Surface Deposition of Ni(OH)_(2) and Lattice Distortion Induce the Electrochromic Performance Decay of NiO Films in Alkaline Electrolyte

NiO,an anodic electrochromic material,has applications in energy-saving windows,intelligent displays,and military camouflage.However,its electrochromic mechanism and reasons for its performance degradation in alkaline aqueous electrolytes are complex and poorly understood,making it challenging to improve NiO thin films.We studied the phases and electrochemical characteristics of NiO films in different states(initial,colored,bleached and after 8000 cycles)and identified three main reasons for performance degradation.First,Ni(OH)_(2)is generated during electrochromic cycling and deposited on the NiO film surface,gradually yielding a NiO@Ni(OH)_(2)core-shell structure,isolating the internal NiO film from the electrolyte,and preventing ion transfer.Second,the core-shell structure causes the mode of electrical conduction to change from first-to second-order conduction,reducing the efficiency of ion transfer to the surface Ni(OH)_(2)layer.Third,Ni(OH)_(2)and NiOOH,which have similar crystal structures but different b-axis lattice parameters,are formed during electrochromic cycling,and large volume changes in the unit cell reduce the structural stability of the thin film.Finally,we clarified the mechanism of electrochromic performance degradation of NiO films in alkaline aqueous electrolytes and provide a route to activation of NiO films,which will promote the development of electrochromic technology.

Significantly Improved High-Temperature Energy Storage Performance of BOPP Films by Coating Nanoscale Inorganic Layer

Biaxially oriented polypropylene(BOPP)is one of the most commonly used commercial capacitor films,but its upper operating temperature is below 105℃due to the sharply increased electrical conduction loss at high temperature.In this study,growing an inorganic nanoscale coating layer onto the BOPP film's surface is proposed to suppress electrical conduction loss at high temperature,as well as increase its upper operating temperature.Four kinds of inorganic coating layers that have different energy band structure and dielectric property are grown onto the both surface of BOPP films,respectively.The effect of inorganic coating layer on the high-temperature energy storage performance has been systematically investigated.The favorable coating layer materials and appropriate thickness enable the BOPP films to have a significant improvement in high-temperature energy storage performance.Specifically,when the aluminum nitride(AIN)acts as a coating layer,the AIN-BOPP-AIN sandwich-structured films possess a discharged energy density of 1.5 J cm^(-3)with an efficiency of 90%at 125℃,accompanying an outstandingly cyclic property.Both the discharged energy density and operation temperature are significantly enhanced,indicating that this efficient and facile method provides an important reference to improve the high-temperature energy storage performance of polymer-based dielectric films.

Flexible, Transparent and Conductive Metal Mesh Films with Ultra‑High FoM for Stretchable Heating and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Despite the growing demand for transparent conductive films in smart and wearable electronics for electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding,achieving a flexible EMI shielding film,while maintaining a high transmittance remains a significant challenge.Herein,a flexible,transparent,and conductive copper(Cu)metal mesh film for EMI shielding is fabricated by self-forming crackle template method and electroplating technique.The Cu mesh film shows an ultra-low sheet resistance(0.18Ω□^(-1)),high transmittance(85.8%@550 nm),and ultra-high figure of merit(>13,000).It also has satisfactory stretchability and mechanical stability,with a resistance increases of only 1.3%after 1,000 bending cycles.As a stretchable heater(ε>30%),the saturation temperature of the film can reach over 110°C within 60 s at 1.00 V applied voltage.Moreover,the metal mesh film exhibits outstanding average EMI shielding effectiveness of 40.4 dB in the X-band at the thickness of 2.5μm.As a demonstration,it is used as a transparent window for shielding the wireless communication electromagnetic waves.Therefore,the flexible and transparent conductive Cu mesh film proposed in this work provides a promising candidate for the next-generation EMI shielding applications.

Centimeter-Scale Above-Room-Temperature Ferromagnetic Fe_(3)GaTe_(2)Thin Films by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Fe_(3)GaTe_(2),as a layered ferromagnetic material,has a Curie temperature(T_(c))higher than room temperature,making it the key material in next-generation spintronic devices.To be used in practical devices,large-sized high-quality Fe_(3)GaTe_(2)thin films need to be prepared.Here,the centimeter-scale thin film samples with high crystal quality and above-room-temperature ferromagnetism with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy technology.Furthermore,the Tc of the samples raises as the film thickness increases,and reaches 367K when the film thickness is 60 nm.This study provides material foundations for the new generation of van der Waals spintronic devices and paves the way for the commercial application of Fe_(3)GaTe_(2).

Ultrathin Limit on the Anisotropic Superconductivity of Single-Layered Cuprate Films

Exploring dimensionality effects on cuprates is important for understanding the nature of high-temperature superconductivity.By atomically layer-by-layer growth with oxide molecular beam epitaxy,we demonstrate that La_(2−x)Sr_(x)CuO_(4)(x=0.15)thin films remain superconducting down to 2 unit cells of thickness but quickly reach the maximum superconducting transition temperature at and above 4 unit cells.By fitting the critical magnetic field(μ0H_(c2)),we show that the anisotropy of the film’s superconductivity increases with decreasing film thickness,indicating that the superconductivity of the film gradually evolves from weak three-to two-dimensional character.These results are helpful to gain more insight into the nature of high-temperature superconductivity with dimensionality.

Effect of drying methods on perovskite films and solar cells

The high efficiency,solution processibility,and flexibility of perovskite solar cells make them promising candidates for the photovoltaic industry[1−8].The deposition method is one of the most critical factors that affect the performance of perovskite films.Various deposition methods have been developed to make perovskite films,including spin-coating,slotdie coating.

Sol-gel-based porous Ti-doped tungsten oxide films for high-performance dual-band electrochromic smart windows

Dual-band electrochromic smart windows(DESWs)with independent control of the transmittance of near-infrared and visible light show great potential in the application of smart and energy-saving buildings.The current strategy for building DESWs is to screen materials for composite or prepare plasmonic nanocrystal films.These rigorous preparation processes seriously limit the further development of DESWs.Herein,we report a facile and effective sol-gel strategy using a foaming agent to achieve porous Ti-doped tungsten oxide film for the high performance of DESWs.The introduction of foaming agent polyvinylpyrrolidone during the film preparation can increase the specific surface area and free carrier concentration of the films and enhance their independent regulation ability of near-infrared electrochromism.As a result,the optimal film shows excellent dual-band electrochromic properties,including high optical modulation(84.9%at 633 nm and 90.3%at 1200 nm),high coloration efficiency(114.9 cm^(2) C^(-1) at 633 nm and 420.3 cm^(2) C^(-1) at 1200 nm),quick switching time,excellent bistability,and good cycle stability(the transmittance modulation losses at 633 and 1200 nm were 11%and 3.5%respectively after 1000 cycles).A demonstrated DESW fabricated by the sol-gel film showed effective management of heat and light of sunlight.This study represents a significant advance in the preparation of dual-band electrochromic films,which will shed new light on advancing electrochromic technology for future energy-saving smart buildings.

Structural and magnetic properties of micropolycrystalline cobalt thin films fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering

Pure cobalt(Co)thin films were fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering,and the effects of sputtering power and pres-sure on the microstructure and electromagnetic properties of the films were investigated.As the sputtering power increases from 15 to 60 W,the Co thin films transition from an amorphous to a polycrystalline state,accompanied by an increase in the intercrystal pore width.Simultaneously,the resistivity decreases from 276 to 99μΩ·cm,coercivity increases from 162 to 293 Oe,and in-plane magnetic aniso-tropy disappears.As the sputtering pressure decreases from 1.6 to 0.2 Pa,grain size significantly increases,resistivity significantly de-creases,and the coercivity significantly increases(from 67 to 280 Oe),which can be attributed to the increase in defect width.Corres-pondingly,a quantitative model for the coercivity of Co thin films was formulated.The polycrystalline films sputtered under pressures of 0.2 and 0.4 Pa exhibit significant in-plane magnetic anisotropy,which is primarily attributable to increased microstress.

Enhanced ferroelectric and improved leakage of BFO-based thin films through increasing entropy strategy

BiFeO_(3)(BFO)has received considerable attention as a lead-free ferroelectric film due to its large theoretical remnant polariza-tion.However,BFO suffers from a large leakage current,resulting in poor ferroelectric properties.Herein,the sol-gel method was used to deposit a series of BFO-based thin films on fluorine-doped tin oxide substrates,and the effects of the substitution of the elements Co,Cu,Mn(B-site)and Sm,Eu,La(A-site)on the crystal structure,ferroelectricity,and leakage current of the BFO-based thin films were invest-igated.Results confirmed that lattice distortion by X-ray diffraction can be attributed to the substitution of individual elements in the BFO-based films.Sm and Eu substitutions contribute to the lattice distortion in a pseudo-cubic structure,while La is biased toward pseudo-tet-ragonal.Piezoelectric force microscopy confirmed that reversible switching of ferroelectric domains by nearly 180°can be realized through the prepared films.The ferroelectric hysteresis loops showed that the order for the polarization contribution is as follows:Cu>Co>Mn(B-site),Sm>La>Eu(A-site).The current density voltage curves indicated that the order for leakage contribution is as follows:Mn<Cu<Co(B-site),La<Eu<Sm(A-site).Scanning electron microscopy showed that the introduction of Cu elements facilitates the formation of dense grains,and the grain size distribution statistics proved that La element promotes the reduction of grain size,leading to the increase of grain boundaries and the reduction of leakage.Finally,a Bi_(0.985)Sm_(0.045)La_(0.03)Fe_(0.96)Co_(0.02)Cu_(0.02)O_(3)(SmLa-CoCu)thin film with a qualitative leap in the remnant polarization from 25.5(Bi_(0.985)Sm_(0.075)FeO_(3))to 98.8µC/cm^(2)(SmLa-CoCu)was prepared through the syner-gistic action of Sm,La,Co,and Cu elements.The leakage current is also drastically reduced from 160 to 8.4 mA/cm^(2)at a field strength of 150 kV/cm.Thus,based on the increasing entropy strategy of chemical engineering,this study focuses on enhancing ferroelectricity and decreasing leakage current,providing a promising path for the advancement of ferroelectric devices.

Local thermal conductivity of inhomogeneous nano-fluidic films:A density functional theory perspective

Combining the mean field Pozhar-Gubbins(PG)theory and the weighted density approximation,a novel method for local thermal conductivity of inhomogeneous fluids is proposed.The correlation effect that is beyond the mean field treatment is taken into account by the simulation-based empirical correlations.The application of this method to confined argon in slit pore shows that its prediction agrees well with the simulation results,and that it performs better than the original PG theory as well as the local averaged density model(LADM).In its further application to the nano-fluidic films,the influences of fluid parameters and pore parameters on the thermal conductivity are calculated and investigated.It is found that both the local thermal conductivity and the overall thermal conductivity can be significantly modulated by these parameters.Specifically,in the supercritical states,the thermal conductivity of the confined fluid shows positive correlation to the bulk density as well as the temperature.However,when the bulk density is small,the thermal conductivity exhibits a decrease-increase transition as the temperature is increased.This is also the case in which the temperature is low.In fact,the decrease-increase transition in both the small-bulk-density and low-temperature cases arises from the capillary condensation in the pore.Furthermore,smaller pore width and/or stronger adsorption potential can raise the critical temperature for condensation,and then are beneficial to the enhancement of the thermal conductivity.These modulation behaviors of the local thermal conductivity lead immediately to the significant difference of the overall thermal conductivity in different phase regions.

Chitosan/Sodium Alginate Multilayer pH-Sensitive Films Based on Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembly for Intelligent Packaging

The abuse of plastic food packaging has brought about severe white pollution issues around the world.Developing green and sustainable biomass packaging is an effective way to solve this problem.Hence,a chitosan/sodium alginate-based multilayer film is fabricated via a layer-by-layer(LBL)self-assembly method.With the help of superior interaction between the layers,the multilayer film possesses excellent mechanical properties(with a tensile strength of 50 MPa).Besides,the film displays outstanding water retention property(blocking moisture of 97.56%)and ultraviolet blocking property.Anthocyanin is introduced into the film to detect the food quality since it is one natural plant polyphenol that is sensitive to the pH changes ranging from 1 to 13 in food when spoilage occurs.It is noted that the film is also bacteriostatic which is desired for food packaging.This study describes a simple technique for the development of advanced multifunctional and fully biodegradable food packaging film and it is a sustainable alternative to plastic packaging.

Effects of gallium surfactant on AlN thin films by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition

In this work, AlN films were grown using gallium (Ga) as surfactant on 4° off-axis 4H-SiC substrates via microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD). We have found that AlN growth rate can be greatly improved due to the catalytic effect of trimethyl-gallium (TMGa), but AlN crystal structure and composition are not affected. When the proportion of TMGa in gas phase was low, crystal quality of AlN can be improved and three-dimensional growth mode of AlN was enhanced with the increase of Ga source. When the proportion of TMGa in gas phase was high, two-dimensional growth mode of AlN was presented, with the increase of Ga source results in the deterioration of AlN crystal quality. Finally, employing a two-step growth approach, involving the initial growth of Ga-free AlN nucleation layer followed by Ga-assisted AlN growth, high quality of AlN film with flat surface was obtained and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) values of 415 nm AlN (002) and (102) planes were 465 and 597 arcsec.

Effects of Mg-doping temperature on the structural and electrical properties of nonpolar a-plane p-type GaN films

Nonpolar(11–20) a-plane p-type GaN films were successfully grown on r-plane sapphire substrate with the metal–organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) system. The effects of Mg-doping temperature on the structural and electrical properties of nonpolar p-type GaN films were investigated in detail. It is found that all the surface morphology, crystalline quality, strains, and electrical properties of nonpolar a-plane p-type GaN films are interconnected, and are closely related to the Mg-doping temperature. This means that a proper performance of nonpolar p-type GaN can be expected by optimizing the Mg-doping temperature. In fact, a hole concentration of 1.3×10^(18)cm^(-3), a high Mg activation efficiency of 6.5%,an activation energy of 114 me V for Mg acceptor, and a low anisotropy of 8.3% in crystalline quality were achieved with a growth temperature of 990℃. This approach to optimizing the Mg-doping temperature of the nonpolar a-plane p-type GaN film provides an effective way to fabricate high-efficiency optoelectronic devices in the future.

Generation of lossy mode resonances(LMR)using perovskite nanofilms

The results presented here show for the first time the experimental demonstration of the fabrication of lossy mode resonance(LMR) devices based on perovskite coatings deposited on planar waveguides. Perovskite thin films have been obtained by means of the spin coating technique and their presence was confirmed by ellipsometry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction testing. The LMRs can be generated in a wide wavelength range and the experimental results agree with the theoretical simulations. Overall, this study highlights the potential of perovskite thin films for the development of novel LMR-based devices that can be used for environmental monitoring, industrial sensing, and gas detection, among other applications.

Epitaxial growth of ultrathin gallium films on Cd(0001)

Growth and electronic properties of ultrathin Ga films on Cd(0001) are investigated by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy(STM) and density functional theory(DFT) calculations. It is found that Ga films exhibit the epitaxial growth with the pseudomorphic 1×1 lattice. The Ga islands deposited at 100 K show a ramified shape due to the suppressed edge diffusion and corner crossing. Furthermore, the majority of Ga islands reveal flat tops and a preferred height of three atomic layers, indicating the electronic growth at low temperature. Annealing to room temperature leads to not only the growth mode transition from electronic growth to conventional Stranski–Krastanov growth, but also the shape transition from ramified islands to smooth compact islands. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy(STS) measurements reveal that the Ga monolayer exhibits metallic behavior. DFT calculations indicate that all the interfacial Ga atoms occupy the energetically favorable hcp-hollow sites of the substrate. The charge density difference analysis demonstrates that the charge transfer from the Cd substrate to the Ga atoms is negligible, and there is weak interaction between Ga atoms and the Cd substrate. These results shall shed important light on fabrication of ultrathin Ga films on metal substrates with novel physical properties.

Fabrication of UV-Curing Linalool-Polysiloxane Hybrid Films with High Refractive Index and Transparency

In this article,a series of high refractive indices(1.50-1.53)thiol phenyl polysiloxane(TPS)were synthesized via hydrolytic sol-gel reaction.The Fourier transform infrared spectra(FT-IR)and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra(NMR)results showed that TPS conformed to the predicted structures.Natural terpene linalool was exploited as photocrosslinker to fabricate UV-curing linalool-polysiloxane hybrid films(LPH)with TPS via photoinitiated thiol-ene reaction.LPH rapidly cured under UV irradiation at the intensity of 80 mW/cm^(2) in 30 s,exhibiting good UV-curing properties.The optical transmittance of LPH in the wavelength of 300-800 nm was over 90%,exhibiting good optical transparency.The water contact angle and water vapor permeability results showed that the introduction of phenyl groups enhance the hydrophobicity and water vapor barrier properties of LPH.The results indicated the potential of LPHs in the applications of optical functional coatings.

Dual-phase coexistence enables to alleviate resistance drift in phase-change films

The amorphous phase-change materials with spontaneous structural relaxation leads to the resistance drift with the time for phase-change neuron synaptic devices. Here, we modify the phase change properties of the conventional Ge_2Sb_2Te_5(GST) material by introducing an SnS phase. It is found that the resistance drift coefficient of SnS-doped GST was decreased from 0.06 to 0.01. It can be proposed that the origin originates from the precipitation of GST nanocrystals accompanied by the precipitation of SnS crystals compared to single-phase GST compound systems. We also found that the decrease in resistance drift can be attributed to the narrowed bandgap from 0.65 to 0.43 eV after SnS-doping. Thus, this study reveals the quantitative relationship between the resistance drift and the band gap and proposes a new idea for alleviating the resistance drift by composition optimization, which is of great significance for finding a promising phase change material.

Magnetic Interactions with Strain Gradient in Ultrathin Pr_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_(3) Films

Strain gradient is a normal phenomenon around a heterostructural interface in ultrathin film,and it is important to determine its effect on magnetic interactions to understand interfacial coupling.In this work,ultrathin Pr_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_(3)(PSMO)films on different substrates are studied.For PSMO film under different in-plane strain conditions,the saturated magnetization and Curie temperature can be qualitatively explained by double-exchange interaction and the Jahn-Teller distortion.However,the difference in the saturated magnetization with zero field cooling and 5 T field cooling is proportional to the strain gradient.Strain-gradient-induced structural disorder is proposed to enhance phonon-electron antiferromagnetic interactions and the corresponding antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition via a strong magnetic field during the field cooling process.A non-monotonous structural transition of the MnO_(6) octahedral rotation can enlarge the strain gradient in PSMO film on a SrTiO_(3) substrate.This work demonstrates the existence of the flexomagnetic effect in ultrathin manganite film,which should be applicable to other complex oxide systems.

Ultrafast Laser-Induced Excellent Thermoelectric Performance of PEDOT:PSS Films

Because poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS)is water processable,thermally stable,and highly conductive,PEDOT:PSS and its composites have been considered to be one of the most promising flexible thermoelectric materials.However,the PEDOT:PSS film prepared from its commercial aqueous dispersion usually has very low conductivity,thus cannot be directly utilized for TE applications.Here,a simple environmental friendly strategy via femtosecond laser irradiation without any chemical dopants and treatments was demonstrated.Under optimal conditions,the electrical conductivity of the treated film is increased to 803.1 S cm^(-1)from 1.2 S cm^(-1)around three order of magnitude higher,and the power factor is improved to 19.0μW m^(-1)K^(-2),which is enhanced more than 200 times.The mechanism for such remarkable enhancement was attributed to the transition of the PEDOT chains from a coil to a linear or expanded coil conformation,reduction of the interplanar stacking distance,and the removal of insulating PSS with increasing the oxidation level of PEDOT,facilitating the charge transportation.This work presents an effective route for fabricating high-performance flexible conductive polymer films and wearable thermoelectric devices.

Resistive switching behavior and mechanism of HfO_(x) films with large on/off ratio by structure design

Different bilayer structures of HfO_(x)/Ti(TiO_(x)) are designed for hafnium-based memory to investigate the switching characteristics. The chemical states in the films and near the interface are characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,and the oxygen vacancies are analyzed. Highly improved on/off ratio(~104) and much uniform switching parameters are observed for bilayer structures compared to single layer HfO_(x) sample, which can be attributed to the modulation of oxygen vacancies at the interface and better control of the growth of filaments. Furthermore, the reliability of the prepared samples is investigated. The carrier conduction behaviors of HfO_(x)-based samples can be attributed to the trapping and de-trapping process of oxygen vacancies and a filamentary model is proposed. In addition, the rupture of filaments during the reset process for the bilayer structures occur at the weak points near the interface by the recovery of oxygen vacancies accompanied by the variation of barrier height. The re-formation of fixed filaments due to the residual filaments as lightning rods results in the better switching performance of the bilayer structure.