Gas Mixture Research Articles

Real-Time Monitoring of Toxic Gases using Artificial Neural Networks with SnO2-based Thick Film Gas Sensors

The present study aims to develop an advanced system for real-time identification and measurement of harmful gases using Pd-doped SnO2-based thick film gas sensors integrated with Artificial Neural Networks. These sensors, renowned for their exceptional sensitivity and selectivity, undergo testing in a meticulously controlled gas chamber environment. Here, gas concentrations, temperature, and humidity are meticulously controlled. The gas chamber setup allows for mixing gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide with nitrogen gas to achieve desired concentrations ranging from to . Temperature is kept at and relative humidity is maintained between to . The sensitivity analysis of the sensor demonstrates its adeptness in detecting low concentrations of target gases, with sensitivity increasing as gas concentrations rise, also the selectivity assessments highlight their ability to accurately differentiate between target gases and common interferents, ensuring precise detection even in complex gas mixtures. Response time testing indicates rapid detection capabilities, crucial and useful for emergencies. The Artificial Neural Network model, trained via the backpropagation algorithm, demonstrates remarkable accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 scores in predicting gas concentrations. The findings indicate that this integrated system offers a reliable and efficient solution for toxic gas detection, with potential applications in industrial safety and environmental monitoring.

Carbonic anhydrase immobilized on Zn(II)-geopolymer membrane for CO2 capture

Inorganic membranes are widely used in water filtration and gas separation due to their many advantages. In this work, we proposed an innovative approach for enzyme immobilization using a geopolymer based tubular inorganic membrane (GM) as a carrier. The GM has abundant mesopores, excellent mechanical strength and strong stability for continuous flow systems in biocatalysis field, and carbonic anhydrase (CA) was successfully loaded into this mesoporous membrane using adsorption-crosslinking method, relying on the excellent ion exchange capacity of geopolymers and large number of hydroxyl groups naturally present in the membrane's mesopores. The results of the immobilization experiments showed that the immobilized enzyme composite membrane (GZnM-CA) could achieve 63.7% enzyme recovery. This is a significant improvement over the enzyme recoveries obtained on organic membranes which are typically less than 50%. In stability tests, the membrane retained more than 90.0% relative activity after 10 consecutive uses. In the CO2 capture assay, the CO2 capture efficiency developed dramatically under the catalytic of GZnM-CA. To our delight, the membrane has excellent separation capability for CO2 gas mixtures, especially at low CO2 concentrations, achieving 99.90% CO2 removal rate, and this result can be maintained for a long period of time in a pH = 8.0 environment.

Study of long term stability of a 50 liters TPC, based on TRIPLE-GEM with optical readout, for the CYGNO experiment

The CYGNO project aims to study rare events, as low-mass (few GeV) Dark Matter (DM) particle or solar neutrino interactions, exploiting the approach of the optical readout of the scintillation light produced in the amplification in a multiple Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) structure, of the primary ionization originated in large volume Time Projection Chamber (TPCs).The volume is filled with an He:CF4 gas mixture at atmospheric pressure. The 3D topology, and therefore direction of the recoils, is reconstructed thanks to the combined use of high-granularity, high sensitivity sCMOS cameras, for the precise tracking of the projection of the recoils on the GEM plane, and of fast light sensors in order to obtain the coordinate perpendicular to the camera plane.To conclude the R&D phase, the 50 L prototype, called Long Imaging ModulE (LIME), was moved underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in order to study the performance of the CYGNO experimental approach in a low background environment and to assess the contributions to the background from different sources, also comparing with Monte Carlo simulations.Stability studies and the effects of environmental condition on the light yield will be discussed, focusing on the effect of humidity on the detector response and stability amount and rate of self-sustaining micro-discharges. This is a crucial step towards the development of a large demonstrator.

Numerical Simulation and Consequence Analysis of Full-Scale Jet Fires for Pipelines Transporting Pure Hydrogen or Hydrogen Blended with Natural Gas

The use of existing natural gas pipelines for the transport of hydrogen/natural gas mixtures can achieve large-scale, long-distance and low-cost hydrogen transportation. A jet fire induced by the leakage of high-pressure pure hydrogen and hydrogen-blended natural gas pipelines may pose a severe threat to life and property. Based on the Abel–Nobel equation of state and a notional nozzle model, an equivalent pipe leakage model is established to simulate high-pressure pipeline gas leakage jet fire accidents. Large-scale high-pressure hydrogen and natural gas/hydrogen mixture jet fires are simulated, showing the jet impingement process and obtaining an accurate and effective simulation framework. This framework is validated by comparing the simulated and experimental measured results of flame height, flame appearance and thermal radiation. Several combustion models are compared, and the simulated data show that the non-premixed chemical equilibrium combustion model is superior to other combustion models. The influence of the pipe pressure and the hydrogen blending ratio on the consequences of natural gas/hydrogen mixture pipeline leakage jet fire accidents is explored. It is found that when the hydrogen blending ratio is lower than 22%, the increase in the hydrogen blending ratio has little effect on the decrease in the thermal radiation hazard distance.

Purifying Hydrogen from Dilute Hydrogen–Natural Gas Mixtures Using HT-PEM Electrochemical Hydrogen Pumps

Purifying Hydrogen from Dilute Hydrogen–Natural Gas Mixtures Using HT-PEM Electrochemical Hydrogen Pumps

Machine learning based screening of organic frameworks for separation of CF4/N2, C2F6/N2, and SF6/N2

Through molecular simulation, feature analysis and extraction, as well as the modeling and optimization of machine learning algorithms, we have developed exceptional regression prediction models for the high-throughput screening of organic framework materials in CF4/N2, C2F6/N2, and SF6/N2 separation. The Grand Canonical Ensemble Monte Carlo method was employed to simulate the adsorption behavior of these three gas mixtures in 603 organic framework materials at room temperature 298 K and different pressures, constructing a dataset suitable for subsequent machine learning studies. We analyzed the impact of six common structural features of adsorbents (PLD, LCD, Density, ASA, AVF, and AV) on separation performance, determining the optimal ranges of each structural feature for adsorption separation in different gas mixtures. Additionally, we introduced two custom descriptors (AVG_SIG, AVG_SQRT_EPS) to describe adsorbent force field parameters, revealing their significant correlation with adsorption separation performance. Using pressure, adsorbent structural features, and custom descriptors as features, and TSQ value representing adsorption separation performance as the target, we applied eight machine learning models based on linear regression (MLR, RR), decision tree (DT, RF, GBDT, XGBoost), and neural network (MLP, GN) principles to model and predict on three datasets. Results indicated that simple models struggle to reliably predict adsorption separation performance, while structurally complex machine models demonstrate significant potential. We utilized the Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) algorithm to perform hyperparameter optimization on multiple machine learning models and introduced improvements to the GN network. The optimized models, especially XGBoost and GN, exhibited outstanding performance, significantly enhancing the accuracy of predicting adsorption separation.

Single-file diffusion and its influence on membrane gas separation: A case study on UTSA-280

Gas permeation in metal-organic framework-based (MOF-based) membranes is often elucidated through the solution-diffusion model, where the adsorption and diffusion of gases play equally vital roles. This study draws attention to a unique phenomenon known as single-file diffusion (SFD) occurring within MOF membranes that possess ultramicropores with dimensions comparable to the gas molecules themselves. When SFD takes place, the separation performance becomes solely reliant on the adsorption quantities on the feed side of the membrane. As a proof of concept, we fabricated a UTSA-280 membrane and subjected it to testing using gas mixtures of CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4. Two crucial observations substantiate the occurrence of single-file diffusion. Firstly, in the gas mixtures, the diffusion coefficients of N2 or CH4 were observed to align closely with that of CO2, despite the intrinsic diffusion coefficients of CO2, N2, and CH4, as determined from single-gas permeation experiments, exhibiting differences. Secondly, the CO2 mole fractions within the adsorption phase closely mirrored those in the gas phase on the permeate side. Given the high adsorption selectivity of UTSA-280 for CO2, the UTSA-280 membrane delivers outstanding permeation selectivity for CO2/N2 (611) and CO2/CH4 (80.7). Our experimental findings are supported by mesoscale kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, which confirmed the relation between the CO2 compositions in the adsorption phase on the feed side and in the gas phase on the permeate side. Furthermore, density functional theory calculations revealed high energy barriers associated with CO2 surpassing its counterparts, rendering such processes unfavorable, thereby reinforcing our experimental findings regarding single-file diffusion.

Development of 2D CuO based chemiresistive sensors for detecting binary mixture of volatile organic compounds and investigation of the adsorption kinetics via Eley-Rideal mechanism

Detection of mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and prediction of the individual components present in it plays a significant role in various applications arching from health care to environmental monitoring. In this research, CuO nanoflakes of thickness ∼ 35 nm, and direct and indirect bandgaps of 1.8 and 1.3 eV, respectively, were synthesized hydrothermally. Chemiresistive sensors fabricated using the CuO nanoflakes were tested for individual gases and all combinations of binary mixtures of five VOCs namely acetone, acetonitrile, isopropanol, methanol, and toluene at 300 °C which was found to be the optimum temperature of operation for all the five VOCs. The response of CuO was found to range from 58–140 %, 35–95 %, 23–98 %, 17–50 %, and 5–30 % for 25–75 ppm of toluene, methanol, isopropanol, acetonitrile, and acetone respectively. The response was found to be an addition of the responses of CuO to the two individual VOCs when the sensing layer was exposed to the mixture of two at 300 ℃. The adsorption kinetics of the metal oxide for mixture of gases is explained using the Eley-Rideal mechanism. Also, the random forest (RF) algorithm was employed to identify the individual VOCs and their respective concentrations just by taking inputs from the response transients of CuO nanoflakes to the binary mixtures of VOCs and was found to exhibit 93.8 % accuracy.

Effect of Co-Adsorbed Guest Adsorbates on the Separation of Ethylene/Ethane Mixtures on Metal-Organic Frameworks with Open Metal Sites.

Direct determination of the equilibrium adsorption and spectroscopic observation of adsorbent-adsorbate interaction is crucial to evaluate the olefin/paraffin separation performance of porous adsorbents. However, the experimental characterization of competitive adsorption of various adsorbates at atomic-molecular level in the purification of multicomponent gas mixtures is challenging and rarely conducted. Herein, solid-state NMR spectroscopy is employed to examine the effect of co-adsorbed guest adsorbates on the separation of ethylene/ethane mixtures on Mg-MOF-74, Zn-MOF-74 and UTSA-74. 1H MAS NMR facilitates the determination of equilibrium uptake and adsorption selectivity of ethylene/ethane in ternary mixtures. The co-adsorption of H2O and CO2 significantly leads to the degradation of ethylene uptake and ethylene/ethane selectivity. The detailed host-guest and guest-guest interactions are unraveled by 2D 1H-1H spin diffusion homo-nuclear correlation and static 25Mg NMR experiments. The experimental results verify H2O coordinated on open metal sites can supply a new adsorption site for ethylene and ethane. The effects of guest adsorbates on the adsorption capacity and adsorption selectivity of ethylene/ethane mixtures are in the following order: H2O>CO2>O2. This work provides a direct approach for exploring the equilibrium adsorption and detailed separation mechanism of multicomponent gas mixtures using MOFs adsorbents.

Hardness and Microstructure of TiN Coating on Aluminum Alloy with DC Sputtering

Titanium Nitride coating has attracted much interest in increasing the hardness of aluminum alloys. This study aims to investigate the effect of Ar: N gas mixture and time on increasing the hardness of aluminum alloys using DC sputtering. Preparation of TiN thin films on aluminum alloy substrates using flowing gas mixture parameters and time. First, the layer of TiN was deposited on the sample with a gas mixture of 90Ar:10N; 80Ar:20N; 70Ar:30N; and 60Ar:40N (%) for 60 minutes. Then the optimum gas mixture that produces the highest surface hardness is used in the second process with time variations of 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. The results showed that the highest hardness was achieved in a gas mixture of 70Ar:30N and 60 minutes. The TiN phase formed on the aluminum surface was identified by XRD, while the surface morphology was observed by SEM. Compared with untreated samples, the hardness of treated samples increased significantly.

Construction of a Biogas Digester Using Gas and Temperature Sensor

The construction of a biogas digester is the main emphasis of this project. Biogas is a mixture of gases created during the anaerobic decomposition of organic material, including food waste, animal waste, sewage, and waste from farms and plants. One of the major causes is environmental degradation, which has emerged to be the greatest threat to the health of the environment and the economy of the underdeveloped areas. But with the discovery and application of biogas which is a gaseous fuel obtained from biomass by the process of anaerobic digestion, most problems are resolved. The project’s aim is to create a biogas digester that leverages animal manure to generate biogas for usage at Covenant University. The digester selected for construction is a barrel drum digester for the production of biogas using cow dung. The cow dung was tested for a total of 14 days, during which the days of gas production and digestion were observed, and the biogas was then tested with the gas and temperature sensor and was confirmed to detect gas and temperature.

Flow-Independent Thermal Conductivity and Volumetric Heat Capacity Measurement of Pure Gases and Binary Gas Mixtures Using a Single Heated Wire.

Among the different techniques for monitoring the flow rate of various fluids, thermal flow sensors stand out for their straightforward measurement technique. However, the main drawback of these types of sensors is their dependency on the thermal properties of the medium, i.e., thermal conductivity (k), and volumetric heat capacity (ρcp). They require calibration whenever the fluid in the system changes. In this paper, we present a single hot wire suspended above a V-groove cavity that is used to measure k and ρcp through DC and AC excitation for both pure gases and binary gas mixtures, respectively. The unique characteristic of the proposed sensor is its independence of the flow velocity, which makes it possible to detect the medium properties while the fluid flows over the sensor chip. The measured error due to fluctuations in flow velocity is less than ±0.5% for all test gases except for He, where it is ±6% due to the limitations of the measurement setup. The working principle and measurement results are discussed.

Experimental Combustion and Flame Characterization of a Chemical Looping-Based Oxidative Dehydrogenation Byproduct Fuel Mixture Containing High CO2 Dilution

Abstract This study investigates the combustion performance of a CO2-rich fuel mixture containing ethane and methane as active species using a constant volume combustion chamber. This fuel is obtained as a byproduct of a chemical looping-based oxidative dehydrogenation (Cl-ODH) process ethylene production. The byproduct gas mixture has 40.79% CO2, 39.49% ethane, and 4.88% methane by weight with other minor compounds. Using this fuel for energy extraction would improve the process efficiency of the ethane to ethylene conversion. After initial combustion modeling, the gas fuel mixture was reduced to just the major species: CO2, ethane, and methane. The mixture was then tested for flammability limits and combustion performance under spark-ignition conditions. Effects of ambient conditions like temperatures between 300 and 400 K with initial pressures from 1 to 10 bar were tested. The effects of stoichiometry were tested to understand flame velocities and heat release. The fuel mixture showed an overall reduced flame velocity compared to gasoline. Instability in combustion was believed to be caused by the dissociation of ethane under elevated conditions. At higher pressures, the flame produces lower cumulative heat release. Simulations were also performed using a model tuned to replicate the operations of the combustion chamber used in the experiments. Heat release and unburnt fuel mass data were calculated to identify the discrepancies in the combustion completeness at elevated pressures. The effects of CO2 quenching the flame coupled with the increased dissociation of the fuel species can lead to up to more than 75% of the fuel mixture being unburnt. Data from this study were used to modify a small-scale spark-ignition engine to use this fuel and produce usable energy.

Template free growth of cobalt catalyst-assisted horizontally aligned carbon nanorod arrays by MW-CVD utilizing mild oxidant in the plasma

The synthesis of three-dimensional carbon nanostructures without templates remains a substantial challenge. The present research enables skillfully generating horizontally-aligned carbon-nanorod-arrays (HA-CNRA), using microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MW-PECVD) on quartz substrates coated with Co catalyst layers annealed at diverse temperatures. In this method, a gas mixture comprising C2H2, H2, and CO2 was used for the CNRA growth at a low substrate temperature of ∼300 °C. Electron-microscopy observation confirms the autonomous growth of individual hollow CNRs. A discernible peak at 1340 cm−1, G band peak at 1596 cm−1, and 2670 cm−1 peak (2D band) were observed, indicating a well-graphitized feature of the CNRs, which was further ascertained by the corresponding X-ray diffraction planes of (002) and (101) orientations. In the optimally grown film, a homogeneous array of nanorods with an average diameter of ∼450 nm was obtained. The C 1s spectra peaked at 284.6 eV confirming the presence of crystalline sp2-hybridized nanorods. The novelty of the work lies in enabling the Co catalyst-assisted template-free growth of HA-CNRA by low-temperature MW-CVD, utilizing the reactant atomic species like H and O from the (C2H2 + H2 + CO2)-plasma and preserving the growth continuity through a specific shadow masking configuration deployed atop the developing plane, thereby inducting a diffuse plasma on the substrate and restricting the direct collision of energetic particles with the developing network. Due to the adjustable size, shape, and advantageous architectural characteristics, horizontally-aligned CNRA manifests significant potential as electrode materials for energy storage applications, specifically in batteries and electrochemical capacitors.

Simulation Analysis of Arc-Quenching Performance of Eco-Friendly Insulating Gas Mixture of CF3I and CO2 under Impulse Arc

Due to its superior insulating qualities, SF6 gas is extensively used in the power sector. However, because of its poor environmental protection properties, finding ecologically acceptable insulating gas has become a critical challenge in the power sector in the context of pursuing green electricity. This work simulates the arc-quenching performance of a gas mixture of CF3I and CO2, which is thought to be a workable substitute for SF6 gas. The COMSOL software is used to build a two-dimensional model of a single-pipe arc-quenching chamber based on the concepts of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory. The lightning impulse current is made by applying electrical stimulation to pure CO2 gas, gas mixtures with 10% CF3I and 90% CO2, and gas mixtures with 30% CF3I and 70% CO2 in the single-pipe arc-quenching chamber. During the first stage of arc formation, the results show that CF3I/CO2 gas mixtures with 10% and 30% CF3I have lower electrical conductivity than pure CO2 gas. An 8/20 μs lightning impulse current waveform with a magnitude of 4 kA is used for this observation. The highest airflow velocity for pure CO2 is 1744 m/s, but the mixture of 10%/90% CF3I/CO2 has a maximum airflow velocity of 1593 m/s. The 30%/70% CF3I/CO2 mixture has the highest maximum airflow velocity at 1840 m/s. Airflow velocity increases and the overpressure in the arc-quenching chamber is prolonged when there is a greater concentration of CF3I gas in the gas mixture. Consequently, these factors greatly reduce the duration of the arc-extinguishing time. The arc-quenching chamber’s overpressure is extended when the amount of CF3I gas in the gas mixture is increased, which increases the velocity of the airflow. As a result, these factors significantly decrease the duration of the arc-extinguishing time.

Effect of the component and the concentration ratio on the removal of volatile organic compound mixtures by non-thermal plasma

The feasibility and efficiency of the degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by non-thermal plasma (NTP) has been extensive investigated and proved in laboratory experiments with single target component. In practical, multicomponent VOCs are emitted during industrial production. It is urgent need to study the abatement of multicomponent VOCs to evaluate the effectiveness of NTP technology in application, and explore the impact of interactions between VOCs components on degradation efficiency. This study focused on the degradation of VOCs mixtures composed of toluene (TOL), acetone (AC), and ethyl acetate (EA) by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma in room temperature. Through changing the target gas in turn and the concentration ratio of additive gas in binary mixture, the influence of the composition and the concentration ratio of the additive gases on the target gas degradation have been investigated by comparing the decomposition of the single compound. The results showed that AC and EA had little or no inhibitory effect on degradation of TOL. When AC was added and degraded together with TOL, the degradation rate of TOL remained almost unchanged with slight fluctuations in the range of 75.3 ± 1.0% as the ratio of added AC increased. However, TOL significantly inhibited the degradation of EA and AC, and more seriously on AC. When the ratio of added TOL increased, the degradation rates of EA or AC changed from 41.1% or 34.5% to 29.8% or 12.2%, which were 11.3% or 22.3% reduced respectively. It is indicated that there was a mutual inhibitory effect between the AC and EA when they were degraded together, and a stronger inhibitory effect of EA on AC was observed. When the ratio of added AC to EA changed from 0:1 to 3:1, the degradation rate of EA decreased by 9.5%, from 49.8% to 40.3%. When the ratio of added EA to AC changed from 0:1 to 3:1, the degradation rate of AC decreased by 16.0%, from 37.9% to 21.9%.

Modern engineering solutions for an original domestic nitric oxide generator (“Tianox”)

Nitric oxide (NO) is a biologically active molecule approved for the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns in the USA, Japan, and most European countries in 1999 – 2008. Inhaled NO is currently used to treat a spectrum of cardiopulmonary disorders, including pulmonary hypertension in children and adults. A commercially available NO delivery system uses pressurized cylinders as a source of NO. Current cylinder-based delivery systems are widely used around the world, but they are bulky, expensive and dependent on a reliable supply chain. The aim of the work was to present an original domestic generator for NO inhalation therapy. Over the past few years, to overcome the limitations of the balloon technology, specialists from the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Federal Nuclear Center – All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics” have developed a plasma-chemical NO generator that produces NO from ambient air using a nonequilibrium spark discharge plasma. In this case, a diffuse discharge mode is implemented, which ensures the most efficient synthesis of NO with the participation of excited nitrogen molecules (N2+) according to a chain mechanism similar to the Zeldovich – Semenov chain reaction. The result is a high-quality NO-containing gas mixture that does not contain toxic by-products (electrode material, ozone, etc.) usually formed in the known systems of this type. Conclusion. Based on the developed generator, the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Federal Nuclear Center – All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics” designed and created the world’s first commercially available device for inhalation therapy, “Tianox”. The device was approved for circulation on the territory of the Russian Federation by order of the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (2020) based on the results of technical and clinical tests. Serial production of “Tianox” meets the requirements of ISO 13485-2016 and GOST ISO 13485-2017.

Long-term irradiation of an ATLAS NSW SM2 Micromegas quadruplet using an AmBe neutron source

The NSW Micromegas chambers in the ATLAS forward muon spectrometer are subject to background rates of 15-20kHz/cm2 under HL-LHC conditions. The innermost detector area closest to the LHC beam pipe will accumulate a charge of 0.068Ccm−2year−1 under these rates. Due to the late change of the detector gas from non-aging Ar:CO2 93:7vol% to the more HV stable ternary mixture Ar:CO2:iC4H10 93:5:2vol% and the known vulnerability of wire chambers to Hydrocarbon-containing gas mixtures a three-year-long aging study has been performed. An SM2 series module of the NSW Micromegas quadruplets was irradiated at LMU in Garching/Munich using a 10GBq AmBe neutron source emitting 6×105MeV n/s as well as 3.5×105 4.4MeV gammas/s and 3.6×109 60keV gammas/s. The SM2 chamber was irradiated in a region of several 10cm2 in size with a dose rate well exceeding the HL-LHC equivalent local charge densities for three years. In between the irradiation periods the performance of the SM2 chamber regarding spatial resolution and efficiency on cosmic muon tracking was tested several times. We report on the irradiation and the performance studies of the SM2 Micromegas quadruplet and conclude that no sign of loss in performance has been observed in contradiction to an earlier experience using drift tube wire chambers.

HV stability and aging phenomena observed in the drift chamber system of the MEG experiment

The MEG experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institut, searching for the charged lepton flavour violating decay μ+→e+γ, took physics data from 2009 until 2013. The drift chamber system was part of the dedicated positron spectrometer that was designed to ensure a precision measurement of 52.8 MeV positrons and consisted of 16 individual drift chamber modules. The individual detector modules were operated with a He/C2H6 (50:50) gas mixture to combine a long radiation length with good high voltage stability properties ensured by the high hydrocarbon fraction.During long-term operation several aging phenomena were observed. A continuous decrease of the electron multiplication factor was caused by a continuously growing layer on the node wires, most likely caused by polymerisation of the hydrocarbon in high gain and high rate operation. The aluminum coating of the cathodes showed damages most probably due to ion impact, in some cases the layer even peeled off. In addition, some drift chamber modules suffered from Malter effect, showing remaining and fluctuating currents during beam of periods, most likely caused by remaining photo resist on the cathode foils.

Laser chemical vapor deposition of TiC fibers and tubes

Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition (LCVD) is a process in which fibers are deposited from a gaseous precursor to a solid phase under a traversing laser focal point. Here, we grow titanium carbide (TiC) fibers and tubes dependent upon a hyperbaric hydrogen-rich, hydrogen-balanced, and hydrogen-lean environment referenced to a titanium tetrachloride and ethylene gas mixture under three different laser intensities. X-ray diffraction confirms the deposition of TiC with energy dispersive spectroscopy noting a radial compositional gradient of titanium and carbon in the diameter of the deposit. Depending on the hydrogen concentration, the TiC encased a core carbon-rich fiber or formed a hollow tube, with these formations explained by thermophoresis. Furthermore, depending on the gas mixture and laser intensity, the carbon-rich interior and TiC outer shell exhibited different morphologies that are discussed in terms of growth rate regimes. The collective outcomes demonstrate the complex processing space in forming ceramic materials by LCVD.