Spontaneous formation of a self-healing carbon nanoskin at the liquid-liquid interface

Biological membranes exhibit the ability to self-repair and dynamically change their shape while remaining impermeable. Yet, these defining features are difficult to reconcile with mechanical robustness. Here, we report on the spontaneous formation of a carbon nanoskin at the oil–water interface that uniquely combines self-healing attributes with high stiffness. Upon the diffusion-controlled self-assembly of a reactive molecular surfactant at the interface, a solid elastic membrane forms within seconds and evolves into a continuous carbon monolayer with a thickness of a few nanometers. This nanoskin has a stiffness typical for a 2D carbon material with an elastic modulus in bending of more than 40–100¿GPa; while brittle, it shows the ability to self-heal upon rupture, can be reversibly reshaped, and sustains complex shapes. We anticipate such an unusual 2D carbon nanomaterial to inspire novel approaches towards the formation of synthetic cells with rigid shells, additive manufacturing of composites, and compartmentalization in industrial catalysis.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Harmful Non-Indigenous Species in Southeast Asia

10.1371/journal.pone.0071255PLoS ONE88-POLN

Growth and Composition of Atomic Layer Deposited Titanium Oxide Films for c-Si Solar Cell Applications

In this work, a detailed study on the growth and composition of atomic layer deposited (ALD) titanium oxide (TiOx) films on crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates is presented. The effects of deposition temperature from 100 to 400 degrees C and post-deposition annealing on the properties of TiOx films are examined. The ALD growth process and the optical properties are characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The film composition is determined by Rutherford back scattering. The elemental and chemical analysis of the films before and after annealing treatment, from the c-Si/TiOx interface to the bulk, are carried out using the combination of transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The findings of this work significantly improve the fundamental understanding of TiOx films from the growth to application, and could enable to control the films for future device developments

Boosting contact sliding and wear protection via atomic intermixing and tailoring of nanoscale interfaces

Friction and wear cause energy wastage and system failure. Usually, thicker overcoats serve to combat such tribological concerns, but in many contact sliding systems, their large thickness hinders active components of the systems, degrades functionality, and constitutes a major barrier for technological developments. While sub-10-nm overcoats are of key interest, traditional overcoats suffer from rapid wear and degradation at this thickness regime. Using an enhanced atomic intermixing approach, we develop a similar to 7- to 8-nm-thick carbon/silicon nitride (C/SiNx) multilayer overcoat demonstrating extremely high wear resistance and low friction at all tribological length scales, yielding similar to 2 to 10 times better macroscale wear durability than previously reported thicker (similar to 20 to 100 nm) overcoats on tape drive heads. We report the discovery of many fundamental parameters that govern contact sliding and reveal how tuning atomic intermixing at interfaces and varying carbon and SiNx thicknesses strongly affect friction and wear, which are crucial for advancing numerous technologies

Atomic Scale Interface Manipulation, Structural Engineering, and Their Impact on Ultrathin Carbon Films in Controlling Wear, Friction, and Corrosion

Reducing friction, wear, and corrosion of diverse materials/devices using <2 nm thick protective carbon films remains challenging, which limits the developments of many technologies, such as magnetic data storage systems. Here, we present a novel approach based on atomic scale interface manipulation to engineer and control the friction, wear, corrosion, and structural characteristics of 0.7–1.7 nm carbon-based films on CoCrPt:oxide-based magnetic media. We demonstrate that when an atomically thin (∼0.5 nm) chromium nitride (CrN_<i>x</i>) layer is sandwiched between the magnetic media and an ultrathin carbon overlayer (1.2 nm), it modifies the film–substrate interface, creates various types of interfacial bonding, increases the interfacial adhesion, and tunes the structure of carbon in terms of its sp³ bonding. These contribute to its remarkable functional properties, such as stable and lowest coefficient of friction (∼0.15–0.2), highest wear resistance and better corrosion resistance despite being only ∼1.7 nm thick, surpassing those of ∼2.7 nm thick current commercial carbon overcoat (COC) and other overcoats in this work. While this approach has direct implications for advancing current magnetic storage technology with its ultralow thickness, it can also be applied to advance the protective and barrier capabilities of other ultrathin materials for associated technologies

Solution Processable High Performance Multiwall Carbon Nanotube-Si Heterojunctions

10.1002/aelm.202000617ADVANCED ELECTRONIC MATERIALS61

Developing an (Al,Ti)NxCy interlayer to improve the durability of the Ta-C coating on magnetic recording heads

10.1007/s11249-013-0115-0Tribology Letters502233-24