Electrodeposition and structural characteristics of intermetallic nickel-tin based coatings

Ni–Sn alloy intermetallic coatings with different Sn contents, were electrodeposited on Vanadis 23 steel substrates. Structural and chemical characterisation of these coatings was performed by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and electron dispersive x-ray analysis. The as-plated Ni–Sn coatings were found to consist of a crystalline Ni solid solution with dispersed Ni–Sn intermetallic phases, whereas in certain cases bulk intermetallic coatings were obtained. The addition of Sn as an alloying element into electrolytic Ni coatings led to a significant increase of hardness and Young’s modulus of these coatings. In addition, the effect of a post-deposition heat treatment at 400°C for 1 h on the microstructure and mechanical characteristics of these electrolytic Ni–Sn alloy coatings was investigated.status: publishe

Industrially relevant characterisation of adhesion or wear resistance by adapted ASTM methods. The Pin&Vee block test revisited

Short abstractstatus: publishe

Properties of FA-CVD silica coated steel sheet after deformation: coating integrity and corrosion related forming limit curve

Thin silica coatings may be used as pretreatments for steel sheet, offering temporary corrosion protection and promoting adhesion of organic coatings. For use as ready to paint product, silica coated steel has to possess also good corrosion properties after deformation and successive paint application. In this paper, we investigate the forming limit curve for flame assisted chemical vapour deposited silica coated steel sheet with respect to corrosion properties after paint application. We find good corrosion properties up to a strain of 10%, indicating a high tolerance towards deformation. Evaluation of the silica coated steel sheet by scanning electron microscopy shows that severe failure takes place at high levels of deformation, but only at a fraction of the surface. Adhesion, cracking as well as deadhesion and flaking of the very thin films (15–50 nm) was furthermore investigated by scratch testing.status: publishe

Surface acoustic wave characterization of a thin, rough polymer film

Laser generated surface acoustic waves (SAW) in a heterodyne diffraction scheme is a powerful technique for elastic characterization of thin films and it is frequently used on samples of high optical quality. We show that the method can also be effectively used in difficult conditions, on rough samples. Measurements are presented on a 3 µm thick film of polymer, spin-coated on steel, and on the same sample after addition of an aluminum coating. The experimental data are interpreted using a model assuming a stack of perfect layers. The analyses show good consistency within the SAW results for both configurations, and consistency with nano-indentation results, cross-validating both approaches.status: publishe

Real-Time FO-SPR Monitoring of Solid-Phase DNAzyme Cleavage Activity for Cutting-Edge Biosensing

DNA nanotechnology has a great potential in biosensor design including nanostructuring of the biosensor surface through DNA origami, target recognition by means of aptamers, and DNA-based signal amplification strategies. In this paper, we use DNA nanotechnology to describe for the first time the concept of real-time solid-phase monitoring of DNAzyme cleavage activity for the detection of specific single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) with a fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (FO-SPR) biosensor. Hereto, we first developed a robust ligation strategy for the functionalization of the FO-SPR biosensing surface with ssDNA-tethered gold nanoparticles, serving as the substrate for the DNAzyme. Next, we established a relation between the SPR signal change, due to the cleavage activity of the 10-23 DNAzyme, and the concentration of the DNAzyme, showing faster cleavage kinetics for higher DNAzyme concentrations. Finally, we implemented this generic concept for biosensing of ssDNA target in solution. Hereto, we designed a DNAzyme-inhibitor complex, consisting of an internal loop structure complementary to the ssDNA target, that releases active DNAzyme molecules in a controlled way as a function of the target concentration. We demonstrated reproducible target detection with a theoretical limit of detection of 1.4 nM, proving that the presented ligation strategy is key to a universal DNAzyme-based FO-SPR biosensing concept with promising applications in the medical and agrofood sector.status: publishe

Dissolution corrosion of 316L austenitic stainless steels in contact with static liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) at 500 °C

This work addresses the dissolution corrosion behaviour of 316L austenitic stainless steels. For this purpose, solution-annealed and cold-deformed 316L steels were simultaneously exposed to oxygen-poor (<10-8 mass%) static liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) for 253e3282 h at 500 _C. Corrosion was consistently more severe for the cold-drawn steels than the solution-annealed steel, indicating the importance of the steel thermomechanical state. The thickness of the dissolution-affected zone was non-uniform, and sites of locally-enhanced dissolution were occasionally observed. The progress of LBE dissolution attack was promoted by the interplay of certain steel microstructural features (grain boundaries, deformation twin laths, precipitates) with the dissolution corrosion process. The identified dissolution mechanisms were selective leaching leading to steel ferritization, and non-selective leaching; the latter was mainly observed in the solution-annealed steel. The maximum corrosion rate decreased with exposure time and was found to be inversely proportional to the depth of dissolution attack.status: publishe

Remote Thermoelastic Characterization of Candidate Structural and Protective Coatings for Lead-Bismuth Eutectic Cooled Nuclear Reactors

© 2019 by the authors. A laser ultrasonics approach to remotely characterize the elastic and thermal properties of a coating-substrate structure, used to protect fuel claddings in lead-bismuth eutectic cooled nuclear reactors, is presented and validated with experimental results. A transient grating geometry is used for multiple wavelength excitation of thermoelastic displacements, and laser beam deflection for detection. The value of Young's modulus of the coating layer as calculated from the coating's Rayleigh velocity of 190 ± 50 GPa is in accordance with a nano-indentation measurement. Using a priori knowledge concerning the density and elastic parameters of the coating and substrate, scanning the sample allows the obtaining of a coating thickness map in a fully remote, all-optical way, with an accuracy of about 4 microns for a coating of around 20-micron average thickness. Analyzing the transient thermal grating decay yields a thermal diffusivity value of (5.0 ± 1.6) × 10 -6 m 2 /s, in the range of low-carbon steels. The consistency of the results infers that the all-optical laser ultrasonics approach should be feasible for remote inspection of the quality of optically rough coated claddings in the harsh environment of a nuclear reactor.status: publishe

Three sets of fine extinction bands in a tectonically deformed vein-quartz single crystal

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Characterization of KrF excimer laser annealed PECVD SiₓGe₁-ₓ for MEMS post-processing

This work studies the possibility to treat plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) silicon germanium (Si₁-ₓGeₓ) thin films grown at 400 °C or lower with a pulsed excimer laser for obtaining good MEMS structural layers. The main advantage of using PECVD is that a high growth rate (∼35 nm/min) can be achieved at low temperatures (≤370 °C). It is demonstrated that optimizing the pulse fluence, number and rate yields high quality films characterized by a low defect density (∼10² defect/cm²), large grains (∼300 nm), a low mean stress and a low stress gradient. Furthermore, the electrical resistivity of the as grown material, deposited at 210 °C, is reduced from 12 kΩ cm to 1.3 mΩ cm after laser annealing.status: publishe