Higher Film Thickness Research Articles

Conformal Conductive Polymer Deposition on Carbon Nanotube Forests

Carbon nanotube (CNT) forests are highly conductive and possess a large surface area, making them promising as electrode support materials for electrochemical applications including energy storage and water desalination. However, these forests often suffer from mechanical collapse when exposed to liquids, limiting their effectiveness in wet environments. In this study, we explore the use of vapor-phase oxidative molecular layer deposition (oMLD) to deposit thin, redox-active polymer films onto CNT forests to enhance their mechanical and electrochemical properties. We evaluate the mechanical behavior of the polymer-coated CNT forests using nanoindentation compression tests and solvent evaporation tests. The modulus and buckling stress of the forests increase with the thickness of the polymer coating, indicating enhanced mechanical strength conferred by the oMLD process. Furthermore, solvent evaporation tests demonstrate that the morphology of the polymer-coated CNT forests remains undisturbed by surface tension forces, in contrast to uncoated CNT forests which collapse and densify. This preservation of morphology underscores the effectiveness of the polymer coating in protecting the CNT forests from structural degradation in liquid environments. To gain deeper insights, finite element simulations analyze the mechanical properties of both coated and uncoated CNT forests. The simulations reveal that the increase in buckling load scales with the bending stiffness of individual CNTs and their coatings, highlighting the synergistic effect of the polymer coating on the overall forest structure. Finally, electrochemical characterization in aqueous electrolyte indicates an increase in charge capacity with polymer thickness for thin films, and a decrease in charge capacity at high film thicknesses arising from restricted pore volume. This work indicates that oMLD polymer coatings enhance the mechanical strength and electrochemical activity of CNT-based substrates. The findings from this study contribute to the development of more efficient and durable CNT-based electrodes for water desalination and energy storage applications.

Elastohydrodynamic Traction and Film Thickness at High Speeds

A renewed interest in elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) phenomena at high speeds, for which thermal effects strongly influence both traction and film thickness, has grown out of the challenges presented by high-speed geared transmissions in electric vehicles. This study uses a new ball-on-disc set-up employing the well-known ultra-thin-film interferometry technique to simultaneously measure EHL film thickness and traction at entrainment speeds up to 20 m/s and slide-roll ratios up to 100%. The effect of fluid composition is examined for Group I, II and III mineral oils, for two polyalphaolefins in Group IV, and for the traction fluid Santotrac 50. The effect of viscosity in the range 4–180 mPa.s is investigated by varying bulk fluid temperature. At high speeds, both film thickness and traction are considerably lower than predicted by conventional EHL theory. The contact is seen to be fully-flooded for all conditions tested. The widely-used thermal EHL correction of Gupta is shown to overcorrect for the film thickness reduction even at modest SRRs. Finally, the influence of the sliding direction on traction and film thickness is discussed for this set-up, and a thermal model is proposed to explain the observed behaviour.Graphical abstract

Wafer-scale fabrication of single-crystalline calcium fluoride thin-film on insulator by ion-cutting

Developing bulk materials into thin-films not only enables multiple physical fields to interact strongly within a smaller volume but also enhances the stability, scalability, and integrability of the system. This transformation has been witnessed to lead to significant improvements in the performance of devices utilizing diverse materials across various fields. Calcium Fluoride (CaF2), with remarkable optical properties such as ultralow optical loss and strong nonlinear features, is a preferable material for building ultra-high-Q resonators and stimulating light-matter interaction with low threshold. However, the integration of CaF2 material has remained elusive due to its low hardness and high thermal expansion, which plagues the large-scale fabrication of CaF2 thin film. Here, an optimized ion-cutting technique is proposed for engineering CaF2 thin films theoretically and experimentally. Taking the thermal expansion into consideration, we employ the Lithium niobate (LN) as substrate, and utilize accessible ion implantation, wafer bonding and precisely designed annealing process to attain the CaF2-LN and the CaF2-on-insulator (CaFOI) with high film thickness uniformity and maintained crystalline quality. The perspectives of our work are also illustrated by numerical simulation for further verifying the potential of integrated photonic applications, which could be extended to monolithic optical network by means of large-scale manufacturing method.

Is there a correlation between physical properties and film thickness of dual- and photo-polymerized resin cements and CAD/CAM-dentin micro-tensile bond strength?

To correlate µTBS of different resin cements with their film thickness (FT), Vickers hardness (HV), and ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Human molars (N = 30) were divided into six-groups according to 1: Resin cement: Bifix QM, (BF), GrandioSo Heavy Flow (GHF) and VisCalor Bulk (VB), and 2: Adhesive mode (Optibond Universal): Etch-and-rinse (E&R) or self-etching (SE). CAD/CAM blocks (7 × 7 × 4 mm3) were air-abraded using 50 μm Al2O3 and silane was applied (60 s), and air dried (10 s). For E&R, dentin was etched (15 s), rinsed (30 s), and blot-dried. For both modes, adhesive was applied (20 s), air-dried (5 s), and photo-polymerized (10 s). Sticks (1 × 1 mm2) were stored for 24-h or 6-months. Sticks were pulled in tension (1 mm/min). Debonded sticks were evaluated for failure mode analysis. For FT, nine-bonded slabs from each cement was prepared and evaluated. For UTS, eight-hourglass specimens from each cement were prepared and tested in tension. For HV, five-discs from each cement was prepared and evaluated using a HV tester. Data were analyzed using ANOVA/Pearson’s correlation tests (α = 0.05). No correlation between µTBS/HV was revealed (p > 0.05). A positive correlation between µTBS/FT and µTBS/UTS (p < 0.05) was observed. Three-way ANOVA revealed all experimental factors had a significant effect on µTBS (p < 0.05). The VB showed significantly lower µTBS (20.8 ± 9.3 MPa). The E&R mode showed higher µTBS (26.0 ± 10.9 MPa), and 24-h revealed a higher µTBS (27.4 ± 10.0 MPa). Mixed failure was the predominant type (42.51%). The VB showed the highest FT (122.2 ± 11.9 µm), with GHF revealed higher UTS and HV (112.5 ± 19.7 MPa and 91.6 ± 0.4 Kgf, respectively). Photo-polymerized flowable composite can substitute dual-polymerized cement for CAD/CAM composite bonding.

Experimental and numerical investigations of flow behavior in an open falling film microreactor equipped with curved flow splitting elements

This work aims the experimental and numerical characterization of gas–liquid flow in an open multichannel falling film microreactor containing 64 coated microchannels, and a split & curve structure for the flow distribution. The operating flowrate range, the flow distribution, and the residence time of the liquid in the single channels were assessed via self-designed pulse input tracer experiments.3D simulations based on Volume of Fluid (VoF) multiphase model were developed in ANSYS Fluent considering a representative section of a single microchannel. Simulation results indicate that backflow phenomena and an increase in film thickness along the channel length are the main reasons for the high film thickness observed experimentally. While the flow rate has only a marginal effect on both processes, the plate inclination angle has considerable contribution in overflow and flow stability. Finally, the numerically calculated transversal wetted area is mainly determined by the defined GLS contact angle at the sidewalls.

Vapor phase polymerization of PEDOT on ITO/glass surfaces for nonenzymatic detection of dopamine

This study demonstrates the deposition of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as an electrically conductive polymer on the ITO-coated glass surfaces for the production of a non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor to detect dopamine. For this purpose, thin films of PEDOT were synthesized using vapor phase polymerization (VPP) from the corresponding monomer 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, in which iron(III)chloride was used as the oxidant. Films were deposited at different substrate temperatures, where the temperature dependence of doping and conjugation levels were studied using FTIR and XPS analyses. The highest doping and conjugation levels, as well as the highest film thickness (380 nm) was observed for the film deposited at 40 °C, which represented the highest conductivity of 111 S/cm. Significant differences were observed between the electrochemical responses of ITO/glass and PEDOT/ITO electrodes. Amperometric measurements indicated a limit of detection value of 2.02 µM for dopamine using as-synthesized PEDOT/ITO electrode.

12‐3: Materialization of Mid‐Resolution Quantum Dot Color Converters on G2.5 TFT‐LCD Production Line for Micro‐LED Displays

This study proposes a mass production solution for quantum dot color converter (QDCC) of mid‐resolution micro‐LED displays. Therefore, a gray bank materials and QD photoresist (PR) with high optical density (OD) and low film thickness were developed. The gray bank materials can achieve OD = 1.08 and a reflectivity of over 25% at a thickness of 4 μm. The red QDPR has OD = 1.93 at 3 μm, and the green QDPR has OD = 1.58 at 3.3 μm. Finally, a 125 PPI and 7‐inch QDCC were fabricated using a G2.5 TFT‐LCD production line, and the optimal material formula and process conditions were determined. Optical analysis shows color point uniformity with STD &lt; 1.3%, indicating that this solution can provide excellent in‐plane uniformity.

Azimuthal polarized quasi-bound states in the continuum based on rotational symmetry breaking.

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) allow to obtain an ultrahigh-quality-factor optical cavity. Nevertheless, BICs must be extended in one or more directions, substantially increasing the device footprint. Although super-cavity mode quasi-BICs supported by single nanopillars have been demonstrated recently, their low-quality factor and localized electromagnetic field inside the dielectric nanopillar are insufficient for high-sensitivity refractive index sensing applications. We propose a ring structure rotated by a dielectric sectorial nanostructure, which can achieve a high quality factor by breaking the rotational symmetry of the ring structure with a footprint as small as 3 µm2. As a straightforward application, we demonstrate high performance local refractive index and nanoscale film thickness sensing based on rotational symmetry breaking induced BICs. These BICs reach quality factor and sensitivity of one order of magnitude better than those of conventional super-cavity mode BICs. The proposed method provides insights into the design of compact high quality factor photonic devices, opening up new possibilities for applications in refractive index and nanoscale film thickness sensing.

Rational design and optimization of self-powered instantaneous dual-parameter triboelectric sensor

Wireless sensing networks are essential for Internet of Things, smart city etc., however its development has been obstructed by the lack of suitable energy sources. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) based self-powered instantaneous wireless sensing systems are particularly attractive for real-time applications owing to its high energy output and conversion efficiencies. However, such sensing systems are not fully optimized and have low sensitivity and instability. In this work, through analytic derivation of frequency and attenuation coefficient, rational system design and optimization are carried out for the first time. By optimizing coil inductive sensor and stabilizing capacitor, the stability of the dual-parameter sensor is greatly improved, achieving ∼0.02% and ∼1% fluctuation for frequency and attenuation coefficient, respectively. Owing to the high stability, a high sensitivity self-powered instantaneous film thickness sensor is obtained, which is capable of self-powered micrometer film thickness measurement (< 9 µm). Besides, during dual-parameter sensing, the maximum error of decoupled distance and resistance can be improved from 7.6% to 4.83%, and 46.23% to 9.64% after optimization, respectively. A self-powered weight and distance instantaneous sensing system is also demonstrated which could be used in conveyer and robotic arm for production line management in the future, showing its feasibility and potential for future real-time monitoring applications.

Development of Chitosan-Based Active Films with Medicinal Plant Extracts for Potential Food Packaging Applications

In this study, 2% chitosan (Ch) (w/v) was enriched with 1% Lippia javanica, Syzygium cordatum, and Ximenia caffra extract to form Ch+L, Ch+S, and Ch+X, respectively. The control film was the chitosan (Ch) film without plant extracts. The composite films were assessed for their antifungal ability using the agar diffusion method against economically relevant plant pathogens, Botrytis cinerea, and Penicillium expansum. These chitosan films were further evaluated using an X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscope, and their physical and mechanical properties were also assessed. The medicinal plants in the chitosan matrix had the highest inhibition zone (10 mm) against P. expansum, while the chitosan-only films had the lowest inhibition zone (3.3 mm). Notably, Ch+S and Ch+X films had the highest inhibition zone (10 mm) against B. cinerea, while chitosan-only films did not avert the spread of B. cinerea. Ch+L films had the highest film thickness (0.189 mm), density (1.62 g·cm3), swelling degree (48.6%), and water solubility (32.8%). Films with other plant extracts had moderate properties, while chitosan without plant extract had the least film thickness (0.128 mm), density (1.08 g·cm3), swelling degree (31.9%), and water solubility (18.9%). X-ray diffraction images revealed that the chitosan films fused with plant extracts altered the extent of crystallinity of the films because they ranged between 14,710.43 for chitosan-only films and 26,288.31 a.u. for Ch+S films. Enriching the chitosan-based films with the investigated medicinal plant extracts resulted in different favorable properties and could make good candidates for food preservation and packaging if optimized.

Laminar planar hydraulic jump during free surface flow of Bingham plastic liquid

The hydrodynamics of laminar planar hydraulic jump during free surface flow of Bingham plastic liquid is investigated through numerical simulation and shallow flow analysis, both validated against experimental results. The singularity of Bingham plastic model at the yield surface is addressed by adopting the Bingham plastic Papanastasiou regularized model with the value of regularization parameter as 1000 s in order to mimic ideal BP flow. The study reveals that an increase in both yield stress and plastic viscosity creates a jump closer to the inlet with a higher film thickness and jump strength. Interestingly, a higher Froude number shifts jump towards channel exit with increased strength while a higher Reynolds number forms a jump of lower strength closer to exit. The jump types noted from simulations are presented as phase diagrams in terms of inlet Reynolds and inlet Froude number for different yield stress values.

Central Core Substitutions and Film-Formation Process Optimization Enable Approaching 19% Efficiency All-Polymer Solar Cells.

Molecular interactions and film-formation processes greatly impact the blend film morphology and device performances of all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Molecular structure, such as the central cores of polymer acceptors, would significantly influence this process. Herein, the central core substitutions of polymer acceptors are adjusted and three quinoxaline (Qx)-fused-core-based materials, PQx1, PQx2, and PQx3 are synthesized. The molecular aggregation ability and intermolecular interaction are systematically regulated, which subsequently influence the film-formation process and determine the resulting blend film morphology. As a result, PQx3, with favorable aggregation ability and moderate interaction with polymer donor PM6, achieves efficient all-PSCs with a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.60%, which could be further improved to 18.06% after carefully optimizing device annealing and interface layer. This impressive PCE is one of the highest values for binary all-PSCs based on the classical polymer donor PM6. PYF-T-o is also involved in promoting light utilization, and the resulting ternary device shows an impressive PCE of 18.82%. In addition, PM6:PQx3-based devices exhibit high film-thickness tolerance, superior stability, and considerable potential for large-scale devices (16.23% in 1 cm2 device). These results highlight the importance of structure optimization of polymer acceptors and film-formation process control for obtaining efficient and stable all-PSCs.

Effects of Electrical Parameters on Micro-Arc Oxidation Coatings on Pure Titanium.

The micro-arc oxidation process was used to apply a ceramic oxide coating on a pure titanium substrate using calcium acetate and sodium dihydrogen phosphate as an electrolyte. The influence of the current frequency and duty ratio on the surface morphology, phase composition, wear behavior, and corrosion resistance were analyzed by employing a scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffractometer, ball-on-disk apparatus, and potentiodynamic polarization, respectively. Analyses of the surface and cross-sectional morphologies revealed that the MAO films prepared via a low current frequency (100 Hz) and a high duty ratio (60%) had a lower porosity and were more compact. The medium (500 Hz) and high (1000 Hz) frequencies at the higher duty ratios presented with better wear resistance. The highest film thickness (11.25 µm) was achieved at 100 Hz and a 20% duty ratio. A negligible current density was observed when the frequency was fixed at 500 Hz and 1000 Hz and the duty cycle was 20%.

Study of the effectiveness of a ZnO–TiO2 formulation in the degradation of humic substances in mature leachate by solar photocatalysis Brazil

Treatment of landfill leachate is an important environmental issue, especially in developing countries such as Brazil. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been considered interesting treatment alternatives. In this study, ZnO–TiO2 mixtures were incorporated into a paint polymer matrix and fixed onto supports. Paints were applied by overlapping coat layers on plates, resulting in high film thickness (600 ± 80 µm). Treatment of mature leachate by an AOP was conducted in a plug flow reactor connected to a stirred tank under solar irradiation. The objective was to evaluate the degradation of humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid + humins (FAH). The highest HA and FAH removal efficiencies were 62% ± 4.9% and 16% ± 4.2%, respectively. The kinetic model provided a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.974. Rate constants for HA and FAH removal were 2.96 and 1.03 × 10−3 min−1, respectively. Statistical models for HA and FAH degradation had R2 values of 0.96 and 0.99, respectively. Both approaches indicated that HA degradation is greater at acidic pH and higher TiO2 concentrations. FAH degradation was favored by acidic pH and higher ZnO concentrations. Statistical models showed the same mean difference in conversion between replicate runs of HA and FAH, suggesting a uniform diffusion of fractions through catalysts.&#x0D; Keywords: heterogeneous photocatalysis, humic and fulvic acid, landfill leachate treatment, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide.

All-Polymer Solar Cells Sequentially Solution Processed from Hydrocarbon Solvent with a Thick Active Layer.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have gained increasing attention. Among the various directions in OSCs, all-polymer solar cells (all-PSCs) have emerged as a highly promising and currently active research area due to their excellent film formation properties, mechanical properties, and thermal stabilities. However, most of the high-efficiency all-PSCs are processed from chloroform with an active layer thickness of ~100 nm. In order to meet the requirements for industrialization, a thicker active layer processed from low-vapor pressure solvents (preferentially a hydrocarbon solvent) is strongly desired. Herein, we employ toluene (a hydrocarbon solvent with a much higher boiling point than chloroform) and a method known as sequential processing (SqP) to mitigate the rapid decline in efficiency with increasing film thickness. We show that SqP enables a more favorable vertical phase segregation that leads to less trap-assisted recombination and enhanced charge extraction and lifetime than blend-cast devices at higher film thicknesses.

Numerical Study of Comparison of Thrust Bearing Slip - No Slip Condition on Acoustic Performance

The acoustic power level (APL) produced by a thrust bearing during operation has a major effect on its performance. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the impact of slip engineered on the noise generated by thrust bearings. A numerical approach was used to simulate open pocket bearings with varying film thickness depths. At the initial location of the slip area, three bearing models were analyzed: pocket slip, pocket no slip, and smooth slip. The results show that implementing slip can reduce noise levels, turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), and turbulence eddy dissipation (TED) rate. The average APL, TKE, and TED values were the lowest at the high film thickness

Characteristics in hard conformal EHL line contacts

PurposeInternal gearings are commonly used in transmissions due to their advantages like high-power density. To ensure high efficiency, load-carrying capacity and good noise behavior, a profound knowledge of the local gear mesh is essential. The tooth contact of internal gears relates to a convex and concave surface that form a conformal contact. This is in contrast to external gears, where two convex surfaces form a contraformal contact. This paper aims at a better understanding of conformal contacts under elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) to improve the design of internal gearings.Design/methodology/approachAn existing numerical EHL model is used for studying the characteristic properties of a hard conformal EHL line contact. A hard contraformal EHL line contact is studied as reference. Non-Newtonian fluid behavior and thermal effects are considered. By taking into account the local contact conformity and kinematics, the effects and relevance of the curvature of the lubricant gap and micro-slip are analyzed. In a parameter study, scale effects of the contact radii on film thickness, temperature rise and friction are examined.FindingsThe curvature of the lubricant gap and effects of micro-slip are small in hard conformal EHL line contacts. For high micro-slip, it can be neglected. Hence, the modeling of conformal contacts using an equivalent geometry of the contact problem is reasonable. The parameter study shows beneficial tribological aspects of the conformal contact compared to the contraformal contact. Higher film thickness and lower fluid coefficient of friction are observed for conformal contacts, which can be attributed to lower pressures for the case of the same external normal force, or to a higher contact temperature rise for the case of equivalent contact pressure.Originality/valueDespite its widespread existence, the local geometry and kinematics in hard conformal EHL line contacts like in internal gearings have been rarely studied. The findings help for a better understanding of local contact characteristics and its relevance. The quantified scale effects help to improve the efficiency and load-carrying capacity of machine elements with hard conformal EHL contacts, like internal gearings.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-12-2022-0366/

Synthesis, characterization and tribological properties of solid lubricant graphite films produced by PECVD

Graphite, which is one of the mostly used solid lubricants, is commonly used in different industrial applications due to its low friction coefficient. However, the synthesis of graphite films can be a challenging process in some cases, where durable coatings are needed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain graphite films with low friction coefficients and investigate their tribological properties. In order to achieve this, graphite films were synthesized on glass substrates by using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) technique for different process times (30, 60 and 90 min). Reciprocating wear tests were performed to determine the tribological properties of the obtained graphite films. Afterwards, Raman, FT-IR, SEM and surface wettability analyzes were carried out to characterize the films. The results showed that the graphite film synthesized for 90 min exhibited higher wear resistance and lower friction coefficient than untreated and other treated samples because it had high film thickness and hydrophobicity. Also, it was seen that the thicknesses of the coatings increased depending on the treatment time and the contact angle measurements showed that all the graphite films exhibited hydrophobic behaviour.

Growth Twins and Premartensite Microstructure in Epitaxial Ni-Mn-Ga Films

Magnetic shape memory alloys have been examined intensively due to their multifunctionality and multitude of physical phenomena. For both areas, epitaxial films are promising since the absence of grain boundaries is beneficial for applications in microsystems and they also allow to understand the influence of a reduced dimension on the physical effects. Despite many efforts on epitaxial films, two particular aspects remain open. First, it is not clear how to keep epitaxial growth up to high film thickness, which is required for most microsystems. Second, it is unknown how the microstructure of premartensite, a precursor state during the martensitic transformation, manifests in films and differs from that in bulk.Here, we focus on micrometer-thick austenitic Ni-Mn-Ga films and explain two distinct microstructural features by combining high-resolution electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. First, we identify pyramid-shaped defects, which originate from {1 1 1} growth twinning and cause the breakdown of epitaxial growth. We show that a sufficiently thick Cr buffer layer prevents this breakdown and allows epitaxial growth up to a thickness of at least 4 µm. Second, premartensite exhibits a hierarchical microstructure in epitaxial films. The reduced dimension of films results in variant selection and regions with distinct premartensite variants, unlike its microstructure in bulk.

Comparison of the performances of different drying enhancers for waterborne polyvinyl alcohol films

AbstractWaterborne polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films show lower environmental impact but render high residual solvent on account of hydrophilicity of PVA and low volatility of water. Plasticizers have shown high potential to act as drying enhancers in some recent studies. Plasticizers triphenyl phosphate (TPP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG400) with their favorable chemical structures and relatively low molar masses are promising options. Their performances in drying waterborne PVA films are compared with the plasticizers used in earlier works, at different initial wet film thicknesses, polymer contents, enhancer contents, and enhancer molar masses. Films were solvent casted by drying PVA‐water solutions in a substrate. TPP causes maximum lowering of the residual solvent and does this at high drying rate corresponding to low initial wet film thickness and PVA content. The least value of residual solvent is 0.20% at optimum TPP loading. The next best residual solvent results of 0.21% and 0.59% are, respectively, exhibited by PEG400 and PEG6000, but at low drying rate for high wet film thickness, for both the enhancers; however, at high drying rate for low wet film thickness anomalous skinning increased the residual solvent. At 0.51%, Capstone FS‐63 also gives good results and at high drying rate. Their relative performances are correlated to the viscosity of cast solutions, glass transition temperature of films (DSC), and chemical structures of the polymer and enhancers. TPP thus proved to be most effective. SEM showed dense films and disappearance of defects with optimum loading of TPP, and TGA/DTG showed thermally stable coatings. In spite of the higher cost of TPP it can have useful specialized applications that exploit its excellent flame retardance features.