Optical and electrical properties of ITO film on flexible fluorphlogopite substrate

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) films were prepared, at room temperature, on a fluorphlogopite substrate using magnetron sputtering technology. At various temperatures of 500 °C, 600 °C, 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C, the samples were (had) annealed for 2 h (a 2-h duration). The results showed improvement in the crystalline performance of ITO film at selected annealing temperatures, with a significant reduction in resistivity at 800 °C. The lowest resistivity is 4.08 × 10^?4 Ω-cm, which is nearly an order of magnitude lower than the unannealed sample. All samples have an average light transmittance above 85% in the visible light range (400–800 nm), and with increasing annealing temperature, the average light transmittance tends to decrease. Besides, at the sensitive wavelength of 550 nm, the light transmittance is as high as 93.74%. The sheet resistance testing of the sample was through the number of bending times, which revealed that with the increase of the number of bending, the sheet resistance increases. However, after 1200 bending times, the change rate of the sheet resistance remains below 5%. Thus, the ITO film prepared on the flexible fluorphlogopite substrate revealed excellent optical and electrical properties, good flexibility, and improved stability after high-temperature annealing, which guarantees successful application in flexible electronic devices.     

Sputtered Fe1·5CoNi0.5 coating: An improved protective coating for SOFC interconnect applications

In an attempt to optimize the properties of FeCoNi coating for planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) interconnect application, the coating composition is modified by increasing the ratio of Fe/Ni. An Fe_1·5CoNi_0.5 (Fe:Co:Ni = 1.5:1:0.5, atomic ratio) metallic coating is fabricated on SUS 430 stainless steel by magnetron sputtering, followed by oxidation in air at 800°C. The Fe_1·5CoNi_0.5 coating is thermally converted to (Fe,Co,Ni)₃O₄ and (Fe,Co,Mn,Ni)₃O₄ without (Ni,Co)O particles. After oxidation for 1680 h, no further migration of Cr is detected in the thermally converted coating region. A low oxidation rate of 5.9 × 10^?14 g² cm^?4 s^?1 and area specific resistance of 12.64 mΩ·cm² is obtained for Fe_1·5CoNi_0.5 coated steels.     

Morphology-controlled fabrication of nanostructured WO3 thin films by magnetron sputtering with glancing angle deposition for enhanced efficiency photo-electrochemical water splitting

Herein, the tungsten trioxide (WO₃) nanostructure thin films with different morphologies are firstly fabricated by magnetron sputtering with glancing angle deposition technique (MS-GLAD), followed by the post annealed treatment process in air ambient for 2 h. It is demonstrated that the geometry of MS-GLAD setup, mainly substrate position, played a crucial role in determining the morphology, crystallinity, optical transmittance, and photo-electrochemical (PEC) performance of the WO₃ nanostructured thin film. With the different substrate positions in the MS-GLAD system, the WO₃ nanorod film layer could be precisely changed to combine an underlying dense layer with a nanorod layer and then nanocolumnar film. Moreover, the prepared samples' chemical composition and work function are studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), respectively. The combining WO₃ nanostructure produced high PEC efficiency compared to the single layer of the WO₃ nanorods sample and the dense WO₃ thin film sample. Thus, morphology-controlled nanostructure film based on the MS-GLAD technique in our study provides a simple approach to enhance the photo-anode for PEC water splitting application.     

Synthesis,characterization and charge transport properties of Pr–Ni Co-doped SrFe2O4 spinel for high frequency devices applications

Ferrites are materials of interest due to their broad applications in high technological devices and a lot of research has been focused to synthesize new ferrites. In this regard, an effort has been devoted to synthesize spinel Pr–Ni co-substituted strontium ferrites with a nominal formula of Sr_1-xPr_xFe_2-yNi_yO₄ (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1, 0.0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0). The cubic structure of pure and Pr–Ni co-substituted strontium ferrite samples calcinated at 1073 K for 3 h has been confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD). Average sizes of crystallites (18–25 nm) have been estimated from XRD analysis and nanometer particle sizes of synthesized ferrites have been further verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM results have also shown that particles are mostly agglomerated and all the samples possess porosity. It has been observed that at 298 K, the values of resistivity (ρ) increase, while that of AC conductivity, dielectric loss, and dielectric constants decrease with increasing amounts of Pr³⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions. The values of dielectric parameters initially decrease with frequency and later become constant and can be explained on the basis of dielectric polarization. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies show that the charge transport phenomenon in ferrite materials is mainly controlled via grain boundaries. Overall, synthesized ferrite materials own enhanced resistivity values in the range of 1.38 × 10⁹–1.94 × 10⁹ Ω cm and minimum dielectric losses, which makes them suitable candidates for high frequency devices applications.     

Complex study of protective Cr3C2–NiAl coatings deposited by vacuum electro-spark alloying,pulsed cathodic arc evaporation,magnetron sputtering,and hybrid technology

Coatings were obtained by vacuum electro-spark alloying (VESA), pulsed cathodic arc evaporation (PCAE), magnetron sputtering (MS) techniques and VESA-PCAE-MS hybrid technology using Cr₃C₂–NiAl electrodes. The structure of the coatings was analyzed using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Mechanical properties were determined by nanoindentation, while tribological properties were assessed using pin-on-disk tribometer. Corrosion resistance was estimated by voltammetry in 1 N H₂SO₄ and 3.5%NaCl solutions. Oxidation resistance tests were performed at 800°С in air. The VESA coating had the highest thickness, low friction coefficient and high wear resistance. PCAE coating demonstrated the highest hardness (24 GPa) and elastic recovery (59%), oxidation resistance and superior corrosion resistance both in 1 N H₂SO₄ (i_corr = 70 μА/cm²) and 3.5%NaCl (i_corr = 0.74 μА/cm²) solutions. The MS coating had average mechanical properties and low corrosion current density (71 μА/cm²) in 1 N H₂SO₄. Deposition of coatings using VESA-PCAE-MS hybrid technology led to an increase in corrosion and oxidation resistance at least by 1.5 times in comparison with the VESA coating.     

Sputtered Ir–Ru based catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction: Study of iridium effect on stability

Magnetron sputtered low-loading iridium-ruthenium thin films are investigated as catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction at the anode of the Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer. Electrochemical performance of 50 nm thin catalysts (Ir pure, Ir–Ru 1:1, Ir–Ru 1:3, Ru pure) is tested in a Rotating Disk Electrode. Corresponding Tafel slopes are measured before and after the CV-based procedure to compare the activity and stability of prepared compounds. Calculated activities prior to the procedure confirm higher activity of ruthenium-containing catalysts (Ru pure > Ir–Ru 1:3 > Ir–Ru 1:1 > Ir pure). However, after the procedure a higher activity and less degradation of Ir–Ru 1:3 is observed, compared to Ir–Ru 1:1, i.e. the sample with a higher amount of unstable ruthenium performs better. This contradicts the expected behavior of the catalyst. The comprehensive chemical and structural analysis unravels that the stability of Ir–Ru 1:3 sample is connected to RuO₂ chemical state and hcp structure. Obtained results are confirmed by measuring current densities in a single cell.     

Fabrication,structural and vibrational properties,and physical and optical properties tailoring of nanocrystalline MoS2 films

The modification and tuning features of nanostructured films are of great interest because of controllable and distinctive inherent properties in these materials. Here, nanocrystalline MoS₂ films were fabricated on the stainless steels by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering spectroscopy were used to study the chemical state, chemical composition, crystal structure and vibrational properties of the fabricated MoS₂ films. The bias voltage dependent structural evolution and its influence on the optical properties of MoS₂ nanocrystalline films were systematically investigated. Besides, the residual stresses of MoS₂ nanocrystalline films were explored by employing sin²ψ approach. X-ray diffraction demonstrates that the nanocrystalline MoS₂ films have single-phase hexagonal crystal structure. All MoS₂ films are polycrystalline in nature. The bandgap values are found to be intensively dependent on bias voltage. Our findings show that the nanocrystalline MoS₂ films with different physical properties and intense quantum confinement effect can be realized through adjusting bias voltages. This work may provide deep insight for realizing transitional metal dichalcogenide-based nanostructured film optoelectronic devices with tunable physical properties through a traditional, very cost-effective, and large-scale fabrication method.     

Effect of the thicknesses of the Al2SiO5 ion conductor on the opto-electrical properties for all-solid electrochromic devices

In this study, an all-solid-state electrochromic device (ECD) with the structure of ITO/WO₃/Al₂SiO₅/NiO_x/ITO was prepared, and the effect of the Al₂SiO₅ solid electrolyte thicknesses on the opto-electrical performance was investigated. The microstructure and surface morphology were characterized using XRD, SEM and AFM, and the surface morphology and degree of surface looseness demonstrate a significant influence on the opto-electrical properties of ECDs. The charge transfer dynamics at the solid-solid interface were characterized using EIS to obtain an ionic conductivity of 4.637 × 10^-8 S/cm. CV, CA and UV–Visible spectra were employed to record the in situ electrochemical and optical properties. The results revealed that the highest optical modulation was 44.58%, the coloring and bleaching times were 14.8 s and 3.7 s, and the highest coloring efficiency was 98.17 cm²/C, which indicates that excellent opto-electrical properties were obtained. When the thickness increases, the degree of surface dense morphology transforms, and the loose morphology is more favorable for ion conductivity, which improves the opto-electrical properties. The results in this study provide insights into the understanding of Al³⁺-based all-solid-state ECDs, which promote the exploration of new types of Al³⁺ ionic conductors for all-solid-state ECDs.     

Three-phase four-wire shunt active power filter based on the SOGI filter and Lyapunov function for DC bus control

The three-phase four-wire shunt active power filter (SAPF) was developed to suppress the harmonic currents generated by nonlinear loads, and for the compensation of unbalanced nonlinear load currents, reactive power, and the harmonic neutral current. In this work, we consider instantaneous reactive power theory (PQ theory) for reference current identification based on the following two algorithms: the classic low-pass filter (LPF) and the second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) filter. Furthermore, since an important process in SAPF control is the regulation of the DC bus voltage at the capacitor, a new controller based on the Lyapunov function is also proposed. A complete simulation of the resultant active filtering system confirms its validity, which uses the SOGI filter to extract the reference currents from the distorted line currents, compared with the traditional PQ theory based on LPF. In addition, the simulation performed also demonstrates the superiority of the proposed approach, for DC bus voltage control based on the Lyapunov function, compared with the traditional proportional-integral (PI) controller. Both novel approaches contribute towards an improvement in the overall performance of the system, which consists of a small rise and settling time, a very low or nonexistent overshoot, and the minimization of the total harmonic distortion (THD).