Preparation and Characterization of Nano-Structured SiO_(2) Thin Films on Carbon Steel

Nano-structured SiO2 thin films were prepared on the surface of carbon steel for the first time by LPD. The compositions of the films were analyzed by XPS, and the surface morphology of the thin films were observed by AFM. The thin films were constituted by compact particles of SiO2, and there was no Fe in the films. In the process of film forming, the SiO2 colloid particles were deposited or absorbed directly onto the surface of carbon steel substrates that were activated by acid solution containing inhibitor, and corrosion of the substrates was avoided. The nano-structured SiO2 thin films that were prepared had excellent protective efficiency to the carbon steel.

Electron emission degradation of nano-structured sp^2-bonded amorphous carbon films

The initial field electron emission degradation behaviour of original nano-structured sp^2-bonded amorphous carbon films has been observed, which can be attributed to the increase of the work function of the film in the field emission process analysed using a Fowler-Nordheim plot. The possible reason for the change of work function is suggested to be the desorption of hydrogen from the original hydrogen termination film surface due to field emission current-induced local heating. For the explanation of the emission degradation behaviour of the nano-structured sp2-bonded amorphous carbon film, a cluster model with a series of graphite （0001） basal surfaces has been presented, and the theoretical calculations have been performed to investigate work functions of graphite （0001） surfaces with different hydrogen atom and ion chemisorption sites by using first principles method based on density functional theory-local density approximation.

Cobalt supported on CNTs-covered γ-and nano-structured alumina catalysts utilized for wax selective Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Cobalt supported on carbon nanotubes （CNTs）-covered alumina has been recently developed and successfully utilized as a catalyst in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis （FTS）. Problems associated with shaping of Co/CNTs into extrudates or pellets as well as catalyst attrition rendered these materials unfavorable for industrial applications. In this investigation regular γ- and nano-structured （N-S） alumina as well as CNTs-covered regular γ- and N-S-alumina supports were impregnated by cobalt nitrate solution to make new cobalt-based catalysts which were also promoted by Ru. The catalysts were characterized and tested in a micro reactor to evaluate their applicability in FTS. γ-Al2O3 was prepared by calcination of bohemite and N-S-Al2O3 was prepared by sol-gel method using aluminum chloride as starting material. Catalyst evaluations indicated that N-S-Al2O3 was superior to regular γ-Al2O3 and that CNTs-covered alumina supports were favored over non-covered ones in terms of activity and heavy hydrocarbon selectivity. These were justified by porosimetric characteristics of the catalysts and existence of CNTs points of view. CNTs-covered catalysts also showed higher wax selectivity and better resistance to deactivation. Furthermore, TPR analysis indicated that the cobalt aluminate phase, which is responsible for the permanent deactivation of alumina supported Co-based catalysts, did not form on alumina supported Co-based catalysts covered with CNTs due to weaker interactions between cobalt and alumina.

Deposition mechanism of nano-structured single-layered C_(36) film on a diamond (100) crystal plane

The Brenner-LJ potential is adopted to describe the interaction between C36 clusters and diamond surface, and the deposition mechanism of multi-C36 clusters on the diamond surface is also studied by using the method of molecular dynamics simulation. The simulation results show that the competition effects of two interactions, i.e. the interaction between cluster and cluster and the interaction between cluster and crystal plane, are studied, and then the influence of these competition effects on C36 cluster deposition is analysed. The finding is that when an incident energy is appropriately chosen, C36 clusters can be chemically adsorbed and deposited steadily on the diamond surface in the form of single-layer, and in the deposition process the multi-C36 clusters present a phenomenon of energy transmission. The experimental result shows that at a temperature of 300K, in order to deposit C36 clusters into a steady nanostructured single-layered film, the optimal incident energy is between 10 and 18 eV, if the incident energy is larger than 18 eV, the C36 clusters will be deposited into an island nano-structured film.

Research on the field emission mechanism of nano-structured carbon film

The field emission （FE） characteristics of nano-structured carbon films （NSCFs） are investigated. The saturation behaviour of the field emission current density found at high electric field E cannot be reasonably explained by the traditional Fowler-Nordheim （F-N） theory. A three-region E model and the curve-fitting method are utilized for discussing the FE characteristics of NSCFs. In the low, high, and middle E regions, the FE mechanism is reasonably explained by a modified F-N model, a corrected space-charge-limited-current （SCLC） model and the joint model of F N and SCLC mechanism, respectively. Moreover, the measured FE data accord well with the results from our corrected theoretical model.

The 18.3% Silicon Solar Cells with Nano-Structured Surface and Rear Emitter

A nano-structured surface is formed on the pyramid structure of n-type silicon solar cells by size-controlled silver nano-particle assisted etching. Such a nano-structure creates a front average weighted reflectance of less than 2.5% in the 300-1200nm range due to the broadband reflection suppression. The sodium hydroxide is used to obtain the low-area surface by post-etching the nano-structure, thus the severe carrier recombination associated with the nano-structured surface could be reduced. After emitter forming, screen printing and firing by means of the industrial fabrication protocol, an 18.3%-efficient nano-structured silicon solar cell with rear emitter is fabricated. The process of fabricating the solar cells matches well with industrial manufacture and shows promising prospects.

Comparative Assessment on Machinability of Nano-Structured Bainitic Steel and Titanium64

Titanium64 has characteristics well sought after for applications in demanding environments. In general, due to titanium64’s high performance, it is a material which requires careful and well considered machining approaches in order to optimize the process. Nano-structured bainitic steel whilst having different application bases does none the less have similar machining and machinability short comes as that of titanium64. These similar characteristics have been compared and contrasted in this research study using parameters including cutting force, surface texture and metallography. The results tend to indicate that titanium64 has a poorer machinability characteristics compared to nano-structured bainitic steel. However, in terms of achieving greater surface texture characteristics, the nano-structured bainitic steel exhibited an enhanced capacity.

A Comparative Study on the Milling Speed for the Synthesis of Nano-Structured Al 6063 Alloy Powder by Mechanical Alloying

The present article reports on characterization studies performed on amorphized nanostructured Al 6063 alloy powder synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA). The as-milled powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for investigating the development of crystallite nature and determining the different phases of the materials present, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used for in depth morphological study and High Resolution-transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) was employed to ensure the development of a nano-structured nature of the Al 6063 matrix. In the present work alloyed powder was milled for 20 h and 40 h at 300 rpm;and 20 h at 700 rpm in a hardened stainless steel medium. Using Williamson-Hall equation;crystallite size, lattice strain and lattice parameter of Al 6063 nanostructure alloy powder was estimated with broadening of XRD peaks. XRD results showed that the crystallite size of Al 6063 alloy powder reached 32 and 53 nm after 20 h at 700 rpm and 40 h at 300 rpm respectively.

Osteoblast Behavior on Hierarchical Micro-/Nano-Structured Titanium Surface

In the present work, osteoblast behavior on a hierarchical micro-/nano-structured titanium surface was investigated. A hi- erarchical hybrid micro-/nano-structured titanium surface topography was produced via Electrolytic Etching （EE）. MG-63 cells were cultured on disks for 2 h to 7 days. The osteoblast response to the hierarchical hybrid micro-/nano-structured titanium surface was evaluated through the osteoblast cell morphology, attachment and proliferation. For comparison, MG-63 cells were also cultured on Sandblasted and Acid-etched （SEA） as well as Machined （M） surfaces respectively. The results show signifi- cant differences in the adhesion rates and proliferation levels of MG-63 cells on EE, SLA, and M surfaces. Both adhesion rate and proliferation level on EE surface are higher than those on SLA and M surfaces. Therefore, we may expect that, comparing with SLA and M surfaces, bone growth on EE surface could be accelerated and bone formation could be promoted at an early stage, which could be applied in the clinical practices for immediate and early-stage loadings.

Enhancing Mechanical Stability of Nano-Structured Anti-Reflection Coatings

Periodic Nanostructured anti-reflection coatings (NALs) are a promising option for enhancing transmission of coherent light without inducing scattering. We’ve found that reducing the height of NALs below a critical value to enhance mechanical stability can highly reduce the transmission efficiency. Here, using Rigorous Couples Wave Analysis (RCWA), we find the minimum height for over 99% transmission and effect of height on transmission bandwidth. Then, during a one-step plasma etching, two samples with different heights have been generated and their efficiency is evaluated using RCWA.

Preparation of nano-structured pure rare-earth bulks by combining inert-gas condensation with SPS

A number of techniques have been developed to synthesize nanocrystalline bulk materials,including inert-gas condensation and consolidation,electrodeposition,severe plastic deformation,crystallization of amorphous solid,surface mechanical attrition,and powder metallurgy.However,it is hard to produce the bulk with controllable nanostructures,especially with the grain sizes controllable in a wide range below 100 nm.In the conventional powder metallurgy,due to the fact that rapid coarsening of the particles ...

Autophagy mediates osteoporotic bone regeneration induced by micro-/nano-structured modification on hydroxyapatite bioceramics

Osteoporosis(OP)is an age-related disease of bone metabolism,characterized by bone mass loss and bone mi-croarchitecture deterioration,the poor osteogenesis microenvironment of OP caused hardly repairing of the bone defects.As a dynamic process to fuel cellular renovation,autophagy has been proved to play a vital role in regulating cell differentiation and maintaining bone homeostasis.Traditional bone repairing biomaterials are hardly repairing the bone defects under OP pathological microenvironment.Therefore,it is essential to develop-ment novel biomaterials to improve osteoporotic osteogenesis.Compared to biochemical cues,biophysical cues exhibited more advantages in biocompatible and side effects.Herein,inspired by the importance of enhanced au-tophagic response in osteoporotic environment,we intend to utilize the micro-/nano-structured hydroxyapatite(mnHA)bioceramics as the mimic structure of natural bone tissue to regulate autophagic activity in ovariectomy bone mesenchymal stem cells(OVX-BMSCs),finally promote to bone regeneration in OP condition.The results indicated that mnHA bioceramics promoted cell adhesion and osteogenesis of OVX-BMSCs,and enhanced au-tophagy level in OVX-BMSCs.In the calvarial defects of OVX-rats,the mnHA scaffold acquired excellent bone repair effect.According to the current findings,regulating the level of autophagy could be a promising strategy for improve osteoporotic osteogenesis in the future.

Micro/nano-structured TiO2 surface with dual-functional antibacterial effects for biomedical applications

Implant-associated infections are generally difficult to cure owing to the bacterial antibiotic resistance which is attributed to the widespread usage of antibiotics.Given the global threat and increasing influence of antibiotic resistance,there is an urgent demand to explore novel antibacterial strategies other than using antibiotics.Recently,using a certain surface topography to provide a more persistent antibacterial solution attracts more and more attention.However,the clinical application of biomimetic nano-pillar array is not satisfactory,mainly because its antibacterial ability against Gram-positive strain is not good enough.Thus,the pillar array should be equipped with other antibacterial agents to fulfill the bacteriostatic and bactericidal requirements of clinical application.Here,we designed a novel model substrate which was a combination of periodic micro/nano-pillar array and TiO2 for basically understanding the topographical bacteriostatic effects of periodic micro/nano-pillar array and the photocatalytic bactericidal activity of TiO2.Such innovation may potentially exert the synergistic effects by integrating the persistent topographical antibacterial activity and the non-invasive X-ray induced photocatalytic antibacterial property of TiO2 to combat against antibiotic-resistant implant-associated infections.First,to separately verify the topographical antibacterial activity of TiO2 periodic micro/nano-pillar array,we systematically investigated its effects on bacterial adhesion,growth,proliferation,and viability in the dark without involving the photocatalysis of TiO2.The pillar array with sub-micron motif size can significantly inhibit the adhesion,growth,and proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus(S.aureus)and Escherichia coli(E.coli).Such antibacterial ability is mainly attributed to a spatial confinement size-effect and limited contact area availability generated by the special topography of pillar array.Moreover,the pillar array is not lethal to S.aureus and E.coli in 24 h.Then,the X-ray induced photocatalytic antibacterial property of TiO2 periodic micro/nano-pillar array in vitro and in vivo will be systematically studied in a future work.This study could shed light on the direction of surface topography design for future medical implants to combat against antibiotic-resistant implant-associated infections without using antibiotics.

Fabrication and Microstructural Control of Nano-structured Bulk Steels: A Review

There exist strong interests of developing nano-grained steels because of the outstanding properties including high strength/weight ratio, wear resistance, excellent toughness, and favorable cellular activity. This article reviews the main fabrication process and microstructural control of nano-structured steels over the last decades. Severe plastic deformation is considered as an effective route of obtaining the nano-grained microstructures. The process of cold-rolling and annealing of martensitic steel is a viable method to obtain bulk nano-structured low carbon steel, while the final thickness of the cold-rolling plate is limited. According to the theoretical results of the thermal simulation studies, a novel alloy design combined with the rapid transformation and rolling process is proposed to successfully fabricate nano-grained high strength bulk steel. The refinement mechanisms are expected to be taking advantage of increase in the transformation nucleation sites and inhibiting the grain coarsening. Moreover, corresponding mechanical properties are summarized.

High strength-ductility nano-structured high manganese steel produced by cryogenic asymmetry-rolling

A bulk nanostructured twinning-induced plasticity （TWIP） steel with high ductility and high strength was fabricated by cryogenic asymmetry-rolling （cryo-ASR） and subsequent recovery treatment. It was found that the cryo-ASRed TWIP steels exhibit simultaneous improvements in the ductility, strength and work hardening. Typical microstructures of the cryo-ASR TWIP steel were characterized by shear bands and intensive mechanical nano-sized twins induced by cryogenic deformation. These mechanical nano-scale twins remain thermally stable during the subsequent recovery treatment. It is believed that the ductility enhancement and high work-hardening ability for the cryo-ASR TWIP steels should be mainly attributed to the high-densitv pre-existing nano-scale twins.

Efficient and selective electro-reduction of nitrobenzene by the nano-structured Cu catalyst prepared by an electrodeposited method via tuning applied voltage

Pollution caused by toxic nitrobenzene has been a widespread environmental concern. Selective reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline is beneficial to further efficient and cost-effective biologic treatment. Electro- chemical reduction is a promising method and Cu-based catalysts have been found to be an efficient cathode material for this purpose. In this work, Cu catalysts with different morphologies were fabricated on Ti plate using a facile electrodepositon method via tuning the applied voltage. The dendritic nano-structured Cu catalysts obtained at high applied voltages exhibited an excellent efficiency and selectivity toward the reduction of nitro- benzene to aniline. Effects of the working potential and initial nitrobenzene concentration on the selective reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline using the Cu/Ti electrode were investigated. A high rate constant of 0.0251 mini and 97.1% aniline selectivity were achieved. The fabri- cated nano-structured Cu catalysts also exhibited good stability. This work provides a facile way to prepare highly efficient, cost-effective, and stable nano-sWuctured electro- catalysts for pollutant reduction.

Nucleation of Y-Si-O Nano-clusters in Multi-microalloyed Nano-structured Ferritic Alloys:a First-principles Study

First-principles energetics analyses were performed to investigate the nucleation of(Y-Si-O)nano-clusters(NCs)in nanostructured ferritic alloys(NFAs).It was predicted that the nucleation of(Y-Si-O)NCs follows the same general pathway as previously found for(Y-Ti/Al/Zr-O)NCs in NFAs:they all tend to begin with the(O-O)pairs and grow to(O-Y)-cores and further to larger NCs by attracting Y and other solute elements nearby.Nucleation of a hexa-atomic-[2Y-Si-3O]-cluster can reduce the total energy by 4.71 eV.Among various microalloying-induced NCs,the nucleation preference ordering was predicted as(Y-Zr-O)>(Y-Ti-O)>(Y-Al-O)>(Y-Si-O).The number densities and chemical compositions of NCs in multi-microalloyed NFAs would largely depend on the number availability of(O,Y)-cores,as well as the relative abundance and atomic diffusivities of microalloying solute elements nearby.

Integrated nano-structured silicon waveguides and devices for high-speed optical communications

With progress in fabrication technology, integrated photonics plays an increasingly important role in high-speed optical communications, from monolithic transmitters and receivers for advanced optical modulation formats to on-chip subsystems for optical signal processing. We review our recent work on the highly tailorable physical properties of silicon waveguides for communication and signal processing applications, using slot structures. Controllable chromatic dispersion, nonlinearity, and polarization properties of the waveguides are presented, and the enabled wideband wavelength conversion, optical tunable delay, and signal processing of polarization-multiplexing data channels are discussed.

Effect of metal surface morphology on nano-structured patterns induced by a femtosecond laser pulse and its experimental verification

The effect of material surface morphology on the periodic subwavelength of nano-structures induced by a femtosecond（fs） laser was investigated systematically from the initial surface roughness, the different scratches, the pre-formed ripples, and the ＂layer-carving＂ technology experiments. The results of the comparative experiments indicate that the initial surface conditions of the target surface have no obvious effects on the spatial structured periods（SSPs） and the ripple orientation of the periodic nano-structures induced by a fs laser, which agreed well with the foretold present surface two-plasmon resonance（STPR） model. Furthermore, different shapes of nanogrids with high regularity and uniformity were obtained by fs-laser fabrication.

Mechano-thermal synthesis and characterization of nano-structured Fe/FeS for application in photocatalysis

A novel method was used to prepare a nano-structured 32 wt% Fe/FeS core/shell powder via a mechanothermal route by l-h heat treatment of a mechanically activated powder mixture of Fe and S. The structural and microstructural characteristics, formation mechanism, magnetic properties, and photocatalytic activity of the powder were studied by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, surface area analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, vibrating sample magnetometry, and UV-vis spectrophotometry. A detailed study of the mechanism of transformation showed that during the heat treatment process, an FeS2 phase was formed as the intermediate product. In the final product, an FeS shell approximately 2 nm in thickness was formed on the Fe core. In the presence of NaCI as a process control agent, the particle size decreased and the size distribution became more uniform. Mechanical activation and NaCI addition together led to a decrease of the saturation magnetization from 82 to 74emu/g. The photocatalytic activity of the powder in the degradation of methylene blue was 50%.