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.

Liquid Metal Grid Patterned Thin Film Devices Toward Absorption‑Dominant and Strain‑Tunable Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

The demand of high-performance thin-film-shaped deformable electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding devices is increasing for the next generation of wearable and miniaturized soft electronics.Although highly reflective conductive materials can effectively shield EMI,they prevent deformation of the devices owing to rigidity and generate secondary electromagnetic pollution simultaneously.Herein,soft and stretchable EMI shielding thin film devices with absorption-dominant EMI shielding behavior is presented.The devices consist of liquid metal(LM)layer and LM grid-patterned layer separated by a thin elastomeric film,fabricated by leveraging superior adhesion of aerosol-deposited LM on elastomer.The devices demonstrate high electromagnetic shielding effectiveness(SE)(SE_(T) of up to 75 dB)with low reflectance(SER of 1.5 dB at the resonant frequency)owing to EMI absorption induced by multiple internal reflection generated in the LM grid architectures.Remarkably,the excellent stretchability of the LM-based devices facilitates tunable EMI shielding abilities through grid space adjustment upon strain(resonant frequency shift from 81.3 to 71.3 GHz@33%strain)and is also capable of retaining shielding effectiveness even after multiple strain cycles.This newly explored device presents an advanced paradigm for powerful EMI shielding performance for next-generation smart electronics.

Confluence of ZnO and PTFE Binder for Enhancing Performance of Thin-Film Lithium-Ion Batteries

Developing anode materials with high specific capacity and cycling stability is vital for improving thin-film lithium-ion batteries.Thin-film zinc oxide(ZnO)holds promise due to its high specific capacity,but it suffers from volume changes and structural stress during cycling,leading to poor battery performance.In this research,we ingeniously combined polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)with ZnO using a radio frequency(RF)magnetron co-sputtering method,ensuring a strong bond in the thin-film composite electrode.PTFE effectively reduced stress on the active material and mitigated volume change effects during Li^(+)ion intercalation and deintercalation.The composite thin films are thoroughly characterized using advanced techniques such as X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for investigating correlations between material properties and electrochemical behaviors.Notably,the ZnO/PTFE thin-film electrode demonstrated an impressive specific capacity of 1305 mAh g^(-1)(=7116 mAh cm^(-3))at a 0.5C rate and a remarkable capacity retention of 82%from the 1st to the 100th cycle,surpassing the bare ZnO thin film(50%).This study provides valuable insights into using binders to stabilize active materials in thin-film batteries,enhancing battery performance.

Suppression of Co(Ⅱ)ion deposition and hazards:Regulation of SEI film composition and structure

Despite the presence of Li F components in the solid electrolyte interphase(SEI)formed on the graphite anode surface by conventional electrolyte,these Li F components primarily exist in an amorphous state,rendering them incapable of effectively inhibiting the exchange reaction between lithium ions and transition metal ions in the electrolyte.Consequently,nearly all lithium ions within the SEI film are replaced by transition metal ions,resulting in an increase in interphacial impedance and a decrease in stability.Herein,we demonstrate that the SEI film,constructed by fluoroethylene carbonate(FEC)additive rich in crystalline Li F,effectively inhibits the undesired Li^(+)/Co^(2+)ion exchange reaction,thereby suppressing the deposition of cobalt compounds and metallic cobalt.Furthermore,the deposited cobalt compounds exhibit enhanced structural stability and reduced catalytic activity with minimal impact on the interphacial stability of the graphite anode.Our findings reveal the crucial influence of SEI film composition and structure on the deposition and hazards associated with transition metal ions,providing valuable guidance for designing next-generation electrolytes.

AFM Study on Interface of HTHP As-grown Diamond Single Crystal and Metallic Film

The study for the interface of as-grown diamond and metallic film surrounding diamond is an attractive way for understanding diamond growth mechanism at high temperature and high pressure (HTHP), because it is that through the interface carbon atom groups from the molten film are transported to growing diamond surface. It is of great interest to perform atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiment; which provides a unique technique different from that of normal optical and electron microscopy studies, to observe the interface morphology. In the present paper, we report first that the morphologies obtained by AFM on the film are similar to those of corresponding diamond surface, and they are the remaining traces after the carbon groups moving from the film to growing diamond. The fine particles and a terrace structure with homogeneous average step height are respectively found on the diamond (100) and (111) surface. Diamond growth conditions show that its growth rates and the temperature gradients in the boundary layer of the molten film at HTHP result in the differences of surface morphologies on diamond planes, being rough on (100) plane and even on the (111) plane. The diamond growth on the (100) surface at HPHT could be considered as a process of unification of these diamond fine particles or of carbon atom groups recombination on the growing diamond crystal surface. Successive growth layer steps directly suggest the layer growth mechanism of the diamond (111) plane. The sources of the layer steps might be two-dimensional nuclei and dislocations.

Fatigue of metals at nanoscale: Metal thin films and conductive interconnects for flexible device application

As electrodes and electrical interconnects in flexible electronic devices,metal films are one of the weakest components in the system against mechanical deformation in daily use.Fatigue reliability at nanoscale becomes a practical concern for these flexible electronic devices.This review introduces state-of-the-art fatigue testing techniques and evaluation methods for thin metal films and conductive interconnect materials constrained by a substrate.Then,experimental results about fatigue damage behaviors,fatigue properties and fatigue life prediction are summarized.Furthermore,fundamental insights into fatigue mechanisms of metals at the nanoscale and the size effects on fatigue properties are elucidated.Finally,the perspectives of studies on fatigue of thin metal films constrained by a substrate are proposed.

Damping characteristics analysis of squeeze film damper with metal rubber

A squeeze film damper (SFD) with metal rubber (MR) ring installed on the end and the radial direction of rotor are implemented in this paper. Based on the hypothesis of π film, the description of the new SFD/MR flux and nonlinear oil film damping force is derived according to the Reynolds Eq. and Darcy’s law. It proves that the SFD/MR has better damping characteristics than the traditional SFD after comparatively analyzing characteristics of oil film between the traditional short SFD and the SFD/MR.

Corrosion behaviors of thermally grown oxide films on Fe-based bulk metallic glasses

Oxide films formed on the surfaces of Fe-based bulk metallic glasses in the temperature range between 373 K and 573 K were characterized and their effects on the corrosion behaviors were investigated by microstructural and electrochemical analysis. The oxide film formed at 573 K is iron-rich oxide and it exhibits an n-type semiconductor at a higher potential than 0.35 V and a p-type semiconductor at a lower potential than 0.35 V. Capacitance measurements show that the donor density decreases with the increase in oxidation temperature, while the thickness of the space charge layer increases with the oxidation temperature rising. The result of immersion tests shows that the mass loss rate increases with the oxidation temperature rising. Therefore, the correlation between microstructure and corrosion resistance needs to be proposed because the corrosion resistance is deteriorated with the development of the oxide films.

The effect of fiber orientation on fracture response of metallic fiber-reinforced adhesive thin films

Incorporation of metallic fibers into the adhesive layer can significantly improve the mechanical behavior of the adhesive joint. This paper aims to assess the fracture behavior of an epoxy adhesive reinforced by longitudinal and lateral metallic fibers. Double cantilever beam(DCB) specimens were used to obtain the fracture energy of both non-reinforced and reinforced adhesives under mode I loading condition. In addition to the fiber orientation, the distance between the metal fibers was considered as the second key parameter in the experiments. It was concluded that although incorporation of metallic fibers in the adhesive layer improves the fracture behavior of neat adhesive, however, higher improvements were observed for the adhesive reinforced with longitudinal fibers. Furthermore, reducing the fiber distances resulted in higher values of fracture energy.

Dispersion compensation for an ultrathin metal film using LCD-CCD system

A dispersion compensation method is introduced to correct the distorted image passing through an ultrathin metal film.An LCD-CCD system is modeled by the back propagation network and used to evaluate the transmittance of the ultrathin metal film.Training samples for the network come from 729 images captured by shooting test patches,in which the RGB values are uniformity distributed between 0 and 255.The RGB value of the original image that will be distorted by the dispersion is first transformed by mapping from the LCD to the CCD,multiplied by the inverse matrix of the transmittance matrix,and finally transformed by mapping from the CCD to the LCD,then the corrected image is obtained.In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method,ultrathin aluminum films with different thicknesses are evaporated on glass substrates and laid between the CCD and LCD.Experimental results show that the proposed method compensates for the dispersion successfully.

Experimental studies of extraordinary light transmission through periodic arrays of subwavelength square and rectangular holes in metal films

We fabricate a series of periodic arrays of subwavelength square and rectangular air holes on gold films, and measure the transmission spectra of these metallic nanostructures. By changing some geometrical and physical parameters, such as array period, air hole size and shape, and the incident light polarization, we verify that both global surface plasmon resonance and localized waveguide mode resonance are influential on enhancing the transmission of light through nanostructured metal films. These two resonances induce different behaviours of transmission peak shift. The transmission through the rectangular air-hole structures exhibits an obvious polarization effect dependent on the morphology. Numerical simulations are also made by a plane-wave transfer-matrix method and in good consistency with the experimental results.

Effect of Some Metal Ion Dopants on Electrochemical Properties of Ni(OH)_2 Film Electrode

The Ni(OH) 2 film electrodes doped respectively with alkali-earth metal aluminum, lead, partial transition metal and some rare-earth metal(altogether 17 kinds of metals) ions were prepared by cathode electrodeposition. The electrode reaction reversibility, the difficult extent of oxygen evolution, the proton diffusion coefficient, the discharge potential of middle value and the active material utilization of the Ni(OH) 2 film electrode were compared with those of the ones doped with the metal ions by means of cyclic voltammetry, potential step and constant current charge-discharge experiments. It was found that Ca 2+ , Co 2+ , Cd 2+ , Al 3+ etc. have obviously positive effect.

MHD Effect of Liquid Metal Film Flows as Plasma-Facing Components

Stability of liquid metal film flow under gradient magnetic field is investigated. Three dimensional numerical simulations on magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） effect of free surface film flow were carried out, with emphasis on the film thickness variation and its surface stability. Three different MHD phenomena of film flow were observed in the experiment, namely, retardant, rivulet and flat film flow. From our experiment and numerical simulation it can be concluded that flat film flow is a good choice for plasma-facing components （PFCs）

Mathematical Modeling and Experimental Validation of Mixed Metal Oxide Thin Film Deposition by Spray Pyrolysis

The deposition of metal oxide films using Spray Pyrolysis Technique (SPT) is investigated through mathematical and physical modeling. A comprehensive model is developed in the processes including atomization, spray, evaporation, chemical reaction and deposition. The predicted results including particle size and film thickness are compared with the experimental data obtained in a complementary study. The predicted film thickness is in a good agreement with the measurements when the temperature is high enough for the chemical reaction to proceed. The model also adequately predicts the size distribution when the nanocrystals are well-structured at controlled temperature and concentration.

MHD Stability Analysis and Flow Controls of Liquid Metal Free Surface Film Flows as Fusion Reactor PFCs

Numerical and experimental investigation results on the magnetohydrodynamics（MHD） film flows along flat and curved bottom surfaces are summarized in this study. A simplified modeling has been developed to study the liquid metal MHD film state, which has been validated by the existing experimental results. Numerical results on how the inlet velocity（V）, the chute width（W） and the inlet film thickness（d0） affect the MHD film flow state are obtained. MHD stability analysis results are also provided in this study. The results show that strong magnetic fields make the stable V decrease several times compared to the case with no magnetic field,especially small radial magnetic fields（Bn） will have a significant impact on the MHD film flow state. Based on the above numerical and MHD stability analysis results flow control methods are proposed for flat and curved MHD film flows. For curved film flow we firstly proposed a new multi-layers MHD film flow system with a solid metal mesh to get the stable MHD film flows along the curved bottom surface. Experiments on flat and curved MHD film flows are also carried out and some firstly observed results are achieved.

Surface Plasmon Interference Lithography Assisted by a Fabry-Perot Cavity Composed of Subwavelength Metal Grating and Thin Metal Film

A surface plasmon interference lithography assisted by a Fabry-Perot （F-P） cavity composed of subwavelength metal gratings and a thin metal fihn is proposed to fabricate high-quality nanopatterns. The calculated results indicate that uniform straight interference fringes with high contrast and high electric-field intensity are formed in the resist under the F-P cavity. The analyses of spatial frequency spectra illuminate the physical mechanism of the formation for the interference fringes. The influence of the F-P cavity spacing is discussed in detail. Moreover, the error analyses reveal that all parameters except the metal grating period in this scheme can bear large tolerances for the device fabrication.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION FOR MEASURING YIELD STRENGTH OF THIN METAL FILM BY NANOINDENTATION METHOD

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Relation of Deposition Condition with Microstructure of YBCO Film and YSZ Buffer Layer on Metallic Substrate

icrostructures of two Yba_2Cu_3O_(7-y) (YBCO) film deposited on metal substrate (HastelloyC) with yttriastabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layer were studied comparatively. Relation of microstructure with deposition condition was also been discussed. The YSZ buffer layer with a low depositing rate is dense, even, textured and wellbonded to the substrate. On the contrary, the YSZ layer deposited with a high rate is loose and bonded badly to the substrate. Property and surface grain size of YBCO film are related to the substrate temperature (Ts) in the deposition process.

Microstructure of YBCO Superconducting Film on Metal Substrate with YSZ Buffer Layer

Microstructures of YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-y)(YBCO) film on flexible metal substrate with yttriastabilized zirconia(YSZ) buffer layer prepared by magnetron sputtering technique have been studied in this paper using transmission electron microscopy(TEM). A critical temperature(Tc) and a critical current density(Jc) of the YBCO film are 91 K and 2×103 A/cm2 at 77 K, 0 T respectively. Bonded steadfastly to the substrate of nickel alloy(HastelloyC), the dense, even and textured YSZ layer with fine crystal grains is about 12 μm thick. With an uneven thickness of about 500 nm, the YBCO layer is sometimes weakbonded to the YSZ layer. Impurities which occasionally led to cracks were observed at the YSZ/YBCO interface.