Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
The translation of high-performance thin-film materials from lab-scale development to field-deployable energy systems remains a significant holdup in sustainable technology development. The real-world impact of functional thin films, nanocomposites, and emerging photovoltaic architectures is often limited by issues with scalability, interfacial reliability, environmental stability, and system-level integration, despite their excellent optical and electronic performance at the device level. A translational framework that is deployment-oriented and systematically connects interface-centric device integration, application-context validation, system-level performance feedback, and process-aware thin-film engineering has been presented in this article. Common structure-property-deployment trade-offs are identified through a comparative analysis of representative case domains, such as doped ZnO transport layers, metal–dielectric nanocomposite coatings, nanostructured GaAs photovoltaics, perovskite interface engineering, and laminated low-emissivity glazing. The proposed framework highlights how modest variations in deposition parameters and interfacial design critically influence long-term durability, manufacturability, and energy yield at scale. By explicitly bridging materials science and operational energy systems, this work provides a structured pathway to accelerate lab-to-field transition of deployable functional materials without presenting any experimental investigations. Beyond summarizing representative advances, this perspective emphasizes a deployment-oriented translational co-design philosophy intended to bridge the persistent gap between laboratory-scale materials optimization and real-world sustainable energy system implementation.
Keywords
deployable materials, functional thin films, materials-to-systems integration, photovoltaics, sustainable energy systems, translational materials science
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
6-1-2026
Article Number
115603
Volume
54
Publication Title
Materials Today Communications
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Science
Funding Information
The author would like to acknowledge the research support provided by the NEC−2025 grant (J510051140, & J510051142) from Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Nur-E-Alam, M. (2026). From thin films to energy systems: A perspective-oriented translational framework for deployable functional materials. Materials Today Communications, 54, 115603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.115603