–2022) at KFUPM. He also held positions as an Endeavour Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide, Australia (2014); Research Professor at Korea University (2010–2013); Senior Research Scientist at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (2009–2010); Postdoctoral Researcher at Sunchon National University (2009); Research Professor at Chosun University (2008–2009); Postdoctoral Researcher at Yonsei University (2007–2008); and Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Science (2005–2007) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (2004–2005). He also serves as a Graduate Advisor at Tongren University, China, under a Sino-foreign joint training programme. Dr. Saji received his M.Sc. (1997), M.Phil. (2000), and Ph.D. (2003) from the University of Kerala, India. He has authored more than 150 journal articles and contributed to 19 books, 29 book chapters, and 3 journal special issues. He has delivered more than 50 presentations at national and international conferences, as well as invited lectures and seminars, and has received several fellowships and research grants. His current research interests focus on electrochemistry and energy materials. He was included in the Elsevier–Stanford list of the world’s top 2% of researchers for both career-long impact (2021–2025) and single-year impact (2020–2025).