Modeling effects of gas adsorption and removal on friction during sliding along diamond-like carbon films

In this paper, the physical and tribochemical processes that occur in a sliding contact between two diamond-like-carbon (DLC)-coated counterparts are discussed. The applicability of some of the most cited of the adsorption kinetics equations for modeling the gas adsorption process when environment molecules form bonds to the surface are examined. The process modeling is also discussed when part of the adsorbate is removed due to rubbing the surface by a slider. A direct connection between a kind of molecular friction and gradual wear is established. The models are compared with some recent experimental results. The present computer simulations of the adsorption and mechanical desorption of oxygen help to explain how microscopic processes, such as the breaking and forming of interatomic bonds, may affect macroscopic phenomena such as friction. In particular, it is shown that the initial roughness of the DLC surface may have a considerable influence on the probability of breaking bonds during mechanical removal of adsorbate and on the process of the gradual tribochemical wear of DLC films.     

The effect of a gap between dielectric and waveguide on the dispersion relation of the ?erenkov device

We present a method for calculating efficiently the dispersion curve of a cylindrical ?erenkov device having a small gap between the dielectric liner and the guide wall. In any practical realisation, such a gap cannot be avoided and the results obtained here indicate that the dispersion curve is very sensitive to its thickness. Using a liner with a higher dielectric constant increases the sensitivity of the dispersion to the size of the gap. If a very high-energy electron beam is employed, having an electron velocity almost equal to c (speed of light in a free space) then synchronism occurs close to the intersection of the dispersion curve and the vacuum light line where the effect of the gap is small; in fact, a large gap could be left between the dielectric liner and the waveguide if this was advantageous for construction purposes. However, at lower electron energies, typical of those used in microwave devices, the effect of even a relatively small gap can be considerable on the synchronism condition.     

Oxidation behavior of Incoloy 800 under simulated supercritical water conditions

For a correct design of supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) components, data regarding the behavior of candidate materials in supercritical water are necessary. Corrosion has been identified as a critical problem because the high temperature and the oxidative nature of supercritical water may accelerate the corrosion kinetics. The goal of this paper is to investigate the oxidation behavior of Incoloy 800 exposed in autoclaves under supercritical water conditions for up to 1440 h. The exposure conditions (thermal deaerated water, temperatures of 723, 773, 823 and 873 K and a pressure of 25 MPa) have been selected as relevant for a supercritical power plant concept. To investigate the structural changes of the oxide films, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses were used. Results show changes in the oxides chemical composition, microstructure and thickness versus testing conditions (pressure, temperature and time). The oxide films are composed of two layers: an outer layer enriched in Fe oxide and an inner layer enriched in Cr and Ni oxides corresponding to small cavities supposedly due to internal oxidation.     

Impact and energy deposition of slow, highly charged ions on a solid surface

A plasma region in nanometer scale may be created by a highly charged ion impact on solid surface. The charge imbalance leads to enormous electric fields and may further induce Coulomb explosion due to electrostatic repulsion in the region. Thus, the highly charged ion is thus expected to be a powerful tool to induce surface modification in the nanometer scale. The Coulomb explosion model is applied in order to interpret the interaction mechanism and to understand the impact and energy deposition of highly charged ions on a solid surface, and to obtain the energy deposited by the ion. The energy deposition ratio is dependent on the material and charge. A high temperature and high pressure environment will be formed by the deposited energy, causing the atoms to swell up and a hillock nano-defect to be formed on surface. The height of hillock is estimated from the Coulomb explosion.     

Ultra-thin zinc oxide film on Mo(100)

Zinc oxide films on a single crystal Mo(100) substrate were fabricated by annealing the pre-deposited metal Zn films in 10^− 5-10^− 4 Pa O₂ ambience at 300-525 K, and were characterized by in situ Auger electron spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction and high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. The results show that the atomic ratio of oxygen to zinc in zinc oxide film is significantly dependent on sample annealing temperature and O₂ pressure. A stoichiometric zinc oxide film has been obtained under ∼10^− 4 Pa O₂ at about 400 K. A redshift of Fuchs-Kliewer phonon energy correlated with surface oxygen deficiency is observed.     

Vacuum arc characteristics on nanocrystalline CuCr alloys

 Vacuum arcs generated on nanocrystalline CuCr₅ alloys were observed by a digital high-speed video camera. Experimental results show that nanosized Cr particles have strong influence on arc characteristics. The arcs are much more stable on nanocrystalline CuCr₅ alloys and the chopping current is about 0.8 A, which is much lower than that on coarse crystalline CuCr₅ alloys. Spots can directionally move a long distance on nanocrystalline CuCr alloy whereas the spot motion is totally random walk on Cr particles for coarse crystalline CuCr alloy.     

Oxidation kinetics of Ni metallic films: Formation of NiO-based resistive switching structures

Resistive switching controlled by external voltage has been reported in many Metal/Resistive oxide/Metal (MRM) structures in which the resistive oxide was simple transition metal oxide thin films such as NiO or TiO₂ deposited by reactive sputtering. In this paper, we have explored the possibility to form NiO-based MRM structures from the partial oxidation of a blanket Ni metallic film using a Rapid Thermal Annealing route, the remaining Ni layer being used as bottom electrode. X-ray diffraction was used to apprehend the Ni oxidation kinetics while transmission electron microscopy enabled investigating local microstructure and film interfaces. These analyses have especially emphasized the predominant role of the as-deposited Ni metallic film microstructure (size and orientation of crystallites) on (i) oxidation kinetics, (ii) NiO film microstructural characteristics (crystallite size, texture and interface roughness) and (iii) subsequent electrical behavior. On this latter point, the as-grown NiO films were initially in the low resistance ON state without the electro-forming step usually required for sputtered films. Above the threshold voltage varying from 2 to 5 V depending on oxidation conditions, the Pt/NiO/Ni MRM structures irreversibly switched into the high resistance OFF state. This irreversibility is thought to originate in the microstructure of the NiO films that would cause the difficulty to re-form conductive paths.     

Protective effect of fresh and processed Jalapeño and Serrano peppers against food lipid and human LDL cholesterol oxidation

The potential of fresh and processed Jalapeño and Serrano pepper extracts for the control of lipid oxidation in several systems was investigated. The assays used included β-carotene/linoleate model system, striped corn oil, ground pork meat and Cu(II)-induced oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The results showed that all extracts were effective in at least one system, although their potency varied. Extracts of smoked Jalapeño were particularly effective. The lipid-protective effect of the extracts was mainly due to the presence of phenolic compounds, but other phytochemicals, such as chlorophylls were also involved.     

Hydrogen molecule - antihydrogen scattering at very low energies

We consider the low-energy scattering of antihydrogen () by the simplest molecule, H₂. This preliminary treatment applies a generalisation of the Kohn variational method to the calculation of total elastic cross section at low energies. The scattering wavefunction calculated by the generalised Kohn method is used to estimate the antiproton annihilation in flight using a delta function pseudo potential introduced in the treatment of antiproton annihilation in H- scattering.     

Oxidation resistance of Y-implanted steel using accelerator based techniques

The thermal oxidation behavior in air of Y-implanted (fluence 2 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm²) and non-implanted stainless steel AISI-321 samples was investigated using the ¹⁶O(d,p)¹⁷O nuclear reaction and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). The oxidation temperature was 650 and 900 °C and the duration of the thermal treatment 48 hours. The influence of the implantation energy (40, 55 and 80 keV) on the oxidation behavior of stainless steel was also studied. An improvement of the oxidation resistance of the Y-implanted samples with increasing implantation energy was observed. Additional secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements of the samples implanted by 40 keV Y-ions also indicated a slight chromium depletion of their near-surface layers. Mechanisms attempting to explain the experimental results are proposed.