Nanomechanical behavior of (1 0 0) oriented titanium thin films

Titanium thin films were deposited on single crystal Si (3 1 1) and polycrystalline 316 LN nuclear grade stainless steel substrates by RF magnetron sputtering. X-ray diffraction revealed that, irrespective of substrate type, films exhibit preferential growth along the (1 0 0) plane. The microstructure of the films corresponds to the zone-I type in structure zone model on both substrates. The hardness and Young's modulus of the films were extracted from load-displacement curves. The maximum values of hardness and Young's modulus were 12 and 132 GPa respectively for 220 nm thin film on SS substrate. The electrical resistivity data revealed that the films are metallic in nature and the resistivity is lower in the case of the 220 nm thickness film, on both substrates. The observed changes in mechanical and electrical properties can be correlated with variations in the microstructure of Ti films

Metal oxide thin films and nanostructures for self-cleaning applications: current status and future prospects

Surfaces that exhibit reversible wettability toward water are extremely important for a variety of technological applications. In this context, the development of superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces for self-cleaning applications has been receiving a great deal of attention in the last few years. In this review, an overview of the current state-of-science and technology of self-cleaning surfaces is presented. The current understanding of physics of wetting leading to surfaces with predictive, controllable and reversible wettability is first presented. The review then focuses on materials, mainly metal oxides and their composites, employed for self-cleaning applications. It is shown that, although conventionally oxides and polymers are considered for self-cleaning applications, recent developments point toward the use of artificially engineered surfaces with hierarchical roughness. Applications of self-cleaning films in non-conventional areas such as protection of fabrics, solar cells and structures related to cultural heritage are discussed. The review ends with an outlook for the future in terms of science and technology of self-cleaning surfaces

Nitrogen deficiency and metal dopant induced sub-stoichiometry in titanium nitride thin films: A comparative study

Sub-stoichiometric (nitrogen-deficient) and Nb-substituted (Ti 1-y Nb N, 0 ≤ y ≤ 1) titanium nitride thin films were deposited by means of radio frequency magnetron sputtering on SiO2 and Si (311) substrates and compared. Thickness of TiN films varie

BiFeO3-Black TiO2 Composite as a Visible Light Active Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Methylene Blue.

The application of a novel BiFeO3 (BFO)-black TiO2 (BTO) composite (called BFOT) as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue is reported. The p-n heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized for the first time through microwave-assisted co-precipitation synthesis to change the molar ratio of BTO in BiFeO3 to increase the photocatalytic efficiency of the BiFeO3 photocatalyst. The UV-visible properties of p-n heterostructures showed excellent absorption of visible light and reduced electron-hole recombination properties compared to the pure-phase BFO. Photocatalytic studies on BFOT10, BFOT20, and BFOT30 have shown that they decompose methylene blue (MB) in sunlight better than pure-phase BFO in 70 min. The BFOT30 photocatalyst was the most effective at reducing MB when exposed to visible light (97%). Magnetic studies have shown that BTO is diamagnetic, and the BFOT10 photocatalyst exhibits a very weak antiferromagnetic behavior, whereas BFOT20 and BFO30 show diamagnetic behavior. This study confirms that the catalyst has poor stability and weak magnetic recovery properties due to the non-magnetic phase BTO in the BFO

BiFeO₃-Black TiO₂ Composite as a Visible Light Active Photocatalyst for the Degradation of Methylene Blue.

The application of a novel BiFeO3 (BFO)-black TiO2 (BTO) composite (called BFOT) as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue is reported. The p-n heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized for the first time through microwave-assisted co-precipitation synthesis to change the molar ratio of BTO in BiFeO3 to increase the photocatalytic efficiency of the BiFeO3 photocatalyst. The UV-visible properties of p-n heterostructures showed excellent absorption of visible light and reduced electron-hole recombination properties compared to the pure-phase BFO. Photocatalytic studies on BFOT10, BFOT20, and BFOT30 have shown that they decompose methylene blue (MB) in sunlight better than pure-phase BFO in 70 min. The BFOT30 photocatalyst was the most effective at reducing MB when exposed to visible light (97%). Magnetic studies have shown that BTO is diamagnetic, and the BFOT10 photocatalyst exhibits a very weak antiferromagnetic behavior, whereas BFOT20 and BFO30 show diamagnetic behavior. This study confirms that the catalyst has poor stability and weak magnetic recovery properties due to the non-magnetic phase BTO in the BFO

The design of broad band anti-reflection coatings for solar cell applications

The design of broadband anti-reflection coatings (ARCs) for solar cell applications using multiobjective differential evolutionary (MODE) algorithms is reported. The effect of thickness and refractive index contrast within the layers of the ARC on the bandwidth of reflectance is investigated in detail. In the case of the hybrid plasmonic ARC structures the effect of size, shape and filling fraction of silver (Ag) nanoparticles on the reflectance is studied. Bandwidth is defined as the spectral region of wavelengths over which the reflectance is below 2%. Single, two and three layers ARCs (consisting of MgF2, Al2O3, Si3N4, TiO2 and ZnS or combinations of these materials) were simulated for performance evaluation on an a-Si photovoltaic cell. It is observed that the three layer ARC consisting of MgF2/Si3N4/TiO2(ZnTe) of 81/42/36 nm thicknesses, respectively, exhibited a weighted reflectance of 1.9% with a bandwidth of 450 nm over the wavelength range of 300–900 nm. The ARC bandwidth could be further improved by embedding randomly distributed Ag nanoparticles of size between 100 and 120 nm on a two layer ARC consisting of Al2O3/TiO2 with thickness of 42 nm and 56 nm respectively. This plasmon-dielectric hybrid ARC design exhibited a weighted reflectance of 0.6% with a bandwidth of 560 nm over the wavelength range of 300–900 nm