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Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Thin Films and Interfaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2023) | Viewed by 12006

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Nuggehalli M. Ravindra (Ravi)

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA
Interests: devices; energy; magnetic fields; materials; semiconductors; sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Anthony T. Fiory

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Bell Labs (Retired), Summit, NJ 07901, USA
Interests: superconductivity; solid-state physics; semiconductors; processing and characterization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Materials science and engineering continues to evolve around the dynamics of surface–vacuum, solid–vacuum, solid–solid, solid–liquid, liquid–liquid, and gas–liquid interfaces. Examples of these include bandgap engineering, homo- and heterostructures, phase change materials, photo–material interactions, and solid-phase epitaxy. Crystal growth mechanisms provide excellent case studies of interfaces; alloys, dielectrics, metals, and semiconductors have been demonstrated to cause major effects in their electronic, optical, and electrical properties. These modifications have been mainly caused by introducing lattice mismatches that are manifested in the form of stresses and strains. It is these stresses that alter the materials properties via modifying carrier mobility and modulating the bandgap. It is crucial, therefore, to understand the underlying mechanics of stresses and strains, particularly those related to the optical, electronic, and electrical properties of interfaced materials. This Special Issue will focus on electrical, electronic, and microscopy characterization techniques revealing the mechanics of stress formation at grain boundaries as well as other techniques that are necessary to understand evolution in surfaces and interfaces. Relevant parameters of studies will be the depth of stress fields and their effect on bandgap and their elastic and plastic limits before forming dislocations. This Special Issue also aims at correlating these interfacial stress and strains mechanics with the observed electrical, electronic, and optical properties and to understand their influence on carrier mobility, carrier confinement, and bandgap modulations. It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript on the topic. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Prof. Nuggehalli M. Ravindra (Ravi)
Dr. Anthony T. Fiory
Guest Editors

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Keywords

evolution of interfaces
lattice matching
interface chemistry
misfit dislocations
semiconductors
metals
insulators
tunneling mechanisms
microscopy–AFM, STEM, TEM
heterostructures
devices

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3154 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Formation of Thick Immersion Coatings and Residual Stress Evaluation in the System ZrB₂–ZrO₂: Experimental and Numerical Investigation

by Ales Buyakov, Igor Smolin, Valentina Zimina, Nikita Fedyanin, Vasiliy Shmakov and Svetlana Buyakova

Materials 2023, 16(2), 781; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16020781 - 12 Jan 2023

Viewed by 1148

Abstract

The combination of various oxide ceramics in layered and functionally graded composites allows for the development of novel materials, including for high-temperature applications. This study demonstrates the possibility of obtaining a thick ZrO₂-based coating on a ZrB₂–SiC ceramic substrate by the immersion method. For better wettability, the porous ZrB₂–SiC substrate is treated with cold plasma without changing the structure and phase composition of the surface. Immersion of the substrate in a ZrO₂-based slurry results in the formation of a gradient transition layer due to ZrO₂ particle penetration into the pore volume. The interfacial residual microstresses are evaluated experimentally. The residual macrostresses in the samples are calculated by finite element simulation. It is shown that the thermal residual stresses in the ZrB₂–SiC substrate are compressive and do not exceed 43 MPa. In the ZrO₂ coating and transition layers of the composite, the residual stresses are tensile. Their values increase as they get closer to the outer layer of the ZrO₂ coating and reach 1525 MPa. This confirms the conclusions about the presence of tensile residual stresses made in the experimental part of the work when observing crack propagation in the surface layers during indentation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films)

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11 pages, 5136 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strained Lattice Gold-Copper Alloy Nanoparticles for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction

by Fangfang Chang, Chenguang Wang, Xueli Wu, Yongpeng Liu, Juncai Wei, Zhengyu Bai and Lin Yang

Materials 2022, 15(14), 5064; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15145064 - 20 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1722

Abstract

Electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into specific renewable fuels is an attractive way to mitigate the greenhouse effect and solve the energy crisis. Au_nCu_100-n/C alloy nanoparticles (Au_nCu_100−n/C NPs) with tunable compositions, a highly active crystal plane and a strained lattice were synthesized by the thermal solvent co-reduction method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that Au_nCu_100−n/C catalysts display a subtle lattice strain and dominant (111) crystal plane, which can be adjusted by the alloy composition. Electrochemical results show that Au_nCu_100−n/C alloy catalysts for CO₂ reduction display high catalytic activity; in particular, the Faradaic efficiency of Au₇₅Cu₂₅/C is up to 92.6% for CO at −0.7 V (vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode), which is related to lattice shrinkage and the active facet. This research provides a new strategy with which to design strong and active nanoalloy catalysts with lattice mismatch and main active surfaces for CO₂ reduction reaction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films)

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13 pages, 1278 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Observation of Josephson-like Tunneling Junction Characteristics and Positive Magnetoresistance in Oxygen Deficient Nickelate Films of Nd_0.8Sr_0.2NiO_3−δ

by Gad Koren, Anna Eyal, Leonid Iomin and Yuval Nitzav

Materials 2021, 14(24), 7689; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14247689 - 13 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1790

Abstract

Nickelate films have recently attracted broad attention due to the observation of superconductivity in the infinite layer phase of Nd

_{0.8}

_{0.2}

NiO

_{2}

(obtained by reducing Sr doped NdNiO

_{3}

films) and their similarity to the cuprates high temperature superconductors. Here, [...] Read more.

Nickelate films have recently attracted broad attention due to the observation of superconductivity in the infinite layer phase of Nd

_{0.8}

_{0.2}

NiO

_{2}

(obtained by reducing Sr doped NdNiO

_{3}

films) and their similarity to the cuprates high temperature superconductors. Here, we report on the observation of a new type of transport in oxygen poor Nd

_{0.8}

_{0.2}

NiO

_{3 - δ}

films. At high temperatures, variable range hopping is observed while at low temperatures a novel tunneling behavior is found where a Josephson-like tunneling junction characteristic with serial resistance is revealed. We attribute this phenomenon to coupling between superconductive (S) surfaces of the grains in our Oxygen poor films via the insulating (I) grain boundaries, which yields SIS junctions in series with the normal (N) resistance of the grains themselves. The similarity of the observed conductance spectra to the tunneling junction characteristic with Josephson-like current is striking, and seems to support the existence of superconductivity in our samples. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films)

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7 pages, 1504 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Magnetic Control of Optical Reflectance from Metallic Thin Film Using Surface Plasmon Resonance and Faraday Rotation

by Changjin Son and Heongkyu Ju

Materials 2021, 14(12), 3354; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14123354 - 17 Jun 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1707

Abstract

We demonstrate magnetic control of optical reflectance with no ferromagnetic material via combining the Faraday rotation and the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in a Kretschman configuration under magnetic fields < 0.5 T. The SPR produces the polarization sensitive reflectance from the Au or Ag thin film coated on a N-BK7 prism in which the Faraday rotation occurs. The gold (Au) or silver (Ag) metal film as a plasmonic film somewhat acts as an incident angle-dependent reflection polarizer that can sensitively sense the polarization change induced by the Faraday rotation that occurs in a prism. We find that combination of Faraday rotation and the surface plasmon can induce a significant magnetic modulation of reflectance normalized with respect to that obtained with no magnetic fields at a specific incident angle of light. The magnetic control of optical reflectance presented may find an application in polarizer-free photonic devices with no ferromagnetic material for magneto-optical modulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films)

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17 pages, 3172 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hydrophobically Modified Isosorbide Dimethacrylates as a Bisphenol-A (BPA)-Free Dental Filling Material

by Bilal Marie, Raymond Clark, Tim Gillece, Seher Ozkan, Michael Jaffe and Nuggehalli M. Ravindra

Materials 2021, 14(9), 2139; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092139 - 22 Apr 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2459

Abstract

A series of bio-based hydrophobically modified isosorbide dimethacrylates, with para-, meta-, and ortho- benzoate aromatic spacers (ISBGBMA), are synthesized, characterized, and evaluated as potential dental restorative resins. The new monomers, isosorbide 2,5-bis(4-glyceryloxybenzoate) dimethacrylate (ISB4GBMA), isosorbide 2,5-bis(3-glyceryloxybenzoate) dimethacrylate (ISB3GBMA), and isosorbide 2,5-bis(2-glyceryloxybenzoate) dimethacrylate (ISB2GBMA), are mixed with triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) and photopolymerized. The resulting polymers are evaluated for the degree of monomeric conversion, polymerization shrinkage, water sorption, glass transition temperature, and flexural strength. Isosorbide glycerolate dimethacrylate (ISDGMA) is synthesized, and Bisphenol A glycerolate dimethacrylate (BisGMA) is prepared, and both are evaluated as a reference. Poly(ISBGBMA/TEGDMA) series shows lower water sorption (39–44 µg/mm³) over Poly(ISDGMA/TEGDMA) (73 µg/mm³) but higher than Poly(BisGMA/TEGDMA) (26 µg/mm³). Flexural strength is higher for Poly(ISBGBMA/TEGDMA) series (37–45 MPa) over Poly(ISDGMA/TEGDMA) (10 MPa) and less than Poly(BisGMA/TEGDMA) (53 MPa) after immersion in phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS) for 24 h. Poly(ISB2GBMA/TEGDMA) has the highest glass transition temperature at 85 °C, and its monomeric mixture has the lowest viscosity at 0.62 Pa·s, among the (ISBGBMA/TEGDMA) polymers and monomer mixtures. Collectively, this data suggests that the ortho ISBGBMA monomer is a potential bio-based, BPA-free replacement for BisGMA, and could be the focus for future study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films)

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13 pages, 2888 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Highly Porous and Ultra-Lightweight Aero-Ga₂O₃: Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity by Noble Metals

by Irina Plesco, Vladimir Ciobanu, Tudor Braniste, Veaceslav Ursaki, Florian Rasch, Andrei Sarua, Simion Raevschi, Rainer Adelung, Joydeep Dutta and Ion Tiginyanu

Materials 2021, 14(8), 1985; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14081985 - 15 Apr 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2346

Abstract

A new type of photocatalyst is proposed on the basis of aero-β-Ga₂O₃, which is a material constructed from a network of interconnected tetrapods with arms in the form of microtubes with nanometric walls. The aero-Ga₂O₃ material is obtained by annealing of aero-GaN fabricated by epitaxial growth on ZnO microtetrapods. The hybrid structures composed of aero-Ga₂O₃ functionalized with Au or Pt nanodots were tested for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye under UV or visible light illumination. The functionalization of aero-Ga₂O₃ with noble metals results in the enhancement of the photocatalytic performances of bare material, reaching the performances inherent to ZnO while gaining the advantage of the increased chemical stability. The mechanisms of enhancement of the photocatalytic properties by activating aero-Ga₂O₃ with noble metals are discussed to elucidate their potential for environmental applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Properties of Interfaced Materials and Films)

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