Improvement of Surface Morphology of Yttrium-Stabilized Zirconia Films Deposited by Pulsed Laser Deposition on Rolling Assisted Biaxially Textured Substrate Tapes

The surface morphology of buffer layer yttrium-stabilized zirconia （YSZ） of YBa2CuaO7-σ （YBCO） high temperature superconducting films relies on a series of controllable experimental parameters. In this work, we focus on the influence of pulsed laser frequency and target crystalline type on surface morphology of YSZ films deposited by pulsed laser deposition （PLD） on rolling assisted biaxially textured substrate tapes. Usually two kinds of particles are observed in the YSZ layer： randomly distributed ones on the whole film and self-assembled ones along grain boundaries. SEM images are used to prove that particles can be partly removed when choosing dense targets of single crystalline. Lower frequency of pulsed laser also contributes to a smoother film surface. TEM images are used to view the crystalline structure of thin film. Thus we can obtain a basic understanding of how to prepare a particle-free YSZ buffer layer for YBCO in optimized conditions using PLD. The YBCO layer with nice structure and critical current density of around 5 MA/cm2 can be reached on smooth YSZ samples.

Synthesis of Sodium Beta Alumina Films by Heat Treatment of Sodium Aluminum Oxides

Sodium beta alumina（Na-β-alumina） films were synthesized by heat treatment of NaAl6O（9.5）and γ-NaA1O2 films at temperatures of 1 373-1 573 K.Single-phase γ-NaA1O2 and NaAl6O（9.5） films were prepared by laser chemical vapor deposition at the deposition temperatures of 976 and 1 100 K,respectively.Subsequent heat treatment of the films resulted in the formation of Na-β-alumina with α-Al2O3 at temperatures above 1 373 K for NaAl6O（9.5） and 1 473 K for γ-NaA1O2.On heat treatment at temperatures of 1 473-1 573 K,the faceted morphology with terraces of the as-deposited（110）-oriented γ-NaAlO2 films transformed to a porous morphology with platelet grains comprising Na-β-alumina and α-Al2O3.On heat treatment at temperatures of1 373-1 473 K,the pyramidal,faceted grains of as-deposited NaAl6O（9.5） films transformed to planer,shapeanisotropic morphology in the film of mixed Na-β-alumina and α-Al2O3.A dense morphology was observed in both the as-deposited and heat-treated NaAl6O（9.5） films.

Size and elemental composition of dry-deposited particles during a severe dust storm at a coastal site of Eastern China

Dry-deposited particles were collected during the passage of an extremely strong dust storm in March, 2010 at a coastal site in Qingdao（36.15°N, 120.49°E）, a city located in Eastern China. The size, morphology, and elemental composition of the particles were quantified with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray instrument（SEM–EDX）. The particles appeared in various shapes, and their size mainly varied from 0.4to 10 μm, with the mean diameters of 0.5, 1.5, and 1.0 μm before, during, and after the dust storm, respectively. The critical size of the mineral particles settling on the surface in the current case was about 0.3–0.4 μm before the dust storm and about 0.5–0.7 μm during the dust storm. Particles that appeared in high concentration but were smaller than the critical size deposited onto the surface at a small number flux. The elements Al, Si and Mg were frequently detected in all samples, indicating the dominance of mineral particles. The frequency of Al in particles collected before the dust storm was significantly lower than for those collected during and after the dust storm. The frequencies of Cl and Fe did not show obvious changes, while those of S, K and Ca decreased after the dust arrival. These results indicate that the dust particles deposited onto the surface were less influenced by anthropogenic pollutants in terms of particle number.

Template-based growth of titanium dioxide nanorods by a particulate sol-electrophoretic deposition process

TiO2 nanorods have been successfully grown into a track-etched polycarbonate （PC） membrane by a particulate sol-electrophoretic deposition from an aqueous medium. The prepared sols had a narrow particle size distribution around 17 nm and excellent stability against aging, with zeta potentials in the range of 47-50 mV at pH 2. It was found that TiO2 nanorods were grown from dilute aqueous sol with a low, 0.1-M concentration. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR） analysis confirmed that a full conversion of titanium isopropoxide was obtained by hydrolysis, resulting in the formation of TiO2 particles. X-ray diffraction （XRD） results revealed that TiO2 nanorods dried at 100℃ were a mixture of anatase and brookite phases, whereas they were a mixture of anatase and futile structures at 500℃. Moreover, the rutile content of the TiO2 nanorods was higher than that of TiO2 powders. Transmission electron microscope （TEM） images confirmed that TiO2 nanorods had a smooth morphology and longi- tudinal uniformity in diameter. Field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM） images showed that TiO2 nanorods grown by sol-electrophoresis from the dilute aqueous sol had a dense structure with a uniform diameter of 200 rim, containing small particles with an average size of 15 nm. Simultaneous differential thermal （SDT） analysis verified that individual TiO2 nanorods, grown into a PC template, were obtained after annealing at 500℃. Based on kinetic studies, it was found that uniform TiO2 nanorods with high-quality morphology were obtained under optimum conditions at an applied potential of 0.3 V/cm and a deposition time of 60 min.

Application of chemical vapor-deposited monolayer ReSe2 in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Controlled synthesis of structurally anisotropic rhenium diselenide （ReSe2） with macroscopically uniform and strictly monolayer thickness as well as tunable domain shape/size is of great interest for electronics-, optoelectronics-, and electrocatalysis-related applications. Herein, we describe the controlled synthesis of uniform monolayer ReSe2 flakes with variable morphology （sunflower- or truncated-triangle-shaped） on SiO2/Si substrates using different ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition （CVD） setups. The prepared polycrystalline ReSe2 flakes were transferred intact onto Au foil electrodes and tested for activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction （HER）. Interestingly, compared to the compact truncated-triangle-shaped ReSe2 flakes, their edge-abundant sunflower-shaped counterparts exhibited superior electrocatalytic HER activity, featuring a relatively low Tafel slope of - 76 mV/dec and an exchange current density of 10.5 μA/cm2. Thus, our work demonstrates that CVD-grown ReSe2 is a promising two- dimensional anisotropic material for applications in the electrocatalytic HER.