Amorphous Materials: Fabrication, Properties, and Applications

A special issue of Solids (ISSN 2673-6497).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2024) | Viewed by 1471

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg 9100, Denmark
Interests: cement; disordered materials; atomistic simulations; mechanical properties; machine learning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Amorphous materials, characterized by their lack of long-range orders in atomic structures, have garnered significant interest and found diverse applications across various fields. Fabrication techniques (such as melt-quenching, vapor deposition, sputtering, and sol–gel processes) enable the precise control of material properties, morphologies, and compositions, facilitating tailored synthesis for specific applications. These materials showcase distinct mechanical, electrical, optical, and magnetic properties compared to crystalline counterparts. For instance, the lack of grain boundaries in amorphous materials results in unique mechanical traits, such as high strength and elasticity. Moreover, amorphous materials exhibit outstanding transparency, corrosion resistance, and adjustable electronic properties, rendering them promising for applications in optics, electronics, and protective coatings. Their versatility spans multiple industries; in electronics, amorphous semiconductors are pivotal in thin-film transistors, solar cells, and displays, offering advantages in flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Similarly, biocompatible amorphous materials find utility in medicine for drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and medical implants, while amorphous alloys are employed in aerospace, automotive, and structural applications due to their lightweight nature, high strength, and resistance to corrosion. Given the complex composition and structure of amorphous materials, a deep understanding of the correlation between chemical composition, glass structure, and mechanical properties is thus needed for developing new amorphous materials with desired properties in rational and efficient ways.

Dr. Tao Du
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Solids is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • amorphous materials
  • disordered structure
  • applications
  • mechanical properties
  • glass transition

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

9 pages, 1957 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of Low-Emissivity Glass with Antibacterial Properties by Coating Cu/AZO Thin Films
by Shang-Chou Chang and Jian-Syun Wu
Solids 2024, 5(3), 434-442; https://doi.org/10.3390/solids5030029 - 1 Sep 2024
Viewed by 811
Abstract
This study explores the feasibility of using Cu/AZO thin films as low-emissivity materials with antibacterial properties, fabricated using the linear sputtering method. The linear sputtering technique deposits thin films onto continuous substrates, offering high throughput, uniform coatings, and precise control over film properties. [...] Read more.
This study explores the feasibility of using Cu/AZO thin films as low-emissivity materials with antibacterial properties, fabricated using the linear sputtering method. The linear sputtering technique deposits thin films onto continuous substrates, offering high throughput, uniform coatings, and precise control over film properties. In this research, Cu/AZO thin films underwent either vacuum annealing or hydrogen plasma annealing treatments. The Cu layer imparts antibacterial properties, while the AZO layer primarily provides thermal insulation. Experimental results show that annealing treatments enhance both photoelectric performance and antibacterial capability. Annealed Cu/AZO films exhibit lower resistivity and emissivity. Among the samples, those subjected to vacuum annealing at 400 °C are most suitable for low-emissivity applications, with an average visible light transmittance of 60%, an emissivity of 0.16, and an antibacterial activity value of 8.8. The Cu/AZO films proposed in this study effectively combine antibacterial and thermal insulation properties, making them relevant for the field of green materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Amorphous Materials: Fabrication, Properties, and Applications)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop