Search

In the present work, plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is creatively introduced as a novel method to fabricate multi-layered nanospheres. Titanium (Ti) was oxidized in a phosphate-based electrolyte containing ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), which results in the formation of nanospheres on the ceramic coating. The as-fabricated nanosphere is amorphous with a three-layered architecture. The inner layer of the nanosphere contains Zn, Ca and P whereas Cu and P were detected in the medium layer with the outer layer enriched in Cu, O and Ti, which is promising in the field of bio-medical implanted devices. Herein, a novel one-pot synthesis strategy is proposed to fabricate multi-layered nanospheres, which could enlighten the preparation of hierarchical structures in various fields. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a Cu-incorporated Al 2 O 3 coating has been successfully produced through the one-step plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) method. Unexpectedly, the resultant Cu-incorporated Al 2 O 3 coating displays a multi-layered structure, which exhibits significant variations in morphology, composition and crystallinity. Compared to the compact outer layer of the PEO coating, both medium and inner layers are highly porous even the average pore size of the medium layer is obviously higher than that of the inner layer. The medium layer has a higher Cu content in comparison to both outer and inner layers. And the outer layer mainly consists of crystalline γ-Al 2 O 3 phase whereas both medium and inner layers are in amorphous states. Further, it was found that Cu specie could exist as Cu 2 O and CuO in the Cu-incorporated PEO coating. Finally, it was revealed that the incorporation of Cu into the porous PEO coating significantly improves the antifouling property of Al metallic substrate against SRB, which successfully prevents the formation of SRB biofilm. Hence, PEO method is a promising surface modification technique for the fabrication of antifouling coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]