Hybrid functional materials, constituting both inorganic and organic components, are considered potential platforms for applications in extremely diverse fields such as optics, micro-electronics, transportation, health, energy, energy storage, diagnosis, housing, environment and the highly relevant area is Internet of Things (IoT). Material properties of hybrid materials can be tuned by modification of the composition on the molecular scale to produce smart materials. Cross-cutting approaches, to synergistically couple molecular engineering and processing allows to tailor complex hybrid systems of various shapes with perfect control over size, composition, functionality, and morphology. The detailed description and discussion of variety of hybrid functional organic-inorganic materials and their contribution in the designing of specific modern technologies is the prime focus of this review.

Standard models explaining the spin coating of polymer solutions generally fail to describe the early stages of film formation, when hydrodynamic forces control the solution behavior. Using in situ light scattering alongside theoretical and semi-empirical models, it is shown that inertial forces (which initially cause a vertical gradient in the radial solvent velocity within the film) play a significant role in the rate of thinning of the solution. The development of thickness as a function of time of a solute-free liquid (toluene) and a blend of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) cast from toluene were fitted to different models as a function of toluene partial pressure. In the case of the formation of the polymer blend film, a concentration-dependent (Huggins) viscosity formula was used to account for changes in viscosity during spin coating. A semi-empirical model is introduced, which permits calculation of the solvent evaporation rate and the temporal evolution of the solute volume fraction and solution viscosity.