Optical and electrical properties of ITO film on flexible fluorphlogopite substrate

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) films were prepared, at room temperature, on a fluorphlogopite substrate using magnetron sputtering technology. At various temperatures of 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C, the samples were (had) annealed for 2 h (a 2-h duration). The results showed improvement in the crystalline performance of ITO film at selected annealing temperatures, with a significant reduction in resistivity at 800 °C. The lowest resistivity is 4.08 × 10^?4 Ω-cm, which is nearly an order of magnitude lower than the unannealed sample. All samples have an average light transmittance above 85% in the visible light range (400–800 nm), and with increasing annealing temperature, the average light transmittance tends to decrease. Besides, at the sensitive wavelength of 550 nm, the light transmittance is as high as 93.74%. The sheet resistance testing of the sample was through the number of bending times, which revealed that with the increase of the number of bending, the sheet resistance increases. However, after 1200 bending times, the change rate of the sheet resistance remains below 5%. Thus, the ITO film prepared on the flexible fluorphlogopite substrate revealed excellent optical and electrical properties, good flexibility, and improved stability after high-temperature annealing, which guarantees successful application in flexible electronic devices.     

Sputtered Fe1·5CoNi0.5 coating: An improved protective coating for SOFC interconnect applications

In an attempt to optimize the properties of FeCoNi coating for planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) interconnect application, the coating composition is modified by increasing the ratio of Fe/Ni. An Fe_1·5CoNi_0.5 (Fe:Co:Ni = 1.5:1:0.5, atomic ratio) metallic coating is fabricated on SUS 430 stainless steel by magnetron sputtering, followed by oxidation in air at 800°C. The Fe_1·5CoNi_0.5 coating is thermally converted to (Fe,Co,Ni)₃O₄ and (Fe,Co,Mn,Ni)₃O₄ without (Ni,Co)O particles. After oxidation for 1680 h, no further migration of Cr is detected in the thermally converted coating region. A low oxidation rate of 5.9 × 10^?14 g² cm^?4 s^?1 and area specific resistance of 12.64 mΩ·cm² is obtained for Fe_1·5CoNi_0.5 coated steels.     

Morphology-controlled fabrication of nanostructured WO3 thin films by magnetron sputtering with glancing angle deposition for enhanced efficiency photo-electrochemical water splitting

Herein, the tungsten trioxide (WO₃) nanostructure thin films with different morphologies are firstly fabricated by magnetron sputtering with glancing angle deposition technique (MS-GLAD), followed by the post annealed treatment process in air ambient for 2 h. It is demonstrated that the geometry of MS-GLAD setup, mainly substrate position, played a crucial role in determining the morphology, crystallinity, optical transmittance, and photo-electrochemical (PEC) performance of the WO₃ nanostructured thin film. With the different substrate positions in the MS-GLAD system, the WO₃ nanorod film layer could be precisely changed to combine an underlying dense layer with a nanorod layer and then nanocolumnar film. Moreover, the prepared samples' chemical composition and work function are studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), respectively. The combining WO₃ nanostructure produced high PEC efficiency compared to the single layer of the WO₃ nanorods sample and the dense WO₃ thin film sample. Thus, morphology-controlled nanostructure film based on the MS-GLAD technique in our study provides a simple approach to enhance the photo-anode for PEC water splitting application.     

Complex study of protective Cr3C2–NiAl coatings deposited by vacuum electro-spark alloying,pulsed cathodic arc evaporation,magnetron sputtering,and hybrid technology

Coatings were obtained by vacuum electro-spark alloying (VESA), pulsed cathodic arc evaporation (PCAE), magnetron sputtering (MS) techniques and VESA-PCAE-MS hybrid technology using Cr₃C₂–NiAl electrodes. The structure of the coatings was analyzed using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Mechanical properties were determined by nanoindentation, while tribological properties were assessed using pin-on-disk tribometer. Corrosion resistance was estimated by voltammetry in 1 N H₂SO₄ and 3.5%NaCl solutions. Oxidation resistance tests were performed at 800°С in air. The VESA coating had the highest thickness, low friction coefficient and high wear resistance. PCAE coating demonstrated the highest hardness (24 GPa) and elastic recovery (59%), oxidation resistance and superior corrosion resistance both in 1 N H₂SO₄ (i_corr = 70 μА/cm²) and 3.5%NaCl (i_corr = 0.74 μА/cm²) solutions. The MS coating had average mechanical properties and low corrosion current density (71 μА/cm²) in 1 N H₂SO₄. Deposition of coatings using VESA-PCAE-MS hybrid technology led to an increase in corrosion and oxidation resistance at least by 1.5 times in comparison with the VESA coating.     

Sputtered Ir–Ru based catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction: Study of iridium effect on stability

Magnetron sputtered low-loading iridium-ruthenium thin films are investigated as catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction at the anode of the Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer. Electrochemical performance of 50 nm thin catalysts (Ir pure, Ir–Ru 1:1, Ir–Ru 1:3, Ru pure) is tested in a Rotating Disk Electrode. Corresponding Tafel slopes are measured before and after the CV-based procedure to compare the activity and stability of prepared compounds. Calculated activities prior to the procedure confirm higher activity of ruthenium-containing catalysts (Ru pure > Ir–Ru 1:3 > Ir–Ru 1:1 > Ir pure). However, after the procedure a higher activity and less degradation of Ir–Ru 1:3 is observed, compared to Ir–Ru 1:1, i.e. the sample with a higher amount of unstable ruthenium performs better. This contradicts the expected behavior of the catalyst. The comprehensive chemical and structural analysis unravels that the stability of Ir–Ru 1:3 sample is connected to RuO₂ chemical state and hcp structure. Obtained results are confirmed by measuring current densities in a single cell.     

浅谈不同给液方式在铜电解车间的应用

不同给液方式对铜电解过程中有重要的影响,不同的循环方式会影响槽内温度分布、电解液成分及阳极泥沉降等,因此,根据铜电解生产不同情况的需要,分析对比了多种给液方式在贵冶电解车间的应用,总结了这几种给液方式的优缺点和适用条件。     

Fabrication,structural and vibrational properties,and physical and optical properties tailoring of nanocrystalline MoS2 films

The modification and tuning features of nanostructured films are of great interest because of controllable and distinctive inherent properties in these materials. Here, nanocrystalline MoS₂ films were fabricated on the stainless steels by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering spectroscopy were used to study the chemical state, chemical composition, crystal structure and vibrational properties of the fabricated MoS₂ films. The bias voltage dependent structural evolution and its influence on the optical properties of MoS₂ nanocrystalline films were systematically investigated. Besides, the residual stresses of MoS₂ nanocrystalline films were explored by employing sin²ψ approach. X-ray diffraction demonstrates that the nanocrystalline MoS₂ films have single-phase hexagonal crystal structure. All MoS₂ films are polycrystalline in nature. The bandgap values are found to be intensively dependent on bias voltage. Our findings show that the nanocrystalline MoS₂ films with different physical properties and intense quantum confinement effect can be realized through adjusting bias voltages. This work may provide deep insight for realizing transitional metal dichalcogenide-based nanostructured film optoelectronic devices with tunable physical properties through a traditional, very cost-effective, and large-scale fabrication method.     

Effect of the thicknesses of the Al2SiO5 ion conductor on the opto-electrical properties for all-solid electrochromic devices

In this study, an all-solid-state electrochromic device (ECD) with the structure of ITO/WO₃/Al₂SiO₅/NiO_x/ITO was prepared, and the effect of the Al₂SiO₅ solid electrolyte thicknesses on the opto-electrical performance was investigated. The microstructure and surface morphology were characterized using XRD, SEM and AFM, and the surface morphology and degree of surface looseness demonstrate a significant influence on the opto-electrical properties of ECDs. The charge transfer dynamics at the solid-solid interface were characterized using EIS to obtain an ionic conductivity of 4.637 × 10^-8 S/cm. CV, CA and UV–Visible spectra were employed to record the in situ electrochemical and optical properties. The results revealed that the highest optical modulation was 44.58%, the coloring and bleaching times were 14.8 s and 3.7 s, and the highest coloring efficiency was 98.17 cm²/C, which indicates that excellent opto-electrical properties were obtained. When the thickness increases, the degree of surface dense morphology transforms, and the loose morphology is more favorable for ion conductivity, which improves the opto-electrical properties. The results in this study provide insights into the understanding of Al³⁺-based all-solid-state ECDs, which promote the exploration of new types of Al³⁺ ionic conductors for all-solid-state ECDs.     

Combination of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and nonlinear methods to analyze the copolymerization of phosphonic acid derivatives

We demonstrate in this study that the combination of modern inline monitoring methods [here: inline nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)] with simulations gains more exact and profound kinetic results than previously used methods like linearization without that combination. The ¹H-NMR spectroscopic data (more than 100 data points) are used to construct the copolymerization diagram. The reactivity ratios are obtained applying the van Herks nonlinear least square method. The examination of the radical copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with (2-{[2-(ethoxycarbonyl)prop-2-en-1-yl]oxy}ethyl) phosphonic acid (ECPPA) as important adhesive monomer used in dentistry yields reactivity ratios of r_HEMA = 1.83; r_ECPPA = 0.42. The copolymerization diagram reflects nonideal, non-azeotropic copolymerization. The sequence distribution of the obtained by Monte Carlo simulation indicates the generation of statistical copolymers. As an important finding, it is demonstrated that the repeating units responsible for etching and adhesion are arranged over the whole polymer chain, which is necessary to achieve proper functionality. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48256.