Enhancing the thermal conductivity of polymer-assisted deposited Al_2O_3 film by nitrogen doping

Polymer-assisted deposition technique has been used to deposit Al2O3 and N-doped Al2O3 （AION） thin films on Si（100） substrates. The chemical compositions, crystallinity, and thermal conductivity of the as-grown films have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, and 3-omega method, respectively. Amorphous and polycrystalline Al2O3 and AlON thin films have been formed at 700 ℃ and 1000 ℃. The thermal conductivity results indicated that the effect of nitrogen doping on the thermal conductivity is determined by the competition of the increase of Al-N bonding and the suppression of crystallinity. A 67% enhancement in thermal conductivity has been achieved for the samples grown at 700 ℃, demonstrating that the nitrogen doping is an effective way to improve the thermal performance of polymer-assisted-deposited Al2O3 thin films at a relatively low growth temperature.

Transport properties and microstructure of La_(0.7)Sr_(0.3)MnO_3 nanocrystalline thin films grown by polymer-assisted chemical solution deposition

Perovskite-based materials can be widely used in the aerospace and transportation field. Perovskite man-ganese oxides La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 （LSMO） thin films were grown on LaAlO3 （100） and Si （100） single crystal sub-strates by the polymer-assisted chemical solution deposi-tion （PACSD） method. Electronic transport behavior, microstructure, and magnetoresistance （MR） of LSMO thin films on different substrates were investigated. The resis-tance of LSMO films fabricated on LaAlO3 substrates is smaller than that on the Si substrates. The magnetic field reduces resistance of LSMO films both on Si and LAO in the wide temperature region, when the insulator-metal transition temperature shifts to higher temperature. The low-field magnetoresistance of LSMO films on Si in low temperature range at 1 T is larger than that of LSMO films on LAO. However, the MR of LSMO film on LAO films at room-temperature is about 5.17%. The thin films are smooth and dense with uniform nanocrystal size grain. These results demonstrate that PACSD is an effective technique for producing high quality LSMO films, which is significant to improve the magnetic properties and the application of automotive sensor.

Synthesis, properties, and applications of large-scale two-dimensional materials by polymer-assisted deposition

Two-dimensional(2D) materials have attracted considerable attention because of their novel and tunable electronic,optical, ferromagnetic, and chemical properties. Compared to mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapor deposition, polymer-assisted deposition(PAD) is more suitable for mass production of 2D materials owing to its good reproducibility and reliability. In this review, we summarize the recent development of PAD on syntheses of 2D materials. First, we introduce principles and processing steps of PAD. Second, 2D materials, including graphene, MoS2, and MoS2/glassy-graphene heterostructures, are presented to illustrate the power of PAD and provide readers with the opportunity to assess the method. Last, we discuss the future prospects and challenges in this research field. This review provides a novel technique for preparing 2D layered materials and may inspire new applications of 2D layered materials.

A Generalized Polymer Precursor Ink Design for 3D Printing of Functional Metal Oxides

Three-dimensional-structured metal oxides have myriad applications for optoelectronic devices.Comparing to conventional lithography-based manufacturing methods which face significant challenges for 3D device architectures,additive manufacturing approaches such as direct ink writing offer convenient,on-demand manufacturing of 3D oxides with high resolutions down to sub-micrometer scales.However,the lack of a universal ink design strategy greatly limits the choices of printable oxides.Here,a universal,facile synthetic strategy is developed for direct ink writable polymer precursor inks based on metal-polymer coordination effect.Specifically,polyethyleneimine functionalized by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is employed as the polymer matrix for adsorbing targeted metal ions.Next,glucose is introduced as a crosslinker for endowing the polymer precursor inks with a thermosetting property required for 3D printing via the Maillard reaction.For demonstrations,binary(i.e.,ZnO,CuO,In_(2)O_(3),Ga_(2)O_(3),TiO_(2),and Y_(2)O_(3)) and ternary metal oxides(i.e.,BaTiO_(3) and SrTiO_(3)) are printed into 3D architectures with sub-micrometer resolution by extruding the inks through ultrafine nozzles.Upon thermal crosslinking and pyrolysis,the 3D microarchitectures with woodpile geometries exhibit strong light-matter coupling in the mid-infrared region.The design strategy for printable inks opens a new pathway toward 3D-printed optoelectronic devices based on functional oxides.

FORMATION OF MOLYBDENUM OXIDE NANOSTRUCTURES CONTROLLED BY POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE)

Polymeric systems have played an important role as structure-directing agents and in the control of nucleation and growth of crystals.This article reviews the work of our research group in the field of the polymer-assisted crystallization of inorganic materials,mainly focused on the formation of highly ordered,porous molybdenum oxide nanostructures.Different experimental parameters including the influence of poly(ethylene oxide)-containing polymers on the morphology and structure of the products obtained fr...

Controllable printing of large-scale compact perovskite films for flexible photodetectors

Perovskite materials are promising candidates for the next generation of wearable optoelectronics.However,due to uncontrolled crystallization and the natural brittle property of crystals,it remains a great challenge to fabricate large-scale compact and tough perovskite film.Here we report a facile method to print large-scale perovskite films with high quality for flexible photodetectors.By introducing a soluble polyethylene oxide(PEO)layer during the inkjet printing process,the nucleation and crystal growth of perovskite is well controlled.Perovskite films can be easily printed in large scale and patterned in high resolution.Moreover,this method can be extended to various kinds of perovskite materials,such as MAPbb(MA=methylammonium),MA_(3)Sb_(2)l_(9),and(BA)_(2)PbBr_(4)(BA=benzylammonium).The printed perovskite films show high quality and excellent mechanical performance.The photodetectors based on the MAPbBr3 perovskite films show a responsivity up to -1,036 mAA/V and maintain over 96.8%of the initial photocurrent after 15,000 consecutive bending cycles.This strategy provides a facile approach to prepare large-scale flexible perovskite films.It opens up new opportunities for the fabrication of diverse wearable optoelectronic devices.

Interfacial engineering of printable bottom back metal electrodes for full-solution processed flexible organic solar cells

Printing of metal bottom back electrodes of flexible organic solar cells（FOSCs） at low temperature is of great significance to realize the full-solution fabrication technology. However, this has been difficult to achieve because often the interfacial properties of those printed electrodes, including conductivity, roughness, work function,optical and mechanical flexibility, cannot meet the device requirement at the same time. In this work, we fabricate printed Ag and Cu bottom back cathodes by a low-temperature solution technique named polymer-assisted metal deposition（PAMD） on flexible PET substrates. Branched polyethylenimine（PEI） and ZnO thin films are used as the interface modification layers（IMLs） of these cathodes. Detailed experimental studies on the electrical, mechanical, and morphological properties, and simulation study on the optical properties of these IMLs are carried out to understand and optimize the interface of printed cathodes. We demonstrate that the highest power conversion efficiency over 3.0% can be achieved from a full-solution processed OFSC with the device structure being PAMDAg/PEI/P3 HT：PC61BM/PH1000. This device also acquires remarkable stability upon repeating bending tests.