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.

One-step fabrication of TiO2/graphene hybrid mesoporous film with enhanced photocatalytic activity and photovoltaic performance

We synthesized a mesoporous film based on TiO2-reduced graphene oxide(RGO)hybrids using a one-step vapor-thermal method without the need for an additional annealing process.The vapor-thermally prepared TiO2-graphene hybrid(VTH)features unique structures with an ultra-large specific surface area of^260 m^2 g^-1 and low aggregation,giving rise to enhanced light harvesting and increased charge generation and separation efficiency.It was observed that a mesoporous film with uniform pore distribution is simultaneously obtained during the VTH growth process.When a 5.0 wt%RGO VTH film was used as the active layer in photocatalysis,the highest photocatalytic activity for degradation of methyl orange was achieved.For another,when a 0.75 wt%RGO VTH film was used as the photoanode in a dye-sensitized solar cell,the power conversion efficiency reached 7.58%,which represents an increase of 73.1%compared to a solar cell using an a photoanode of pure TiO2 synthesized by a traditional solvothermal method.It is expected that this facile method for the synthesis of TiO2/graphene hybrid mesoporous films will be useful in practical applications for preparing other metal oxide/graphene hybrids with ultra-high photocatalytic activity and photovoltaic performance.

PREPARATION OF POLYIMIDE-BaTiO3 HYBRID FILMS BY A DISPERSION PROCESS AND THEIR MICROSTRUCTURE

Barium titanate (BaTiO3) powders with particle sizes of 30 similar to 50 nm were prepared from barium stearate, titanium alkoxides and stearic acid by stearic acid-gel method. Dispersing the agglomerate of BaTiO3 nanoparticles into poly(amic acid) solution followed by curing led to the formation of polyimide hybrid films. The hybrid films were transparent and well distributed with BaTiO3 nanoparticles when the BaTiO3 content was less than 1 wt%. Highly loaded hybrid film containing 30 wit % BaTiO3 was tough, had a smooth surface and possessed much higher dielectric and piezoelectric constants than the parent polyimide.

Preparation and Characterization of Ternary Europium ComplexDoped Thin SolGel Hybrid Film by Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Ternary europium complex with dibenzoylmethane(DBM)and 1,10phenanthroline(phen)was insitu synthesized in thin SiO2/polyvinyl butyral(PVB)hybrid films by a twostep solgel process and characterized by means of fluorescence spectroscopy.The luminescence spectra,fluorescence lifetimes and photostability were all investigated.The results showed that the hybrid films exhibited the characteristic emission bands of the central rare earth Eu3+.In addition,Eu3+presented longer fluorescence lifetime than in an ethanol solution and the complex had a higher photostability in the hybrid film than in the PVB film containing the corresponding pure complex.

Degradation of Pollutant and Antibacterial Activity of Waterborne Polyurethane/Doped TiO_2 Nanoparticle Hybrid Films

The waterborne polyurethane/doped Ti O2 nanoparticle hybrid films were prepared. Nd, I doped Ti O2 was prepared with a 50 nm particle size firstly. The hybrid film was prepared by mixing doped Ti O2 with waterborne polyurethane, followed by heat treatment. The presence and nanometric distribution of doped Ti O2 nanoparticles in prepared membranes is evident according to SEM images. The photocatalytic activities of doped Ti O2 were signifi cantly enhanced compared with pure Ti O2 powders. After the hybrid fi lm fabrication, the photocatalytic activities were almost the same as the pure catalysts with kMB of 0.046. In the antibacterial testing, the hybrid fi lms can inhibit E. coli growth. A signifi cant decrease in membrane fl uidity and increase of permeability of E. coli were observed.

Hybrid Self-Assembled Multilayer Films Formed by Alternating Layers of Keggin Polyoxometalates and 1,10DAD

Hybrid self-assembled multilayer films were prepared by alternate adsorption of 1,10-diaminodecane (1,10-DAD) and Keggin polyoxometalates of SiW12O404-, SiW11VO405-, and PMo12O403-, respectively. The films were reproducibly grown at each adsorption cycle as monitored by UV spectroscopy.

Highly Sensitive Flexible Pressure Sensors based on Graphene/Graphene Scrolls Multilayer Hybrid Films

In recent years,flexible pressure sensors have attracted much attention owing to their potential applications in motion detection and wearable electronics.As a result,important innovations have been reported in both conductive materials and the underlying substrates,which are the two crucial components of a pressure sensor.1D materials like nanowires are being widely used as the conductive materials in flexible pressure sensors,but such sensors usually exhibit low performances mainly due to the lack of strong interfacial interactions between the substrates and 1D materials.In this paper,we report the use of graphene/graphene scrolls hybrid multilayers films as the conductive material and a microstructured polydimethylsiloxane substrate using Epipremnum aureum leaf as the template to fabricate highly sensitive pressure sensors.The 2D structure of graphene allows to strongly anchor the scrolls to ensure the improved adhesion between the highly conductive hybrid films and the patterned substrate.We attribute the increased sensitivity(3.5 k Pa^-1),fast response time(<50 ms),and the good reproducibility during 1000 loading-unloading cycles of the pressure sensor to the synergistic effect between the 1D scrolls and 2D graphene films.Test results demonstrate that these sensors are promising for electronic skins and motion detection applications.

Fabrication of Microporous Film and Microspheres Hybrids

Hybrids consisting of a microporous film and polymeric microspheres were fabricated via a simple method without a special apparatus. Highly ordered microporous polymer films with honeycomb structure were fabricated by a dissipative process utilizing amphiphilic poly(acrylic acid)- block-polystyrene, which was synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization followed by an acid-catalyzed ester cleavage reaction. In order to embed the microsphere efficiently, the dried microporous films should be soaked in methanol to alter the surface functionality and to improve the wettability of the film surface. The introduction of amino functionality to polystyrene microspheres by seeded polymerization of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate drastically improved the embedding efficiency. The effect of open pore size was also investigated.

Sol-gel-derived Hybrid Conductive Films for Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Shielding

The conductive nano-sized zinc particles were embedded in an insulating amorphous silica matrix,and the hybrid films were obtained by a sol-gel method.The stable hybrid sol solution was prepared by hydrolysis and condensation of Methyltrimethoxysilane （MTMS） with a one-step acidic catalyst process.Hybrid films were dip-coated on silicon wafer and cured at 120℃ for 60minutes.The structural characterization of hybrid films were investigated by means of attenuated total reflection infrared （ATR-IR） spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction （XRD）.The electrical properties of the films were examined with four-point probe.Hybrid films showed to be relatively dense,uniform and defect free.The conductivity of hybrid films was varied with the different contents of zinc nanoparticles and the thickness of the film.It was observed that there was the percolation threshold for the film＇s electrical properties.

Organic-inorganic Hybrids Towards the Preparation of Nanoporous Composite Thin Films for Microelectronic Application

Silicon containing materials have traditionally been used in microelectronic fabrication. Semiconductor devices often have one or more arrays of patterned interconnect levels that serve to electrically couple the individual circuit elements forming an integrated circuit. These interconnect levels are typically separated by an insulating or dielectric film. Previously, a silicon oxide film was the most commonly used material for such dielectric films having dielectric constants( k ) near 4 0. However, as the feature size is continuously scaling down, the relatively high k of such silicon oxide films became inadequate to provide efficient electrical insulation. As such, there has been an increasing market demand for materials with even lower dielectric constant for Interlayer Dielectric(ILD) applications, yet retaining thermal and mechanical integrity. We wish to report here our investigations on the preparation of ultra low k ILD materials using a sacrificial approach whereby organic groups are burnt out to generate low k porous ORMOSIL films. We have been able to prepare a variety of organically modified silicone resins leading to highly microporous thin films, exhibiting ultra low k from 1 80 to 2 87, and good to high modulus, 1 5 to 5 5 GPa. Structure property influences on porosity, dielectric constant and modulus will be discussed.

Hybrid Luminescent Films Obtained by Covalent Anchoring Terbium Complex to Silica-based Network

New monomer N-(4-carboxyphenyl)-NL-(propyltriethoxysilyl)urea (1) which acts as both a ligand for Th3+ ion and a sol-gel precursor has been synthesized and characterized by H-1 NMR, and MS. Hybrid luminescent thin films consisting of organoterbium covalently bonded to a silica-based network have been obtained in situ via a sol-gel approach. Strong line emission of Tb3+ ion was observed from the hybrid luminescent films under UV excitation.

Monte Carlo simulations of biaxial structure in thin hybrid nematic film based upon spatially anisotropic pair potential

Hybrid nematic films have been studied by Monte Carlo simulations using a lattice spin model, in which the pair potential is spatially anisotropic and dependent on elastic constants of liquid crystals. We confirm in the thin hybrid nematic film the existence of a biaxially nonbent structure and the structure transition from the biaxial to the bent-director structure, which is similar to the result obtained using the Lebwoh-Lasher model. However, the step-like director＇s profile, characteristic for the biaxial structure, is spatially asymmetric in the film because the pair potential leads to K1 ≠ K3. We estimate the upper cell thickness to be 69 spin layers, in which the biaxial structure can be found.

Structure,phase evolution and properties of Ta films deposited using hybrid high-power pulsed and DC magnetron co-sputtering

Crystalline phase and microstructure control are critical for obtaining desired properties of Ta films deposited by magnetron sputtering.Structure,phase evolution and properties of Ta films deposited by using hybrid high power impulse magnetron sputtering(HiPIMS)and direct current magnetron sputtering(DCMS)under different fractions of DCMS power were investigated,where Ta ion to Ta neutral ratios of the deposition flux were changed.The results revealed that the number of Ta ions arriving on the substrate/growing film plays an important role in structure and phase evolution of Ta films.It can effectively avoid the unstable arc discharge under low pressure and show a higher deposition rate by combining HiPIMS and DCMS compared with only HiPIMS.Meanwhile,the high hardnessα-Ta films can be directly deposited by hybrid co-sputtering compared to those prepared by DCMS.In the co-sputtering technology,pureα-Ta phase films with extremely fine,dense and uniform crystal grains were obtained,which showed smooth surface roughness(3.22 nm),low resistivity(38.98μ?·cm)and abnormal high hardness(17.64 GPa).

Carbon Nanotube/Cellulose Nanocrystal Hybrid Conducting Thin Films

Cellulose nanocrystals(CNCs)have a high ability to disperse single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWNTs)in aqueous media and to form hybrids.These hybrids are used to grow layer-by-layer thin films of controlled thickness.Thanks to the presence of SWNTs,these films are conducting.In this article,we describe the process by which the CNC/SWNT hybrids are obtained and discuss the electrical properties of the hybrid-based layer-by-layer films.

Preparation and Optical Patterning of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Color-Filter Films Using Latent Pigments by Utilizing Photo-Acid-Generator and Microwave Irradiation

Preparation and photo-patterning characteristics of organic-inorganic hybrid thin film containing latent pigment by using photo-acid-generator (PAG) and microwave irradiation have been investigated. The acrylic thin film modified with methoxysilane containing PAG was formed on a glass substrate and irradiated with ultraviolet rays to promote sol-gel reaction by catalytic action of acid which was generated from PAG. And then the film was hardened with microwave irradiation, yielding organic-inorganic hybrid polymer film having hardness, highly transparency and strong adhesion with a glass substrate. Since this reaction only occurred in the optically (UV) irradiated regions, by exploiting the difference between the adhesivenesses of these regions photo-irradiated through photomask with a glass substrate, it was possible to form a patterned film with pitch of 100 to 50 μm by a simple lift-off method. A pigment-containing film using latent pigments (with subtractive three primary colors of coloring materials) and a patterned film were prepared, and it was possible to make these films multi-colored by varying the mixing ratio of the pigments. This multi-colored film-preparation method is effective for simply and efficiently forming a color-filter film by applying optical and microwave irradiation.

Tribological Behavior of Binary B-C Films Deposited by Sputtering-PBII Hybrid System

In this article, the authors report on the use of Radio Frequency (RF) Magnetron Sputtering combined with Plasma-Based Ion Implantation (PBII) technique to synthesize the Boron-Carbon (B-C) films. High purity of boron carbide (99.5%) disk was used as a target with an RF power of 300 W. The mixtures of Argon (Ar)-Methane (CH4) ware used as reactive gas under varying CH4 partial flow pressure at the specified range of 0 - 0.15 Pa and fixed total gas pressure and total gas flow at 0.30 Pa and 30 sccm, respectively. The effect of CH4 flow ratio on the friction coefficient of B-C films was studied. The friction coefficient of the film depended on the concentration of B. When it was 10% or lower, the coefficient decreased to 0.2 or lower. In this concentration range of B, the specific wear rate also decreased to the order of 10-7 mm3/Nm, and excellent wear resistance was displayed.

Multilevel optoelectronic hybrid memory based on N-doped Ge_(2)Sb_(2)Te_(5)film with low resistance drift and ultrafast speed

Multilevel phase-change memory is an attractive technology to increase storage capacity and density owing to its high-speed,scalable and non-volatile characteristics.However,the contradiction between thermal stability and operation speed is one of key factors to restrain the development of phase-change memory.Here,N-doped Ge_(2)Sb_(2)Te_(5)-based optoelectronic hybrid memory is proposed to simultaneously implement high thermal stability and ultrafast operation speed.The picosecond laser is adopted to write/erase information based on reversible phase transition characteristics whereas the resistance is detected to perform information readout.Results show that when N content is 27.4 at.%,N-doped Ge_(2)Sb_(2)Te_(5)film possesses high ten-year data retention temperature of 175℃and low resistance drift coefficient of 0.00024 at 85℃,0.00170 at 120℃,and 0.00249 at 150℃,respectively,owing to the formation of Ge–N,Sb–N,and Te–N bonds.The SET/RESET operation speeds of the film reach 520 ps/13 ps.In parallel,the reversible switching cycle of the corresponding device is realized with the resistance ratio of three orders of magnitude.Four-level reversible resistance states induced by various crystallization degrees are also obtained together with low resistance drift coefficients.Therefore,the N-doped Ge_(2)Sb_(2)Te_(5)thin film is a promising phase-change material for ultrafast multilevel optoelectronic hybrid storage.

Modification of the Hybridization Gap by Twisted Stacking of Quintuple Layers in a Three-Dimensional Topological Insulator Thin Film

Twisting the stacking of layered materials leads to rich new physics. A three-dimensional topological insulator film hosts two-dimensional gapless Dirac electrons on top and bottom surfaces, which, when the film is below some critical thickness, will hybridize and open a gap in the surface state structure. The hybridization gap can be tuned by various parameters such as film thickness and inversion symmetry, according to the literature. The three-dimensional strong topological insulator Bi(Sb)Se(Te) family has layered structures composed of quintuple layers(QLs) stacked together by van der Waals interaction. Here we successfully grow twistedly stacked Sb_2Te_3 QLs and investigate the effect of twist angels on the hybridization gaps below the thickness limit. It is found that the hybridization gap can be tuned for films of three QLs, which may lead to quantum spin Hall states.Signatures of gap-closing are found in 3-QL films. The successful in situ application of this approach opens a new route to search for exotic physics in topological insulators.

A New Type of Hybrid Fish-like Microrobot

In order to develop a new type of fish-like microrobot with swimming, walking, and floating motions, in our past research, we developed a hybrid microrobot actuated by ionic conducting polymer film （ICPF） actuators. But the microrobot had some problems in walking and floating motions. In this paper, we propose a concept of hybrid microrobot （see Fig. 1）. The microrobot is actuated by a pair of caudal fins, a base with legs and an array of artificial swim bladders. We have developed a prototype of the base with legs and one artificial swim bladder, respectively, and carried out experiments for evaluating their characteristics. Experimental results show the base with legs can realize walking speed of 6 mm/s and rotating speed of 7.1 degrees/s respectively, and the prototype of the artificial swim bladder has a maximum floatage of 2.6 mN. The experimental results also indicate that the microrobot has some advantages, such as walking motion with 2 degrees of freedom, the walking ability on rough surface （sand paper）, the controllable floatage, etc. This kind of fish-like microrobot is expected for industrial and medical applications.

Intercalating Ultrathin MoO_3 Nanobelts into MXene Film with Ultrahigh Volumetric Capacitance and Excellent Deformation for High-Energy-Density Devices

The restacking hindrance of MXene films restricts their development for high volumetric energy density of flexible supercapacitors toward applications in miniature,portable,wearable or implantable electronic devices.A valid solution is construction of rational heterojunction to achieve a synergistic property enhancement.The introduction of spacers such as graphene,CNTs,cellulose and the like demonstrates limited enhancement in rate capability.The combination of currently reported pseudocapacitive materials and MXene tends to express the potential capacitance of pseudocapacitive materials rather than MXene,leading to low volumetric capacitance.Therefore,it is necessary to exploit more ideal candidate materials to couple with MXene for fully expressing both potentials.Herein,for the first time,high electrochemically active materials of ultrathin MoO3 nanobelts are intercalated into MXene films.In the composites,MoO3 nanobelts not only act as pillaring components to prevent restacking of MXene nanosheets for fully expressing the MXene pseudocapacitance in acidic environment but also provide considerable pseudocapacitive contribution.As a result,the optimal M/MoO3 electrode not only achieves a breakthrough in volumetric capacitance(1817 F cm-3 and 545 F g-1),but also maintains good rate capability and excellent flexibility.Moreover,the corresponding symmetric supercapacitor likewise shows a remarkable energy density of 44.6 Wh L-1(13.4 Wh kg-1),rendering the flexible electrode a promising candidate for application in high-energy-density energy storage devices.