The Chemical Spray Pyrolysis technique and a combination of sol-gel and spray pyrolysis techniques have been used in order to monitor the morphology of metal-oxide-based thin films to be used as functional materials. We can obtain surfaces from specular to rough-porous according to the physico-chemical conditions of the precursor/spraying solution. We have produced coatings of ZnO-based and NiOx-based coatings from alcoholic and aqueous solutions. A single glass, ITO-precoated glass or alumina was used as the substrate. Porous materials of WO3, WO3-SnO2 and SnO2 have been produced by spraying either inorganic or metal alkoxide gels over a hot substrate. The morphologies of coatings were evaluated by either SEM or optical measurements. © 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.