Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Aluminum Plate by Surface Etching and Fluorosilane Modification

Superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces with a high water contact angle and low sliding angle on aluminum plate substrate were fabricated by means of surface etching with sodium hydroxide under ultrasonic bathing and then modification with fluorosilane. Scanning electron microscopy（SEM） showed a honeycomb-like structure on aluminum substrate surface after etching under ultrasonic bathing. And the surface was rendered from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity after further modification with fluorosilane.

Boring holes in Au nanoplates by active surface etching

In contrast to the conventional etching that makes nanoparticles rounder and our previous sharpening etching mode that causes serrated edges,here,we developed a new boring etching mode that targets the faces of Au nanoplates to make holes.The critical factors are the pre-incubation step with the ligand 2-mercapto-5-benzimidazolecarboxylic acid(MBIA)and the subsequent removal of excess ligands in the solution.Thus,etching is focused onto the few sites with initial loss of ligands,which cannot be quickly replaced.The choice of ligand MBIA is also of importance,as it carries negative charge and repels each other.Its inability of forming a dense layer probably plays a critical role in the site-selectivity for faces,because ligands at the higher curvature edges and corners are expected to have less repulsion.The etching results from the comproportionation reaction between Au3+and Au0 in the nanoplates,where Br-coordination to Au and the extra stabilization from cetyltrimethylammonium bromide(CTAB)are essential.We believe that the ability of boring holes is an important tool for future synthetic designs.

TREATMENT OF METALS, POLYMER FILMS, AND FABRICS WITHA ONE ATMOSPHERE UNIFORM GLOW DISCHARGE PLASMA(OAUGDP) FOR INCREASED SURFACE ENERGY AND DIRECTIONAL ETCHING

Direct exposure of samples to the active species of air generated by a One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP) has been used to etch and to increase the surface energy of metallic surfaces, photoresist, polymer films, and nonwoven fab- rics. The OAUGDP is a non-thermal plasma with the classical characteristics of a DC normal glow discharge that operates in air (and other gases) at atmospheric pres- sure. Neither a vacuum system nor batch processing is necessary. A wide range of applications to metals, photoresist, films, fabrics, and polymeric webs can be accom- modated by direct exposure of the workpiece to the plasma in parallel-plate reactors. This technolopy is simple, it produces effects that can be obtained in no other way at one atmosphere; it generates minimal pollutants or unwanted by-products; and it is suitable for individual sample or online treatment of metallic surfaces, wafers, films, and fabrics. Early exposures of solid materials to the OAUGDP required minutes to produce rela- tively small increases of surface energy. These durations appeared too long for com- mercial application to fast-moving webs. Recent improvements in OAUGDP gas com- position, power density, plasma quality, recireulating gas flow, and impedance match- ing of the power supply to the parallel plate plasma reactor have made it possible to raise the surface energy of a variety of polymeric webs (PP, PET PE etc.) to levels of 60 to 70 dynes/cm with one second of exposure. In air plasmas, the high surface ener- gies are not durable, and fall to 50 dynes/cm after periods of weeks to months. Here, we report the exposure of metallic surfaces, photoresist, polymeric films, and nonwo- ven fabrics made of PP and PET to an impedance matched parallel plate OAUGDP for durations ranging from one second to several tens of seconds. Data will be re- ported on the surface energy, wettability, wickability, and aging effect of polymeric films and fabrics as functions of time of exposure, and time after exposure; the rate and uniformity of photoresist etching; and the production of sub-micron structures by OAUGDP etching at one atmosphere.

Reduction of Reactive-Ion Etching-Induced Ge Surface Roughness by SF6/CF4Cyclic Etching for Ge Fin Fabrication

An SF6/CF4 cyclic reactive-ion etching （RIE） method is proposed to suppress the surface roughness and to opti- mize the morphology of Ge fin, aiming at the fabrication of superior Ge FinFETs for future CMOS technologies. The surface roughness of the Ge after RIE can be sufficiently reduced by introducing SF6-O2 etching steps into the CF4-O2 etching process, while maintaining a relatively large ratio of vertical etching over horizontal etching of the Ge. As a result, an optimized rms roughness of 0.9nm is achieved for Ge surfaces after the SF6/CF4 cyclic etching with a ratio of greater than four for vertical etching over horizontal etching of the Ge, by using a proportion of 60% for SF6-O2 etching steps.

Construct a 3D microsphere of HMX/B/Al/PTFE to obtain the high energy and combustion reactivity

Metal(aluminum and boron)based energetic materials have been wildly applied in various fields including aerospace,explosives and micro-devices due to their high energy density.Unfortunately,the low combustion efficiency and reactivity of metal fuels,especially boron(B),severely limit their practical applications.Herein,multi-component 3D microspheres of HMX/B/Al/PTFE(HBA)have been designed and successfully prepared by emulsion and solvent evaporation method to achieve superior energy and combustion reactivity.The reactivity and energy output of HBA are systematically measured by ignitionburning test,constant-volume explosion vessel system and bomb calorimetry.Due to the increased interfacial contact and reaction area,HBA shows higher flame propagation rate,faster pressurization rate and larger combustion heat of 29.95 cm/s,1077 kPa/s,and 6164.43 J/g,which is 1.5 times,3.5 times,and 1.03 times of the physical mixed counterpart(HBA-P).Meanwhile,HBA also shows enhanced energy output and reactivity than 3D microspheres of HMX/B/PTFE(HB)resulting from the high reactivity of Al.The reaction mechanism of 3D microspheres is comprehensively investigated through combustion emission spectral and thermal analysis(TG-DSC-MS).The superior reactivity and energy of HBA originate from the surface etching of fluorine to the inert shell(Al_(2)O_(3) and B_(2)O_(3))and the initiation effect of Al to B.This work offers a promising approach to design and prepare high-performance energetic materials for the practical applications.

Overcoming side reaction effects in the colloidal synthesis of ZnSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots with an etching strategy

The potential use of large-size ZnSe quantum dots as blue emitters for display applications has greatly inspired the colloidal synthesis.Herein,we report the negative effects of side reactions of large-size ZnSe quantum dots.The side reactions between oleic acid and oleylamine generated amidation products and H_(2)O,which led to the hydrolysis of Zn(OA)2 to Zn(OH)2 and the subsequent formation of zinc oxide(ZnO)and zinc bis[diphenylphosphinate](Zn(DPPA)2)precipitates.These side reactions resulted in the formation of a defective surface including a Se-rich surface and oxygen-related defects.Such negative effects can be overcome by adopting an etching strategy using potassium fluoride and myristic acid in combination.By overcoating a ZnS shell,blue emissive ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots with a maximum photoluminescence quantum yield of up to 91%were obtained.We further fabricated ZnSe quantum dots-based blue light-emitting diodes with an emission peak at 456 nm.The device showed a turn-on voltage of 2.7 V with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 4.2%and a maximum luminance of 1223 cd·m^(−2).

Surface characteristics of Y3Al5O12：Ce^3＋ phosphor with greatly enhanced photoluminescence after chemical defect-selective etching

The surface of a commercial Y3Al5O12：Ce^3＋ phosphor was modified by 99% NH_4F＋CH_3COOH solution in a supersonic bath with water temperature of 80 oC for 4 h. The scanning electron microscopy（SEM） results showed that the edge angles were not as sharp as the unmodified particles and the flat surfaces turned rough with many micro-structures covered. Positron lifetime measurements quantitatively showed that surface defects were removed away by more than 50%. As a result, the photoluminescence determinations showed that the backscatter loss was reduced by 4.2% and the emission power was enhanced by 5.6% after the surface modification. The conversion efficiency was greatly improved from 47.3% to 51.1%, as presented by the fluorescence images. Therefore, it would be greatly helpful for the improvement of efficiency, transparency and stability of pc-LED. Moreover, this method was significantly suitable for mass production due to its easy operation and low cost.