A facile method for fabrication of superhydrophobic coating on aluminum alloy

A superhydrophobic coating applied in corrosion protection was successfully fabricated on the surface of aluminum alloy by chemical etching and surface modification. The water contact angle on the surface was measured to be 161.2° ± 1.7° with sliding angle smaller than 8°, and the superhydrophobic coating showed a long service life. The surface structure and composition were then characterized by means of SEM and XPS. The electrochemical measurements showed that the superhydrophobic coating significantly improved the corrosion resistance of aluminum alloy. The superhydrophobic phenomenon of the prepared surface was analyzed with Cassie theory, and it was found that only about 6% of the water surface is in contact with the metal substrate and 94% is in contact with the air cushion. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid sacrificial layer etching for the fabrication of nanochannels with integrated metal electrodes

We present a rapid etch method to surface-micromachine nanochannels with integrated noble metal electrodes using a single metal sacrificial layer. The method is based on the galvanic coupling of a chromium sacrificial layer with gold electrodes, which results in a 10-fold increase in etch rate with respect to conventional single metal etching. The etch process is investigated and characterized by optical and electrochemical measurements, leading to a theoretical explanation of the observed etch rate based on mass transport. Using this explanation we derive some generic design rules for nanochannel fabrication employing sacrificial metal etching.     

Simple fabrication of micro lens arrays

Microporous polymer films with a hexagonal arrangement of pores were prepared by simple casting of various polymer solutions under humid conditions. Hexagonally packed micropores were prepared by using condensed water droplets as templates on the surface of polymer solutions. Spherical micro lens arrays (MLAs) were fabricated simply by molding from the resulting honeycomb structures. By peeling off the upper layer with adhesive tape, the pillars were severed, forming pins on each layer, and a hexagonal array of pincushion structures was generated by this procedure. Hemispherical MLAs were also fabricated by molding the pincushion structures. The hemispherical MLAs projected clearer miniaturized images than spherical MLAs.     

Size-controlled fabrication of nanometer-sized gold electrodes with polystyrene coating

We present a simple, convenient procedure for the fabrication of nanometer-sized gold electrodes with the ability to control the electrode size at the construction stage. The electrodes are prepared by etching a gold wire, coating it with a polystyrene film, and then removing the film from the tip apex by thermal stripping in an aqueous solution in conjunction with in situ monitoring of the exposed electrode area by cyclic voltammetry measurements. It is demonstrated that the method produces point-like electrodes with precise control of the apparent electrode radius within a few nanometers.     

Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic surface from micro/nanostructure metal alkanethiolate based films

A series of superhydrophobic surfaces with micro/nanostructure have been successfully achieved by a simple process via the reaction between metal (such as Cd and Zn) salts and alkanethiolates.     

Examination of wet coating and co-sintering technologies for micro-SOFCs fabrication

Preparation conditions to obtain a dense electrolyte layer on a micro-tubular electrode support were investigated using wet coating and subsequent co-firing techniques. An anode-supported micro-tubular SOFC with 1.5 mm diameter was successfully fabricated by careful control of the co-sintering process of electrolyte/anode support laminates. The densification of the electrolyte layer deposited on the support surface was greatly affected by the shrinkage of tubular support during the co-sintering process. Support shrinkage above 15% was found to produce a fully densified electrolyte layer on the anode support. In contrast, the use of an anode support with shrinkage below 10% constrained gadolinium-doped ceria (GDC) sintering, resulting in a poorly densified GDC microstructure. Finally, we obtained a micro-tubular cell composed of a dense GDC and a porous (La,Sr)(Co,Fe)O₃–GDC multi-layered structure on a NiO–GDC micro-tubular anode support. The cell, with a dense and ≈15 μm thick GDC electrolyte layer, was electrochemically evaluated in a temperature range from 450 to 550 °C. This micro-tubular cell with an electrode length of 6.3 mm showed a power density above 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 W/cm² at 450, 500 and 550 °C, respectively, in wet H₂ fuel flow.     

Evaluation of a new method for chemical coating of aluminum wire with molecularly imprinted polymer layer. Application for the fabrication of triazines selective solid-phase microextraction fiber

A new solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber is fabricated through ultra violet irradiation polymerization of ametryn-molecularly imprinted polymer on the surface of anodized-silylated aluminum wire. The prepared fiber is durable with very good chemical and thermal stability which can be coupled to GC and GC/MS. The effective parameters on the fabrication and application procedures such as spraying mode, ultra violet irradiation (polymerization) time, number of sprayings and polymerizations, pH and ionic strength of sample and extraction time were optimized. This fiber shows high selectivity with great extraction capacity toward triazines. SPME and GC analysis of ametryn, prometryn, terbutryn, atrazine, simazine, propazine and cyanazine using the fabricated fiber result in the detection limits of 9, 32, 27, 43, 51, 74 and 85 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The reliability of the prepared fiber in real samples has been investigated and proved by using spiked tap water, rice, maize and onion samples.     

Micro fabrication of microlens arrays by micro dispensing

In this study, master of the microlens arrays is fabricated using micro dispensing technology, and then electroforming technology is employed to replicate the Ni mold insert of the microlens arrays. Finally, micro hot embossing is performed to replicate the molded microlens arrays from the Ni mold insert. The resin material is used as the dispensing material, which is dropped on a glass substrate. The resin is exposed to a 380 W halogen light. It becomes convex under surface tension on the glass substrate. A master for the microlens arrays is then obtained. A 150‐nm‐thick copper layer is sputtered on the master as an electrically conducting layer. The electroforming method replicates the Ni mold insert from the master of the microlens arrays. Finally, micro hot embossing is adopted to replicate the molded microlens arrays. The micro hot embossing experiment employs optical films of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC). The processing parameters of micro hot embossing are processing temperature, embossing pressure, embossing time, and de‐molding temperature. Taguchi's method is applied to optimize the processing parameters of micro hot embossing for molded microlens arrays. An optical microscope and a surface profiler are utilized to measure the surface profile of the master, the Ni mold insert and the molded microlens arrays. AFM is employed to measure the surface roughness of the master, the Ni mold insert and the molded microlens arrays. The sag height and focal length are determined to elucidate the optical characteristics of the molded microlens arrays. Copyright © 2009 John & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple fabrication route to a highly transparent super-hydrophobic surface with a poly(dimethylsiloxane) coated flexible mold

A super-hydrophobic and highly transparent nanostructured film was fabricated via imprinting and conformally uniform chemical anchoring of poly(dimethylsiloxane) on a controlled nanoscopic dimension.     

Facile fabrication of green synthesized silver-decorated magnetic particles for coating of bioactive packaging

Cellulose - To avoid bacterial and viral infections on food products, the use of antibacterial and antiviral packaging offers great benefit to the food industry. In this study, the coating of paper...     

High hydrosilylation efficiency of porous silicon SiHx species produced by Pt-assisted chemical etching for biochip fabrication

Porous silicon (PSi) prepared from Pt metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) was demonstrated to possess higher hydrosilylation efficiency (～57%) than anodized PSi (～11%) by surface reaction with ω-undecenyl alcohol (UO).Deconvolution of the SiHx (x=1-3) stretching bands revealed the abundance of SiH 2 species on MaCE PSi was 53%,～10% higher than on anodized samples,while both of SiH 1 and SiH 3 were ～5% lower correspondently on MaCE PSi than on anodized samples.The surface SiHx abundances were suggested to account for the higher hydrosilylation efficiency on MaCE PSi.Optimization of Pt-assisted chemical etching parameters suggested a 7-15 nm thick Pt-coating and an etching time of 3-10 min for biochip applications.Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that an isotropic top meso-porous layer was beneficial for hydrosilylation and long-term durability under ambient conditions.To end,an example of histidine-tagged protein immobilization and microarray was illustrated.Combining the materials’ property,surface chemistry,and micro-fabrication technology together,we envision that silicon based biochip applications have a prosperous future.     

Plasma-assisted etching of aluminum in CCl4−Cl2 mixtures

The etching of aluminum has been studied in a diode reactor fed with CCl₄–Cl₂ mixtures. The overall reaction has been found to be influenced by the contemporaneous deposition of low-volatile etch products and/or a chlorocarbon polymer film originating from the polymerization of CCl_x species. A simple approach is described which allows the chemical contribution to the etch process to be distinguished from the physical one of through-film diffusion. The etching of a clean Al surface is shown to be controlled by chlorine chemisorption at low temperature.Work partially supported by Progetto Finalinalizzato Materiali per l'Elettronica a Stato Solido del CNR and by the Italian Ministry of Education (MPI).     

DNA-templated fabrication of two-dimensional metallic nanostructures by thermal evaporation coating

A biotemplating strategy for fabrication of metallic nanoparticle arrays has been developed. The templates are self-assembled DNA nanostructures, which dictate nanoparticle synthesis in the gas-solid phase (during thermal evaporation).     

Synthesis and fabrication of highly functionalized Jeffamine antimicrobial polymeric coating

A simple, robust, and eco‐friendly technique for the fabrication of functionalized Jeffamine polymer in an aqueous medium is developed. The polymer is prepared by post polymerization modification of Jeffamine ED‐2003 of molecular weight 2000. The structure of the modified polymer was studied in detail using FTIR and NMR (¹H and ¹³C NMR) spectroscopic methods. The thermal properties and degradation of the polymer were examined by DSC and TGA techniques. The polymer exhibited glass transition temperature (T_g) at 115°C. The functionalized polymeric compound showed good antimicrobial activity against gram‐negative bacterium Escherichia coli, a tubercular variant Mycobacterium smegmatis, and gram‐positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with a zone of inhibition of 6 to 12, 9, and 5 to 9 mm diameter, respectively. The compound also showed good activity against the fungus, Candida albicans, with a zone of inhibition of 6 to 11 mm diameter. The morphology of the polymer films and interaction of the microbes with functionalized Jeffamine polymer were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).     

Preparation and adhesive properties of colored Ti/Zr-based conversion coating on aluminum foil for lithium battery packaging

In this study, an aluminum (Al) foil used for lithium ion battery packaging film was treated with titanium (Ti)/zirconium (Zr) solution containing hexafluorotitanic acid and hexafluorozirconic acid using tannic acid as a colorant and metavanadate as an accelerator, respectively, and a golden conversion coating was successfully deposited on the surface of Al foil. The morphology and composition of the coating were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the hydrophilicity was assessed by contact angle measurement. The effect of Ti/Zr treatment on the adhesion properties of Al foil was evaluated by T-peeling test and compared with that of traditional chromate-phosphate treatment. The results show that tannic acid contributes to the formation of the golden coating, and metavanadate accelerates the formation of the conversion coating. The results also indicate that the Ti/Zr-based conversion coating is mainly composed of Al₂O₃, Al (OH)₃, AlF₃, TiO₂/ZrO₂, NH₄VO₃, and V₂O₅. The Ti/Zr treatment cannot only improve the heat-sealing strength, but also the T-peeling strength by approximately 12 times compared with that of untreated Al foil. Thus, Ti/Zr treatment has the potential to replace the traditional chromate conversion treatment.     

聚多巴胺涂敷的聚酰胺-胺功能化二氧化硅复合材料用于水样中苯甲酰脲类杀虫剂的分散微固相萃取北大核心CSCD

近年来,由农药残留导致的环境污染问题已引起社会的广泛关注,开发便捷高效的分析方法对农药残留进行检测和监测十分必要。研究设计并成功制备了聚多巴胺涂敷的聚酰胺-胺树状分子功能化的二氧化硅复合材料(SiO-PAMAM-PDA),并采用透射电镜对其进行表征。开发了以此复合材料为吸附剂的分散微固相萃取方法(D-μ-SPE),并结合高效液相色谱对水基质中的4种苯甲酰脲类杀虫剂(BUs)残留进行了富集检测。多巴胺结构中含有丰富的苯环、氨基及羟基,可与目标物形成氢键、π-π相互作用,从而增强了材料对苯甲酰脲的萃取能力。对吸附剂用量、萃取时间等可能影响萃取效率的条件进行了单因素优化。在最优条件下,该方法的线性范围在10~500μg/L之间,根据3倍信噪比(S/N)计算所得的检出限(LOD)为1.1~2.1μg/L,回收率为82.8%~94.1%,相对标准偏差(RSD)为2.1%~8.0%。将建立的方法与已报道的以苯甲酰脲作为目标物的方法进行了对比,发现方法样品用量及萃取剂用量均较少,且所需前处理时间较短,有机溶剂消耗也较少,为苯甲酰脲类农药的检测提供了更快速、绿色的选择。为评估所开发方法的实际样品适用性,将其应用于3种河水样品中4种苯甲酰脲类杀虫剂的分析检测,所得回收率及RSD分别为69.5%~99.4%和0.2%~9.5%,表明此方法在实际样品中同样具有较高的准确性和精密度。