Book excerpt: This book guides beginners in the areas of thin film preparation, characterization, and device making, while providing insight into these areas for experts. As chemically deposited metal oxides are currently gaining attention in development of devices such as solar cells, supercapacitors, batteries, sensors, etc., the book illustrates how the chemical deposition route is emerging as a relatively inexpensive, simple, and convenient solution for large area deposition. The advancement in the nanostructured materials for the development of devices is fully discussed.