Thin (40 nm and 160 nm) CrN coatings were deposited on steel by reactive magnetron sputtering deposition, varying the N2 flow. The coatings were characterized in the as-deposited condition and after annealing in air at 500 °C for 1 h, by X-Ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopies. Hardness was measured…
The microstructure and chemical bonding of DLC films prepared by plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition on acrylic rubber (ACM) are studied in this paper. The temperature variation produced by the ion impingement during plasma cleaning and subsequent film deposition was used to modify the film microstructure by controlling the different degrees of strain applied to…
The design of two-dyed fluorescent silica nanoparticles for ATP detection is presented. The indicator dye possesses a dipicolyl-amine (DPA) unit complexed with Zn(ii) as a receptor function for ATP while a rhodamine derivative is used as the reference dye. The nanoparticles were fully characterized regarding analytical performance, morphology and cytocompatibility.
This work reports the employment of metallic nanoparticles (palladium and gold) with a mean particle size of 2.2 nm surface-protected with tetraalkylammonium and alkanethiolate chains, respectively, as lubricant additives. Dispersions of both types of nanoparticles (5 wt%) are prepared using tetrabutylammonium acetate (TBA) and paraffin as base oils, respectively. The tribological properties are then evaluated…
The aim of this work was a comparative investigation of the structure and properties of Al- and Cr-doped TiSiCN coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering of composite TiAlSiCN and TiCrSiCN targets produced by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis method. Based on X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy data, the Al- and…
The objective of the present work is the comparative study of the behaviour of the Nb- and Ti-based additives in the MgH2 single hydride and the MgH2 + 2LiBH4 reactive hydride composite. The selected additives have been previously demonstrated to significantly improve the sorption reaction kinetics in the corresponding materials. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Absorption…
A detailed electronic and microstructural characterization is reported for the LiBH4-MgH2 reactive hydride composite system with and without titanium isopropoxide as additive. Surface characterization by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy combined to a morphological study by scanning electron microscopy as well as elemental map composition analysis by energy dispersive x-ray emission are presented in this paper for…
Mechanical, structural, chemical bonding (sp(3)/sp(2)). and tribological properties of films deposited by pulsed-DC sputtering of Ti targets in Ar/C2H2 plasma were studied as a function of the substrate bias voltage, Ti-target current, C2H2 flow rate and pulse frequency by nanoindentation, Raman spectroscopy and ball-on-disc tribometry. The new findings in this study comprise: dense, column-free, smooth,…
