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Topic Review
Nucleation of Diamond
Nucleation is a key process for the growth of diamond films. Spontaneously nucleation on heterogeneous substrates is difficult. This is mainly because the high surface energy of diamond. Rapid nucleation (a few minutes commonly) is a necessary condition for the deposition of high-quality diamond films. The characteristics of the substrate, such as surface defects, surface energy, surface diffusion and bulk diffusion of atoms, and chemical reactivity, affect the diamond nucleation process. Especially, a gallium nitride (GaN) substrate, which has a large lattice mismatch and thermal expansion mismatch with diamond, puts forward some difficult requirements for diamond nucleation. The temperature of the substrate also affects the diamond nucleation process. Considering the quality and rate of diamond nucleation and the thermal stability of GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), researchers regard ~600 °C as a more suitable nucleation temperature. 
  • 1.4K
  • 03 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Organic Coatings for Marine Applications
Organic coatings for marine applications must have great corrosion protection and antifouling performance. This review presents an overview of recent investigations into coating microstructure, corrosion protection performance, antifouling behavior, and evaluation methods, particularly the substrate effect and environmental influence on coating protectiveness, aiming to improve operational practice in the coating industry. 
  • 1.4K
  • 21 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Tin-Based Perovskite Solar Cells, Dopants
Tin-based perovskite solar cells exist in p-i-n or n-i-p configurations alternating the position of the electron transport (n) and hole transport layer (p). Therefore, during fabrication of these layered devices, it is very common to encounter energy level mismatches and defects at the interface. The simplest trick to improve the performance of tin-based perovskite solar cells is to add an interfacial layer to minimise the energy mismatch and defects at interfaces.
  • 1.4K
  • 24 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Acrylic Carrier
Wood used outdoor is subjected to different sources of degradation and should be protected properly. In this study, acrylic resins were added to a wood impregnation system using amine oxides and propiconazole, an organic fungicide, to create a two-part wood protection preservation treatment. Since amine oxides can diffuse readily into wood, this treatment protected both the surface and inner structure of the treated wood following a simple dipping. Many aspects of the treatment were studied: the adhesion of the acrylic coatings, their permeability to water, and the impregnation depth of the propiconazole. In each case, a particular attention was accorded to the interactions between the resins and the impregnation system. Adhesion and permeability tests were coupled with an artificial aging process simulating severely wet conditions. Amine oxides reduced the adhesion of the coatings, but did not impair their aging properties. Because of their hydrophilic nature, they also increased the permeability to liquid water, although they did not affect the air moisture permeability. The penetration of the propiconazole, estimated with a dye, decreased with the resin. Overall, the two parts of the treatment lightly impaired each other, but the practical aspect of this treatment may overcome these disadvantages.
  • 1.4K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Textile Materials for Skin
Textile materials, as a suitable matrix for different active substances facilitating their gradual release, can have an important role in skin topical or transdermal therapy. Characterized by compositional and structural variety, those materials readily meet the requirements for applications in specific therapies.
  • 1.4K
  • 06 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Hydrodynamics on Microbial Adhesion and Biofilm Formation
Studying microbial adhesion and biofilm growth is crucial for understanding the physiology of sessile organisms and forming the basis for the development of novel antimicrobial materials. Fluid hydrodynamics is one of the most important factors affecting cell adhesion, as well as biofilm structure and behavior. Therefore, to simulate the relevant biofilms of different fields (environment, industry, and medicine) in the laboratory, it is of utmost importance to select an adequate biofilm platform and be able to operate it at hydrodynamic conditions that are as close as possible to those encountered in a real scenario.
  • 1.4K
  • 21 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Presentation of Film Deposition Method
The functional layer is an important part of the storage mechanism in lithium-ion batteries, as it helps to improve the performance and stability of the interface and allows for the efficient transfer of ions and electrons. The film deposition techniques are vital for the development of lithium-ion batteries by providing a functional layer at the interface between electrode and electrolyte, which fabricates a solid-state battery with a different approach from the traditional methods.
  • 1.4K
  • 07 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Nanostructures GaAs Solar Cells
At present, the world is now passing a very far different time than normal situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The global life-style and human civilization is currently progressing with down-stream that affecting almost every sectors necessary for human civilizations except the current environmental situation. To control the COVID-19 spreading, most of the countries are following lockdown process that reduces human mobility, thus reducing the CO2 emission to the environment. Though the COVID-19 pandemic is a blessing for the present environment, however, the post-COVID world will face a massive thrust of energy and only conventional energy resources may not be enough to mitigate the energy demands. Solar power generation technology mainly the photovoltaic (PV) systems and their advancement can be the leading possibilities to minimize the gap between the power demand and generation. It is now time to think how we can improve the PV power generation in future and the post-COVID world. In this encyclopaedia communication, we report on Nano-technological approach to improve the conversion efficiency of GaAs solar cells. We have designed and optimized several types of nano-structured assemblies that can be implemented to reduce the front surface incident light reflection losses thus can assist to improve the conversion efficiency of GaAs solar cells.
  • 1.4K
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Fluoro-Modified Surface
The original fluoro-modified polyurethane encapsulated process was designed to rapidly fabricate low flow-resistance surfaces on the zinc substrate. For the further enhancement of the drag-reduction effect, chemical etching was introduced during the fabrication process, and its surface morphology, wettability, and flow-resistance properties in a microchannel were also studied in this paper. It is indicated that the zinc substrate with micro-nano scale roughness obtained by Cu2+ assisted nitric acid etching was super hydrophilic. However, after the etched zinc substrate encapsulated with fluoro-polyurethane, the superhydrophobic wettability can be obtained. As this newly fabricated surface being applied into the microchannel, it was found that with the increase of Reynolds number, the drag reduction rate of the superhydrophobic surface remained basically unchanged at 4.0 % compared with the original zinc substrate. Furthermore, the prepared superhydrophobic surfaces exhibited outstanding reliability in most liquids, and such chemical-etching methodology were capable to be commercialized in the piping as well as the coating industry.
  • 1.4K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Chemical Wood Surface Improvements
Increasing the use of wood in buildings is regarded by many as a key solution to tackle climate change. For this reason, a lot of research is carried out to develop new and innovative wood surface improvements and make wood more appealing through features such as increased durability, fire-retardancy, superhydrophobicity, and self-healing.
  • 1.4K
  • 21 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Fabrication of SiC Membranes
The scale of research for developing and applying silicon carbide (SiC) membranes for gas separation has rapidly expanded over the last few decades. The precursor-derived ceramic approaches for preparing SiC membranes include chemical vapor deposition (CVD)/chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) deposition and pyrolysis of polymeric precursor. Generally, SiC membranes formed using the CVD/CVI deposition route have dense structures, making such membranes suitable for small-molecule gas separation. On the contrary, pyrolysis of a polymeric precursor is the most common and promising route for preparing SiC membranes, which includes the steps of precursor selection, coating/shaping, curing for cross-linking, and pyrolysis. Among these steps, the precursor, curing method, and pyrolysis temperature significantly impact the final microstructures and separation performance of membranes.
  • 1.4K
  • 19 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Anti-Oxidation Coating on Niobium Alloy
Niobium (Nb)-based alloys have been extensively used in the aerospace field owing to their excellent high-temperature mechanical properties. However, the inferior oxidation resistance severely limits the application of Nb-based alloys in a high-temperature, oxygen-enriched environment. Related scholars have extensively studied the oxidation protection of niobium alloy and pointed out that surface coating technology is ideal for solving this problem.
  • 1.4K
  • 23 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Sol-Gel and Layer-by-Layer Coatings
The use of urface-engineered coatings for the fire protection of cotton fabrics is continously growing. In this context, two main approaches have been extensively investigated, namely sol-gel derived coatings and layer-by-layer assemblies. These approaches are both capable of providing treated fabrics with outstanding flame-retardant features, when exposed to a flame or an irradiative heat flux.  This review work aims at discussing the recent progresse with respect to both strategies, highlighting current limitations, open challenges, and possible further developments.
  • 1.3K
  • 01 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Nanotechnological Smart Food Packaging
Polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) are of real interest because along with the bioactivity induced by the components (or by the polymer itself), these materials due to the composite nature can exhibit some improved physical, chemical, biological, mechanical, electrical, and optical properties compared to individual components [1]. Due to the innovative properties such as maintaining the quality and safety of food but also increasing the shelf-life of the food, nanocomposite packaging has great potential as an innovative food packaging technology. The polymer nanocomposites used in developing food packaging materials are mainly composed of the polymer matrix, nanofillers, plasticizers, and compatibilizers.
  • 1.3K
  • 02 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Seed Priming against Environmental Stresses
Drastic climate changes over the years have triggered environmental challenges for wild plants and crops due to fluctuating weather patterns worldwide. This has caused different types of stressors, responsible for a decrease in plant life and biological productivity, with consequent food shortages, especially in areas under threat of desertification. Nanotechnology-based approaches have great potential in mitigating environmental stressors, thus fostering a sustainable agriculture. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have demonstrated to be biostimulants as well as remedies to both environmental and biotic stresses. Their administration in the early sowing stages, i.e., seed priming, proved to be effective in improving germination rate, seedling and plant growth and in ameliorating the indicators of plants’ well-being. Seed nano-priming acts through several mechanisms such as enhanced nutrients uptake, improved antioxidant properties, ROS accumulation and lipid peroxidation. The target for seed priming by ZnO NPs is mostly crops of large consumption or staple food, in order to meet the increased needs of a growing population and the net drop of global crop frequency, due to climate changes and soil contaminations. 
  • 1.3K
  • 11 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Gas Sensors Based on Titanium Oxides
Nanostructured titanium compounds have recently been applied in the design of gas sensors. Among titanium compounds, titanium oxides (TiO2) are the most frequently used in gas sensing devices. Very recently, the applicability of non-stoichiometric titanium oxide (TiO2−x)-based layers for the design of gas sensors was demonstrated. The most promising titanium compounds and hetero- and nano-structures based on these compounds are discussed and the possibility to tune the sensitivity and selectivity of titanium compound-based sensing layers is addressed.  
  • 1.3K
  • 28 May 2022
Topic Review
Band Gap Engineering
Crystalline TiO2 (as rutile, anatase or brookite) can absorb only about 4% of the solar energy due to its large band gap in the range of 3.0–3.2 eV. As a consequence, the true incident photon conversion yield of most sun-light and semiconductor-assisted photoreactions is low. The aim of exploiting visible light can be achieved by applying various techniques such as doping or modification with metals and non-metals, coupling of semiconductors, or dye sensitization. Since only the former technique seems to allow cost-efficient and robust synthesis routes for realistic applications of titania coatings, this chapter will concentrate on metal and non-metal doping.
  • 1.3K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Processing Technologies for Thin Kesterite CZTS Absorber Films
Solar cells based on Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2 (CIGS) and CdTe thin-film solar cells have already reached the commercial stage, having an efficiency of 23.4% for CIGS and 21.0% for CdTe. However, their marketability has stagnated. A promising solution for a non-toxic and commercially attractive absorber for photovoltaic applications is offered by the family of kesterite semiconductor materials such as copper–zinc–tin–sulfide (with the chemical formula Cu2ZnSnS4) (CZTS) and copper–zinc–tin–selenide (with the chemical formula Cu2ZnSnSe4)(CZTSe) and their alloy family copper–zinc–tin–sulfo–selenide (Cu2ZnSn(Sx,Se1−x)4 (CZTSSe), where 0 ≤ x ≤ 1).
  • 1.3K
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Indigo for Non-Toxic and Ecological Gliding Surfaces
The biogenic substance E-indigo can form supramolecular, hydrophobic structures using self-organization. These structures show a low coefficient of friction as a gliding layer against polar surfaces. The formation of primary particles with platelet morphology based on hydrogen-bonded E-indigo molecules is ideal to produce the gliding layer. Structures with excellent gliding properties on ice, snow, and water can be achieved by means of directed friction and high pressure, as well as through tempering. The resulting hard, thin gliding layer of E-indigo does not easily absorb dirt and, thus, prevents a rapid increase in friction. Field tests on snow, with cross-country skis, have shown promising results in comparison to fluorinated and non-fluorinated waxes. Based on quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) data for E-indigo, and its isomers and tautomers, it has been demonstrated that both the application and abrasion of the thin indigo layers are harmless to health, and are ecologically benign and, therefore, sustainable.
  • 1.3K
  • 21 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Development of Antifouling Strategies for Marine Applications
Marine biofouling is an undeniable challenge for aquatic systems since it is responsible for several environmental and ecological problems and economic losses. Several strategies have been developed to mitigate fouling-related issues in marine environments, including thermal stress, osmotic shock, deoxygenation, and the development of marine coatings using nanotechnology and biomimetic models, as well as the incorporation of natural compounds, peptides, bacteriophages, or specific enzymes on surfaces. 
  • 1.3K
  • 07 Jul 2023
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