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Borides are considered advanced building materials due to their high melting temperature, hardness, wear/corrosion/oxidation resistance and excellent thermal and electrical properties. Among the many metal borides, chromium borides are known for their high electrical conductivity and high hardness. In this study, it is aimed to form CrxBx on powder metal pure Cr material and to examine its wear characteristics. For the production of samples, commercial purity Cr powders were mixed for 60 min and pressed under 850 MPa pressure to obtain raw samples. After pressing, the samples were boronized at 1000 ºC for 2, 4, 6 and 8 h, and a hard boride layer was formed on the outer surface. Hardness, abrasion tests and then then Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction analyzes were applied to the samples obtained. It was determined that CrB, Cr2B, Cr2B3and Cr3B4 borides were formed on the surface with boronizing process and the hardness of these phases increased significantly. The wear resistance of P/M Cr specimens could also be improved by increasing the hardness. © 2022, ASM International.

Electroless nickel-based coatings are frequently used in the field of coatings to improve the surface properties of materials such as wear, hardness, and corrosion. In this study, Ni-W-P alloy and Ni-W-P/Al2O3 composites were coated on the aluminum substrate by electroless technique. Composite coatings were carried out after suspending process of alumina (Al2O3) particles at different concentrations in the electroless bath. The characterizations of the coatings were studied to be able to reach optimum particle concentration. Aluminum oxide particles (average particle size 300 nm) with different concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20 g/L) were added to the bath to determine the concentration effect. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analyses were performed to examine the microstructure images of the composite coatings. x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed to determine the coating layers' phase structures. The hardness of the coatings was determined by applying the hardness test on a microscopic scale. CSM tribometer was used to establish the wear and friction properties of the coatings. Galvanometer was used to determine corrosion resistance. After the studies, hardness values of coatings were successfully increased from 552 to 700 HV depending on the amount of particles in the coating layer. The friction coefficient was also improved by decreasing that from 0.45 to 0.1 µ grades with the contribution of Al2O3 particle reinforcement to Ni-W-P coating. The wear rate of the coatings decreased from 5.96 × 10 −5 to 3.16 × 10−5 mm3/Nm) with the increase of Al2O3 particles in the composite coating which indicates approximately two times improvement in the wear resistance. The corrosion resistance of composite coatings also increased, and an improvement in corrosion rate was achieved from 392 value to 063µm/year value with increasing particle concentration. © 2023, ASM International.

Crystal shape is a critical determinant of the physical and chemical properties of crystalline materials; hence, it is the challenge of controlling the crystal morphology in a wide range of scientific and technological applications. The morphology is related to the geometry of their exposed surfaces, which can be described by their surface energies. The surface properties of β-ZnMoO4 have not yet been well explored, either experimentally or theoretically. Thus, the first-principle calculation at the density functional theory level was carried out for different low-index surfaces of β-ZnMoO4, specifically (001), (010), (110), (011), (101), and (111), and the surface energy values (Esurf) were reported. The surface stability was found to be controlled by the undercoordinated [MoOn…yVxO] and [ZnOn…yVxO] (n = 4 and 5; y = 1 and 2) clusters, i.e., their local coordination of Mo and Zn cations at the exposed surfaces, respectively, with the (111) surface being the most stable. A complete map of investigated β-ZnMoO4 morphologies was obtained using the Wulff construction and changing the values of the calculated energy surfaces. The final geometries from this map were compared with field emission-scanning electron microscopy images showing excellent agreement, prevising rectangular and hexagonal plates. Our findings will promote the use of facet engineering and might provide strategies to produce β-ZnMoO4-based materials for achieving morphology-dependent technological applications.

In this article, the synthesis by means of the spray pyrolysis method, of the CaMoO4 and rare-earth cation (RE3+)-doped CaMoO4:xRE3+ (RE3+ = Eu3+, Tb3+, and Tm3+; and x = 1, 2, and 4% mol) compounds, is presented. The as-synthesized samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Rietveld refinement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. To complement and rationalize the experimental results, first-principles calculations, at the density functional theory level, have been performed to analyze the band structure and density of states. In addition, a theoretical method based on the calculations of surface energies and Wulff construction was applied to obtain the morphology transformation of the CaMoO4 and CaMoO4:RE3+ microstructures. The experimental morphologies can be observed in the FE-SEM images. The PL behavior of the Co-doped samples exhibited well-defined bands in the visible region. The samples with 2 and 4% of RE3+ released white emission according to the chromaticity coordinates (0.34, 0.34) and (0.34, 0.33), respectively. The present results provide not only a deep understanding of the structure–property relationships of CaMoO4-based phosphor but also can be employed as a guideline for the design of the electronic structure of the materials and the fabrication of photofunctional materials with optimal properties, which allows for the modeling of new phosphors for applications in solid-state lighting.

In this paper, heavily C-doped GaN samples were deposited on glass and PET substrates by the thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) method, for the first time. Microstructure, surface and optical properties of the carbon-doped GaN samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and UV–Vis spectrophotometer. According to XRD pattern, fullerene (C60) structures were able to deposit in doped samples, for the first time. The fullerene structures were detected at heavily carbon-doped GaN. The obtained band gap changes of heavily carbon-doped GaN samples are determined. The band gap of CGaN on PET substrate decreased to a lower value, about 100 meV. The band gaps were shifted to the lowest wavelengths towards the edge of the UV region by heavily doped carbon. (002) and (004) peaks for GaN were also detected. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

In this paper, copper oxide (CuO/Cu2O) nanocrystalline thin films were deposited by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system at 75 W and 100 W. The surface, optical, composition and structural properties of obtaining samples were characterized by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV–Vis spectrophotometer, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical band gaps of produced films were calculated as 2.05 eV and 1.83 eV for 75 W and 100 W. The layer’s thicknesses were measured as 20 nm and 50 nm using a Filmetrics F20. FESEM images of the samples prove the AFM images change and also show homogeneity of thin films and variation relative to power change, thus revealed the surface of samples disturb in homogen mode. EDX results denote presence of Cu and O elements inside the deposited samples.

A major bottleneck in the fabrication of efficient bio-organic nanoelectronic devices resides in the strong charge recombination that is present at the different interfaces forming the complex system. An efficient way to overcome this bottleneck is to add a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of molecules between the biological material and the electrode that promotes an efficient direct electron transfer whilst minimising wasteful processes of charge recombination. In this work, the presence of a pyrene-nitrilotriacetic acid layer carrying different metal centers as SAM physisorbed on graphene is fully described by mean of electrochemical analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy, photoelectrochemical characterisation and theoretical calculations. Our multidisciplinary study reveals that the metal center holds the key role for the efficient electron transfer at the interface. While Ni2+ is responsible for an electron transfer from SAM to graphene, Co2+ and Cu2+ force an opposite transfer, from graphene to SAM. Moreover, since Cu2+ inhibits the electron transfer due to a strong charge recombination, Co2+ seems the transition metal of choice for the efficient electron transfer., Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures

Room-temperature ferromagnetism of GaN and doped GaN materials has been reported in nanostructured form. Especially, nanoparticles show ferromagnetic properties at room temperature. In this paper, Ti-doped effects on GaN were deposited on glass and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by thermionic vacuum arc and their room temperature magnetic properties are presented for the first time. The structure of the Ti-doped GaN was crystallized in a novel form, nano honeycomb formation. Optical and surface properties of the nano honeycombs and honeycomb nanosheets were determined. GaN and TiN phases were detected in X-ray diffraction patterns. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) device were used for imaging of the crystal structure. According to FESEM images, hexagonal crystal formations were detected for all samples. Crystal formations are very good oriented on PET substrates materials according to glass samples. The band gap value of the sample is changed by crystallization dimension. It was found that increasing crystallizations and decreasing crystal dimensions were increased the band gap of the Ti-doped GaN approximately 50 meV. Fourier transform infrared spectra and a vibrating sample magnetometer results were presented. These results confirm the Ti doped GaN honeycomb nanosheets and nano honeycombs show the room temperature ferromagnetic properties. © 2017, © 2017 Taylor & Francis.

The present study demonstrates a solution-processed humidity sensor based on poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]:polyvinylpyrrolidone (MEH-PPV:PVP) organic microstructured composite thin film. The capacitive type humidity sensor has been fabricated in the surface type geometry of Al/MEH-PPV:PVP/Al, wherein organic composite (MEH-PPV:PVP) has been deposited onto the aluminium electrodes by electrospinning technique. The structural and morphological properties of organic thin film have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The humidity sensing properties of the sensor have been investigated at ∼1 volt AC operational bias, by measuring the capacitance as a function of a broad range (20–90%) of relative humidity (RH). The temperature and operational frequency dependency of the capacitance of the sensor has also been analyzed in detail. The proposed sensor exhibits high sensitivity (114 fF/% RH @ 100 Hz), small hysteresis (∼2% RH) and fast response (18 s and 8 s for adsorption and desorption processes, respectively). Compared with traditional spin-coated and drop-casted organic humidity sensors, the microstructure composite based sensor has demonstrated significantly improved sensing parameters, highlighting the unique advantages of the electrospinning process for humidity sensor fabrication. The possible humidity sensing mechanism of the proposed capacitive sensor has also been elaborated. Authors are thankful to the Ministry of Education for the financial support under High Impact Research (HIR) grant UM.S/625/3/HIR/MOE/26 with account number UM.0000080/HIR.C3 and University Malaya Research Grant (UMRG) under grant number RP007A-13AFR. This project was also partially funded by the University Malaya postgraduate grant PG089-2012B. Scopus

In this paper, GaN thin film production was realized by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA), a plasma deposition technique, for the first time. We present a new deposition mechanism for GaN thin films with a very short production time. Microstructure properties of samples were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry. The peak at 2? = 72.88° corresponding to GaN (0004) was detected in XRD spectra. The surface morphology of the deposited GaN films was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The surface properties of the produced samples are quite different. The average roughness values were determined to be 0.48 nm for GaN/PET and 1.17 nm for GaN/glass. The optical properties (i.e., refractive index and reflection) were determined using an interferometer. Moreover, the obtained optical data were compared with bulk GaN materials. The refractive indexes were measured as 2.2, 3,0 and 2,5 for the GaN/glass, GaN/PET and bulk GaN, respectively. The transparencies of the different GaN-coated substrates are nearly the same. The obtained band gap values were measured in the energy range of 3.3-3.5 eV. TVA is a novel non-reactive plasma technique for the generation of metal organic thin films. The main advantage of this method is its fast deposition rate without any loss in the quality of the films. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

Current research presents a new deposition method for GaN thin films that produces in a very short production time for GaN-based solid-state applications. A Mo doped GaN thin film on a glass substrate was produced by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) technique. The TVA technique is a novel non-reactive plasma technique. The optical properties were determined by Filmetrics F20 interferometer and UV–Vis double beam spectrophotometer. The surface morphology was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The mean thickness value was measured as 100 nm by Filmetrics interferometer. The crystalline structure of the produced thin film has a Wurtzite crystal structure (004) as obtained by X-ray diffraction. Hardness value was determined as 14 GPa with the Oliver–Pharr method. The obtained properties are consistent with the values reported in related literature. The findings indicate that the TVA method provides advantages for optical and industrial applications. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Persuaded by the necessity of finding new sources of antibiotics, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized by adopting a newly developed green synthesis technique and subsequently, their antibacterial activity against different pathogenic bacteria was evaluated. We have successfully synthesized bio-molecule capped ferromagnetic Ag NPs with an average crystallite size of 13 nm using AgNO3 solution as a precursor and Artocarpus heterophyllus leaf extract as a reducing and capping agent. The characterization of the synthesized Ag NPs was carried out using various techniques such as UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetry (TG), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analyses. After exposing the synthesized Ag NPs to two Gram-positive bacteria-Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus and two Gram-negative bacteria-Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, the zones of inhibition were found to be 15, 16, 19, and 18 mm, respectively. These results imply that the Artocarpus heterophyllus leaf extract mediated green synthesized bio-molecules encapsulated Ag NPs can be considered as a potential antibiotic against human pathogens which is very encouraging. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Using a thermionic vacuum arc, single?crystal gallium arsenide (GaAs) layers of micron thickness were grown on PET and glass substrates in 2 min. We present a new deposition mechanism and parameters for GaAs thin films produced in a very short time. Crystal direction was found to be (111) plane for the GaAs/PET sample and (022) plane and (133) plane for the GaAs/glass sample, respectively. The average roughness values of the deposited thin films were determined to be approximately 30 nm for GaAs/PET and 60 nm for GaAs/glass. The structures can be seen clearly in field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The obtained optical band is nearly the same with literatures values of the GaAs. Although produced structures in different crystal formations, only aggregations dimensions and absorbance of the layers were changed. Obtained refractive index values are nearly same with database info. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Bio-molecule capped α-MnO2 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized from the reduction of KMnO4 via a facile green synthesis route using an aqueous leaf extract of Bryophyllum pinnatum as a reducing and capping agent. The synthesized α-MnO2 nanoparticles were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform—infrared (FT-IR), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. Experimental results clearly demonstrate the successful synthesis of bio-molecule capped crystalline tetragonal α-MnO2 nanoparticles with the size of 4–18 nm. The magnetic property of the product was evaluated using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and the result reveals that the presently synthesized bio-molecule capped α-MnO2 nanoparticles exhibit ferromagnetic property at room temperature.

This study focuses on characterization and understanding of the substrate effect on Ge doped GaN thin films coated onto transparent substrates. The produced films were deposited onto unheated glass and unheated polyethylene terephthalate by using thermionic vacuum arc technique. Gallium nitride and germanium pellets were used in the thin film production. Reflectance, refractive index and thicknesses of Ge doped GaN thin films were measured by optical interferometer using Cauchy model for fitting. The transmittances were determined in the wavelength range between 200 and 1000 nm by using UV–Vis double beam spectrophotometer. The optical Tauc method was used to determine the band gap energies of produced thin films. Surface morphologies of produced thin films were characterized by atomic force microscopy and also field emission scanning electron microscopy. In conclusion, the substrate effect on the optical and morphological properties of the produced thin films was observed. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Oil contaminated water is one of the challenges in water resources management. It is crucial to remove the oil droplets from water in order to meet the discharge regulations set by the environmental authorities. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have generated a lot of attention as a new type of adsorbent due to their exceptionally high adsorption capacity for oil-water separation. The high hydrophobicity of CNTs makes them good candidates to enhance the de-oiling process from wastewater. In this study, we have reported the synthesis and evaluation of novel iron-oxide/CNTs nanocomposites for oil-water separation. The CNTs were doped with different loadings of iron oxide nanoparticles using a wet impregnation technique. The synthesized nanocomposite nanomaterials were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) technique, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The effect of adsorption parameters, including, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and agitation speed on the oil removal efficiency were optimized using batch experiments. The sorption capacities of doped CNTs were found to be greater than 7 g/g for gasoline oil. The doped CNTs reached maximum sorption capacity after only 15 min providing one of the fastest minimum contact times reported of all oil sorbent materials. The loading of Fe2O3 nanoparticles on the negative surface of CNT decreases the negative sign and magnitude of the zeta potential by overcoming the repulsive effects of the electrical double layers to allow the finely sized oil droplets to form larger droplets through coalescence. Therefore increasing percentage of the Fe2O3 on the surface of CNT increased the removal of the emulsified oil from the water. 2016 Elsevier B.V. The authors are grateful to the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Qatar Foundation for financial support under project WGC-4004. Also, the authors are grateful to Mr. Faraj Ahmed Abuilliw, General Science and Studies Unit, Hafr AlBatin Community College, Hafr AlBatin, King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals (KUFPM), Saudi Arabia for providing raw material for this study. Scopus

High-energy ball-milling of powder mixtures of zincite (ZnO) and iron (α-Fe) at different weight ratios was performed in air using a planetary ball mill with a stainless steel milling assembly. Structural and microstructural changes during the ball-milling (up to 30 h) were monitored using X-ray powder diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The mechanism of iron oxidation was determined from the results of Mossbauer spectroscopy. It was found that an early phase of ball-milling caused the oxidation of iron from Fe(0) to Fe(2+) followed by the formation of a solid solution structurally similar to wustite. The wustite-type phase rapidly disappeared upon prolonged milling, which was accompanied by further oxidation of iron from Fe(2+) to Fe(3+) and the formation of spinel-type ferrite structurally similar to franklinite (ZnFe2O4) in the products with a high zinc content, or magnetite (Fe3O4) in the products with a high iron content. Further milling or annealing had a low impact on the franklinite-type phase, but caused the transition of the magnetite-type phase to the phase structurally similar to hematite (α-Fe2O3). The results of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) showed a dramatic increase in the degree of contamination with the increase in the proportion of the starting iron (∼9 times higher contamination during the milling of pure iron compared with pure zincite). It was shown that the source of contamination (balls or vial) strongly depends on the type of milled sample. Ball-milling of relatively big and heavy grains (starting iron) caused preferential contamination from the vial whereas ball-milling of smaller and lighter grains (products obtained after prolonged milling) caused preferential contamination from the balls. After prolonged milling the contamination due to wear of the balls was dominant in all the products. An explanation for the observed impact of grain size on the source and the degree of contamination was proposed.

Deposition of IRMOF-8 thin films by atomic layer deposition was studied at 260–320 C. Zinc acetate and 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid were used as the precursors. The as-deposited amorphous films were crystallized in 70% relative humidity at room temperature resulting in an unknown phase with a large unit cell. An autoclave with dimethylformamide as the solvent was used to recrystallize the films into IRMOF-8 as confirmed by grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. The films were further characterized by high temperature x-ray diffraction (HTXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), time-of-flight elastic recoil detection analysis (TOF-ERDA), nanoindentation, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. HTXRD measurements revealed similar behavior to bulk IRMOF-8. According to TOFERDA and FTIR, composition of the films was similar to IRMOF-8. Through-porosity was confirmed by loading the films with palladium using Pd(thd)2 (thd ¼ 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3, 5-heptanedionato) as the precursor. peerReviewed

The purpose of this paper is to analyze surface properties of AlGaN thin film produced using thermionic vacuum arc technique. Thermionic vacuum arc is an alternative deposition technique for GaN thin films that produces in a very short production time for GaN-based solid-state applications. XRD results showed that AlGaN thin film with cubic crystal structure on a amorphous glass was grown. Conductivity type of AlGaN thin film is determined as p-type by hot-probe method which is a very simple method. The surface morphology was analyzed and discussed using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy. The contact angles in four different testing liquid and surface free energy of the AlGaN thin film were investigated by optical tensiometer. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.

In the present work, we synthesized and systematically characterized two novel graphene-based nanomaterials, a chemically reduced graphene oxide (GO) sponge and a microwave-exfoliated GO. Textural properties were determined by N2 adsorption/desorption at 77 K, while additional characterization techniques were employed, such as Micro-Raman Spectroscopy, Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, to elucidate further the structural and morphological features. Both nanomaterials were additionally evaluated for their H2 storage capacity and were critically compared to commercially available carbons (e.g. few-layer graphenes, carbon nanotubes) based on systematic H2 adsorption/desorption measurements at 77 K between 0 and 1 bar. Maximum H2 gravimetric capacities of ∼0.5 wt% and ∼0.7 wt% were recorded at 77 K and 1 bar for the reduced GO sponge and the microwave-exfoliated GO, respectively. © 2015 Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 40 6844 6852 6844-6852