Mathematical model for thickness of off-center spin-coated polymer films

Off-center spin coating is a method to fabricate thin film on a substrate where the substrate is located at an off-center distance away from the rotating center of the spin coater. Here, a mathematical model to calculate the thickness of a film fabricated by an off-center spin-coating technique was developed and proposed. The model showed that the off-center film thickness was calculable by using four factors—the on-center film thickness, mass fraction of solid in the wet film, length of the substrate in the radial direction, and off-center distance. Simply, the off-center film thickness was inversely proportional to the off-center distance to the exponent of one-third, that is, the further the off-center distance, the thinner the film. The model was verified where the thicknesses of the films calculated by using the model were compared with the experimental values obtained from the off-center spin-coated films of poly(vinylidene fluoride) at various off-center distances. Both the modeled and the experimental data were of the same trend and in a good agreement with each other, indicating the validity of the model. The limitations of the model were also discussed. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48356.     

Highly Flexible Tribovoltaic Nanogenerator Based-on P-N Junction Interface: Comparative Study on Output Dependency Dominated by Photovoltaic Effect in Freestanding-Mode

The emergence of tribovoltaic nanogenerators (TVNGs) paves the way for developing a new kind of semiconductor-based energy harvester that overcomes the restriction of low output current in a conventional approach. The traditional TVNG generally depends on the frictional pair between two rigid semiconductors (or metal-semiconductor), limiting the practicability of flexible and portable electronics. Recent developments require the fundamental understanding of charge generation in diverse operating modes and structures. Here, a flexible TVNG based on the p-Cu₂O/n-g-C₃N₄ interface is presented. Operating in a freestanding mode, the proposed TVNG can generate a stable signal in any optical conditions including UV illumination, dark, and ambient. Under UV illumination, the electrical outputs of the TVNG reach 0.43 V and 2.1 µA cm⁻², which are significantly larger than those obtained from dark and ambient conditions. The results demonstrate the coupling effect of three phenomena: tribovoltaic, photovoltaic, and triboelectric effects, and the unique mechanism to the observed signal is proposed. Additionally, the TVNG shows the practical feasibility of energy harvesting with capacitor charging and charge-boosting circuits. This study showcases the unique concept with potential for developing a novel flexible nanogenerator in many aspects, including material, structure, and fundamental mechanism.