Methods of Preventing the Spread of Zinc Contamination During Vacuum Processing

Radioactive zinc, ⁶⁵Zn, was detected after a thermal vacuum process that extracted a desired product from articles out of a commercial light water reactor. While the facility is designed to handle radioactive materials, the location of the ⁶⁵Zn was in an area that is not designed for gamma-emitting contaminants. A series of experiments were conducted to entrain the contaminant in an easily replaceable trap within the process piping. The experiments were conducted with increasing levels of complexity. Initially, a simple apparatus was developed to determine the effect of substrate temperature on the vapor capture, which was followed by experiments to determine the effect of filter pore size on pumping and trapping, and finally the interactive effects of both pore size and temperature were evaluated. The testing was conducted on a system that used a roughing vacuum pump using model and prototypic materials. It was determined that heating the substrate to nominally 200 °C resulted in effective trapping on the model as well as prototypic material.     

Influence of rotational speed on process characteristics in friction surfacing of Ti-6Al-4V

Friction surfacing process is employed to deposit metallic coatings, whereby similar and dissimilar material combinations can be realized. The process can be applied as a local repair technology, or the coating material can locally modify the surfaces. One advantage of this process is that the coatings are deposited in solid state without reaching the melting range of materials, thereby avoiding dilution with the substrate. The involved severe plastic deformation under high temperatures alters the microstructure of the coating material, leaving it fully dynamically recrystallized. The current work focuses on deposition of Ti-6Al-4V coatings. For that material, the process parameter rotational speed plays a major role in the material’s response during processing. Two different regimes with a threshold at 2000?min^?1 exist, upon which the flow behavior of Ti-6Al-4V significantly differs, affecting among others the coating dimensions. Microstructural analysis reveals that the material is deformed in a high temperature β phase, and the high cooling rates (46.4 Ks^?1) lead to martensitic transformation. The β grain size differs in the low and high rotational speed regimes. This study shows that metallurgical processes play an important role in friction surfacing, since they influence all relevant process characteristics, including microstructure, material efficiency and process forces.     

Synthesis of shape-stabilized paraffin/silicon dioxide composites as phase change material for thermal energy storage

The shape-stabilized paraffin/silicon dioxide (SiO₂) composite phase change materials (PCM) were prepared by using sol–gel methods. Paraffin was used as the PCM, and silicon dioxide was acted as the supporting material. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscope (FT-IR) and scanning electronic microscope were used to determine the FT-IR spectra and microstructure of shape-stabilized paraffin/silicon dioxide composite PCM, respectively. The thermal properties and thermal stability were investigated by a differential scanning calorimeter and a thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. The SEM analysis showed that the paraffin was well dispersed into the porous network of silicon dioxide. DSC analysis indicated that the mass content of paraffin in silicon dioxide was up to 92.1%, and paraffin/silicon dioxide composites had solidifying temperature of 57.07 °C, solidifying latent heat of 59.66 kJ/kg, melting temperature of 58.10 °C, and melting latent heat of 139.59 kJ/kg.     

Controlled partial embedding of carbon nanotubes within flexible transparent layers

Applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) like field emission displays, super-capacitors, and cell growth scaffolds can benefit from controllable embedding of the CNTs in a material such that the CNTs are anchored and protrude a desired length. We demonstrate a simple method for anchoring densely packed, vertically aligned arrays of CNTs into silicone layers using spin-coating, CNT insertion, curing, and growth substrate removal. CNT arrays of 51 and 120?μm in height are anchored into silicone layers of thickness 26 and 36?μm, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy are used to characterize the sample morphology, a 5.5?m?s(-1) impinging water jet is used to apply shear stress, and a tensile test shows that the silicone layer detaches from the substrate before the CNTs are ripped from the layer. The CNTs are thus well anchored in the silicone layers. The spin-coating process gives control over layer thickness, and the method should have general applicability to various nanostructures and anchoring materials.     

Correlations between substrate bias, microstructure and surface morphology of tetrahedral amorphous carbon films

The microstructure and surface morphology of ta-C films deposited on p-type (1 0 0) single crystal silicon with the substrate negative bias varying from 0 to 2000 V by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc technology have been investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscope. The optimal deposition process of sp³-rich ta-C films can be confirmed in light of the relations between the coupling coefficients or full-width at half-maximum and the substrate negative bias. The surfaces of these films are uniform and smooth and RMS surface roughness is less than 0.4 nm. At the lower energetic grades, the more the content of sp³ is in the film, the smoother the surface of the film is. The dependence of the surface morphology and the impinging energy of the species can be illustrated according to the subimplantation growth mechanism. Nevertheless at the high energetic grade, the impinging ions with appropriate energy sputter and smoothen the surface so that the roughness might be even lower than the one of the films with the richest sp³ component.     

Preparation and properties of epitaxial films of indium-doped lead tin telluride

Several hundred epitaxial films of indium-doped lead tin telluride were grown on BaF₂ substrates using a hot-wall method and a source material containing 0.5 at.%In. Films were grown from source materials containing SnTe at concentrations of 0, 22, 24.8 and 27.7 mol.%. The growth procedure, source material preparation and substrate preparation are described. The films were characterized by van der Pauw measurements of the mobility and carrier concentration at room temperature and 77 K. As finally developed, the growth procedures gave a high yield of films with mobilities at 77 K in the range of 3.5–4.5 m² V^-1s^-1.     

Mimicking Electrodeposition in the Gas Phase: A Programmable Concept for Selected‐Area Fabrication of Multimaterial Nanostructures

An in situ gas‐phase process that produces charged streams of Au, Si, TiO₂, ZnO, and Ge nanoparticles/clusters is reported together with a programmable concept for selected‐area assembly/printing of more than one material type. The gas‐phase process mimics solution electrodeposition whereby ions in the liquid phase are replaced with charged clusters in the gas phase. The pressure range in which the analogy applies is discussed and it is demonstrated that particles can be plated into pores vertically (minimum resolution 60 nm) or laterally to form low‐resistivity (48 µΩ cm) interconnects. The process is applied to the formation of multimaterial nanoparticle films and sensors. The system works at atmospheric pressure and deposits material at room temperature onto electrically biased substrate regions. The combination of pumpless operation and parallel nozzle‐free deposition provides a scalable tool for printable flexible electronics and the capability to mix and match materials.     

Effect of the substrate temperature on the properties of Ga-doped ZnO films for photovoltaic cell applications deposited by a pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with a rotating cylindrical target

Effect of substrate temperature on the properties of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) films was investigated by pulsed DC magnetron sputtering with a rotating cylindrical target with an aim to establish suitable process conditions for their photovoltaic (PV) cell applications. Without formation of undesirable secondary oxide phases such as Ga₂O₃ and ZnGa₂O₄, the GZO film having mixed orientation at lower deposition temperature evolved into the c-axis oriented one with increasing deposition temperature to 230 °C, which accompanied morphological evolution to vertically oriented dense columnar structure and improved doping efficiency. Correlated with this, crater-like surface texturing was possible only on the sample deposited at 230 °C. Electrical resistivity and diffuse surface reflectance over the spectral range of 200-1200 nm of this GZO film after surface texturing were 8.73 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm and 3.32%, respectively, indicating that the film has application potential as anti-reflection coating and front electrode of PV cells. Morphological features, surface texturing behavior, electrical and optical properties of the GZO films in this study suggest that this novel technique would be applicable to the fabrication of anti-reflection coating and front electrode of PV cells only when substrate temperature is sufficiently high.     

On the structure and transformation of the orange form of Sb2S3 layers

X-ray diffraction study showed that the mange modification of antimony trisulphide can neither be considered as amorphous material nor does it change into the black modification upon grinding. Thin vacuum-deposited layers, prepared by conventional thermal evaporation of the bulk material in 5 × 10^–6 torr on an amorphous substrate at room temperature, were crystalline. The behaviour of the electrical conductivity with temperature in the range 25 to 190° C indicated transition points at 80, 108, 135 and 175° C.     

Preparation and thermal properties of form-stable palmitic acid/active aluminum oxide composites as phase change materials for latent heat storage

Form-stable palmitic acid (PA)/active aluminum oxide composites as phase change materials were prepared by adsorbing liquid palmitic acid into active aluminum oxide. In the composites, the palmitic acid was used as latent heat storage materials, and the active aluminum oxide was used as supporting material. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscope (FT-IR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electronic microscope (SEM) were used to determine the chemical structure, crystalloid phase and microstructure of the composites, respectively. The thermal properties and thermal stability were investigated by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA). The FT-IR analyses results indicated that there is no chemical interaction between the palmitic acid and active aluminum oxide. The SEM results showed that the palmitic acid was well adsorbed into porous network of the active aluminum oxide. The DSC results indicated that the composites melt at 60.25 °C with a latent heat of 84.48 kJ kg⁻¹ and solidify at 56.86 °C with a latent heat of 78.79 kJ kg⁻¹ when the mass ratio of the PA to active aluminum oxide is 0.9:1. Compared with that of the PA, the melting and solidifying time of the composites CPCM5 was reduced by 20.6% and 21.4% because of the increased heat transfer rate through EG addition. The TGA results showed that the active aluminum oxide can improve the thermal stability of the composites.     

Generation processes of super-high-energy atoms and ions in magnetron sputtering plasma

Energy distribution function (EDF) of ion species (Ar⁺, Kr⁺, Xe⁺) in a rare gas magnetron plasma is measured at a substrate position, 0.1 m away from the target surface, by energy-resolved mass spectrometry. The measured ion EDF contains, besides a bulk low-energy part (<10 eV), a tail part of super-high energy on an order of 100 eV, depending on the mass ratio of ion species to target material (tungsten, permalloy (80% Ni, 20% Fe)). A weak electric field in a diffusion region of magnetron plasma cannot accelerate slow bulk ions of ∼0.2 eV to such high energies. Origin of large kinetic energies is attributed to the backscattering process on the target surface where, e.g., Ar⁺ ions impinging on the target are neutralized and reflected as fast Ar atoms of the kinetic energy approximately given by a two-body collision model. Subsequently, a part of fast atoms may be converted to fast ions in three possible collision processes in the diffusion region: (i) electron impact ionization (ii) resonant charge exchange, and (iii) ionization of slow atoms by fast atoms. Among them, the third process is found to be dominant from Monte Carlo simulations where the backscattering process is evaluated by the TRIM code. Furthermore, when the target mass is larger than the bombarding ion mass, the substrate is bombarded by the super-high-energy atoms having a flux 2-4 orders of magnitude larger than the fast-ion flux.     

Analysis of Solidiflcation in Spray Atomized and Codeposited Metal-matrix Composites Part Ⅱ: Reinforcement Injection and Deposition

The influence of the injection of reinforcing particles (for the production of metal matrix composites and of the droplets-to-substrate heat transfer on the resulting microstructural uniformity of spray atomized and codeposited composite material is analyzed. The reinforcement particles injection velocity has to be limited between an upper and a lower critical values. in order to ensure entrapment into the matrix droplets in flight. The thermal history of the injected droplets during the deposition stage is calculated with the assumption that the in-flight solidifying droplets reach the substrate while containing still at least 20% liquid volume fraction, in order to avoid porosity of the deposited material. The substrate to pouring-tube orifice distance where that condition is achieved depends strongly on the atomization pressure and the convective heat transfer coefficient of the substrate. It is demonstrated that "tailoring" the microstructures and the reinforcement volume percent in the deposited material is feasible. The critical process parameters : the atomization pressure, the melt flow rate. the substrate to pouring-tube orifice distance, the reinforcement particles injection location and rate can all be adequately chosen in order to obtain any desired microstructure, grain size, reinforcement volume percent, with the additional benefit, if wanted, of rapid solidification processing     

Investigation of nanostructured silicon as a candidate for heat sensitive material

Nanoscale pores are fabricated on the surface of silicon by simple metal-assisted etching process. The resistance of nanostructured silicon depends obviously on temperature. The temperature coefficient of resistance is ?2.835 %/°C, which is as large as that of some heat sensitive materials, for instance vanadium oxide, amorphous silicon, used for uncooled infrared (IR) detectors. Considering with the enhanced near-IR absorption of nanostructured silicon, it is demonstrated that nanostructured silicon can be a promising heat sensitive material for uncooled IR detection. The sheet carrier concentration is slightly reduced, whereas carrier mobility is drastically decreased from 367.5 to 273.7 cm² V^?1 s^?1 after nanostructuring process.     

Compression of polypropylene across a wide range of strain rates

Three grades of polypropylene were tested in uniaxial compression at room temperature, across a wide range of strain rate: 10^?4?s^?1 to 10⁴?s^?1. One grade is a conventional polypropylene homopolymer. The two other grades are the polypropylene forming the matrix phase of a continuous glass fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composite prepreg, with and without blending with a carbon-black master batch. Tests at the highest strain rates were performed using a compression split Hopkinson pressure bar. The test specimens, for all the three rates, were imaged using appropriate digital cameras in order to observe the deformation process. In addition, the images obtained were analysed digitally to obtain true strain measurements for the medium rates category. All three grades of polypropylene showed pronounced strain-rate dependence of compressive yield stress, increasing by factors of up to 4 across the range of rates. At the lowest rates, there was close agreement between the yield stresses for all three materials, and also close agreement with the Eyring theory. Considering the highest strain rates, however, yield stresses increased more rapidly with log(strain-rate) than would be expected from a linear Eyring prediction and values for the three materials diverged. This was attributed to the contributions made in each material by both alpha and beta relaxation processes. Also prominent in the medium- and high-rate experimental results was pronounced post-yield strain softening, greatest at the highest strain-rates. This resulted from a combination of thermal softening from adiabatic heating, and structural rejuvenation as often seen in glassy polymers in quasi-static tests.     

A review of the processing, composition, and temperature-dependent mechanical and thermal properties of dielectric technical ceramics

The current review uses the material requirements of a new space propulsion device, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR^?) as a basis for presenting the temperature-dependent properties of a range of dielectric ceramics, but data presented could be used in the engineering design of any ceramic component with complementary material requirements. A material is required for the gas containment tube (GCT) of VASIMR^? to allow it to operate at higher power levels. The GCT’s operating conditions place severe constraints on the choice of material. An electrically-insulating material is required with a high-thermal conductivity, low-dielectric loss factor, and high-thermal shock resistance. There is a lack of a representative set of temperature-dependent material property data for materials considered for this application and these are required for accurate thermo-structural modelling. This modelling would facilitate the selection of an optimum material for this component. The goal of this article is to determine the best material property data values for use in the materials selection and design of such components. A review of both experimentally and theoretically determined temperature-dependent and room temperature properties of several materials has been undertaken. Data extracted are presented by property. Properties reviewed are density, Young’s, bulk and shear moduli, Poisson’s ratio, tensile, flexural and compressive strength, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient, and the factors affecting maximum service temperature. Materials reviewed are alumina, aluminium nitride, beryllia, fused quartz, sialon, and silicon nitride.     

Numerical simulation of rapid solidification of a spherical sample on a metallic substrate

Since the exact analytical solutions for rapid solidification process are available only for special boundary conditions, numerical techniques have to be applied for more general boundary conditions. In this paper we will describe a finite difference method for simulation of rapid solidification that is based on control volume methodology and interface-tracking technique. Heat transfer computer study will be realized for solidification with and without melt undercooling at the interface. Such numerical method will be applied for thermal history analysis of solidifying nickel on copper substrate.     

Monolithic Flexible Supercapacitors Integrated into Single Sheets of Paper and Membrane via Vapor Printing

A novel approach to fabricate supercapacitors (SCs) via vapor printing, specifically oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD), is demonstrated. Compared to stacking multiple layers into a SC, this method enables the monolithic integration of all components into a single‐sheet substrate, minimizing the inactive materials and eliminating the possibility of multilayer delamination. Electrodes comprised of pseudocapacitive material, poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), are deposited into both sides of a sheet of flexible porous substrate. The film deposition and patterning are achieved in a single step. The oCVD PEDOT penetrates partially into the porous substrate from both surfaces, while leaving the interior of the substrate serving as a separator. Near the surface, the PEDOT coating conforms to the substrate's structure without blocking the pores, resembling the substrate's intrinsic morphology with high surface area. The porously structured PEDOT coating, paired with in situ ion gel electrolyte synthesis, gives enhanced electrode–electrolyte interfaces. The monolithic device demonstrates high volumetric capacitance (11.3 F cm^?3), energy density (2.98 mWh cm^?3), and power density (0.42 W cm^?3). These outstanding performance metrics are attributed to the large loading of active materials, minimization of inactive materials, and good electrode–electrolyte interfaces. SC arrays can be printed on a single substrate without the use of wire interconnects.     

Natural Carbon By‐Products for Transparent Heaters: The Case of Steam‐Cracker Tar

Steam‐cracker tar (SCT) is a by‐product of ethylene production that is in massive quantities globally (>150 × 10⁶ tons per year). With few useful applications, the production of unwanted SCT leads to the need for its costly disposal or burning at the boiler plant. The discovery of new uses for SCT would therefore bring both economic and environmental benefits, although, to date, efforts toward employing SCT in diverse applications have been limited, and progress is further hampered by a lack of understanding of the material itself. Although complex and highly heterogeneous in nature, the molecular composition of SCT has the potential to serve as a diverse and tunable feedstock for wide‐ranging applications. Here, a simple solution‐processing method for SCT that allows its conductivity and optical properties to be controlled over orders of magnitude is reported. Here, by way of example, the focus is on the production of transparent conductive thin films, which exhibit a wide range of transparencies (23–93%) and sheet resistances (2.5 Ω □^–1 to 1.2 kΩ □^–1) that are tuned by a combination of solution concentration and thermal annealing. As transparent Joule heaters, even without optimization, these SCT devices show competitive performance compared to established technologies such as those based on reduced graphene oxide, and surpass the temperature stability limit of other materials. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that laser annealing can be used to process the SCT films and directly pattern transparent heaters on an arbitrary substrate. These results highlight the potential of SCT as a feedstock material for electronic applications and suggest that broader classes of either naturally occurring carbon or produced carbonaceous by‐products could prove useful in a range of applications.     

超临界撞击流技术制备微胶囊工艺

将超临界流体与撞击流技术相结合,提出了一项新的包覆技术—超临界撞击流技术(SFIT)。以石蜡和玻璃微珠分别作为包覆模型材料的壁材和芯材,考察该技术的可行性和有效性;研究混合器内压力、温度、撞击釜内撞击距离以及膨胀前温度等因素对于微胶囊的表观包覆率和表观形态的影响。结果表明,在混合器内压力20MPa以上、温度75℃,且撞击距离70mm,膨胀前温度140℃时,得到的微胶囊团聚小,包覆均匀且效果较好。实验采用电子扫描电镜、激光粒度分布仪和差式扫描量热仪等检测方法从微胶囊的表观包覆率、粒径分布范围、表面形态等角度进行评价。从结果来看,超临界流体与撞击流技术相结合可以实现微胶囊的包覆且效果良好。     

Ferromagnetic Behavior of Fe+ Implanted Si(100) Semiconductor

Fe ions have been implanted into Si (100) single crystals using ion implantation technique. The Fe ions have been accelerated to 45 keV with a dose of 5×10¹⁷ ion/cm² at room temperature. The ions have been sent to the substrate??s surface at normal incidence. The temperature dependence of magnetization measurement was explored at the temperature range of 10?C300 K. The implanted Si substrate was studied with Ferromagnetic Resonance (FMR) technique and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). The FMR spectra were recorded by applying external magnetic field in different experimental geometries. FMR spectra were analyzed and the magnetic properties, which are the g-factor, effective magnetization and uniaxial anisotropy parameter, were estimated by simulation of the experimental data. The sample showed two-fold magnetic anisotropic symmetry. By fitting the Si-2p region obtained through XPS measurements it is observed that Fe and Fe compounds are present in the material.