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The present work illustrates a novel approach for the maskless and resistless fabrication of nanopatterned metal layers on Si substrates, based on the combination of nanomechanical surface modification techniques (such as nanoindentation and nanoscratching) and electrodeposition. Single crystal (1 0 0) n -doped Si substrates were first cleaned from native oxide. Nanoindentation and nanoscratching were then used to locally change the substrate microstructure and create regions with reduced electrical conductivity. The substrates were finally mounted as cathode electrodes in a three-electrode electrochemical cell to potentiostatically deposit a Ni layer. Electrodeposition was prevented in regions with modified microstructure, enabling the formation of a patterned Ni layer. The fabrication of several patterns including continuous Ni lines of 200 nm width and several microns length was obtained.

We investigated the growth and electronic properties of Co-phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecule deposited on iron film with different structures (pseudomorph-fcc and bcc) and on iron nanowires by scanning tunnelling microscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). CoPc molecules self-assemble in a two-dimensional (2D) arrangement with the molecular plane parallel to the iron surfaces, and the local order is lost after the first layer. The molecule ferromagnet interaction causes the broadening of Co and N unoccupied molecular states as well as different electronic distribution of N states as a function of the atomic structure of iron surface. The ferromagnetic coupling between the molecule and the iron film is dominated by the electronic interaction between Co and the first Fe layer. CoPc 2D arrangement turns into 1D by using as a template the iron nanowire grown on a facet surface of oxidized Cu(332) surface. CoPc molecules interact weakly with the iron nanowires manifesting a substantial Co 3d(z) spectral feature in XAS spectrum and the possibility of a magnetic interaction between Co moment and iron nanowires. Both CoPc 2D and 1D arrangements can open up new interesting scenarios to tune the magnetic properties of hybrid interfaces involving metallorganic molecules.

This investigation aims to study a novel biologically derived coating applied on Ti alloy substrates. Obtained from a low-cost fish bone resource, a nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite has been synthesized and converted to an organic suspension. Coating was then manufactured by a high-velocity suspension flame spray process. The microstructure, phase composition, coating thickness, and roughness of hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated samples were studied. The results indicated the presence of both hydroxyapatite and β-tricalcium phosphate phases and the final coating layer was uniform and dense. In vitro bioactivity and biodegradability of the HA/Ti composite samples were estimated by immersion in simulated body fluid. Remarkable reductions in Ca2+ and PO43- ion concentrations were observed as well as low weight loss percentage and a slight variation in the pH value, indicating the generation of an apatite layer on the surface of all studied samples. Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray analysis, and inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry confirm these results. Thus biological derived HA coatings are a promising candidate to enhance bioactivity and biodegradability of bone implants. To demonstrate feasibility on commercial medical components, a medical screw was coated and evaluated., Science & Technology Development Fund (STDF), Projekt DEAL

To endow Ti-based orthopedic implants with strong bactericidal activity, a ZnO nanorods-patterned coating (namely ZNR) was fabricated on Ti utilizing a catalyst- and template-free method of micro-arc oxidation (MAO) and hydrothermal treatment (HT). The coating comprises an outer layer of ZnO nanorods and a partially crystallized inner layer with nanocrystalline TiO2 and Zn2TiO4 embedded amorphous matrix containing Ti, O and Zn. During HT, Zn2+ ions contained in amorphous matrix of the as-MAOed layer migrate to surface and react with OH− in hydrothermal solution to form ZnO nuclei growing in length at expense of the migrated Zn2+. ZNR exhibits intense bactericidal activity against the adhered and planktonic S. aureus in vitro and in vivo. The crucial contributors to kill the adhered bacteria are ZnO nanorods derived mechano-penetration and released reactive oxygen species (ROS). Within 30 min of S. aureus incubation, ROS is the predominant bactericidal contributor with quantitative contribution value of ∼20%, which transforms into mechano-penetration with prolonging time to reach quantitative contribution value of ∼96% at 24 h. In addition, the bactericidal contributor against the planktonic bacteria of ZNR is relied on the released Zn2+. This work discloses an in-depth bactericidal mechanism of ZnO nanorods., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights (1) A templates and catalysts-free method is used to fabricate ZnO nanorods on Ti (2) ZnO nanorods-arrayed coating shows intense broad-spectrum bactericidal activity (3) Main bactericidal contributor of ZnO nanorods to adhered bacteria is mechano-puncture (4) Main bactericidal contributor of ZnO nanorods to planktonic bacteria is released Zn2+

To repair the damaged SiC coated C/C composites, a double-layer system including a Sm-doped borosilicate glass external layer and a Si SiC inner layer was prepared by a slurry-based laser cladding technique. Isothermal oxidation experiment and indirect/direct thermal-radiation measurements were performed. The results showed that the absorbance of borosilicate glass to the laser at 900–1200 nm was improved significantly by Sm-doping. Consequently, the repaired coating with a more compact structure and better oxidation resistance was obtained. After oxidation at 1773 K for 10 h, the mass loss of the damaged sample could be reduced by 74.98% with repairing. By increasing laser-absorption and reducing viscosity, the thermal-radiation property of the repaired coating was enhanced to decrease the surface temperature greatly. A repair system with excellent thermal protection performance was achieved.

As a high-k material, hafnium oxide (HfO2) has been used in gate dielectrics for decades. Since the discovery of polar phase in Si-doped HfO2 films, chemical doping has been widely demonstrated as an effective approach to stabilize the ferroelectric phase in HfO2 based thin films. However, the extra capping layer deposition, post-growth annealing and wake-up effect are usually required to arouse the ferroelectricity in HfO2 based thin films, resulting in the increase of complexity for sample synthesis and the impediment of device application. In this study, the ferroelectricity is observed in non-capped dopant-free HfO2 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) without post-growth annealing. By adjusting the deposited temperature, oxygen pressure and thickness, the maximum polarization up to 14.7 μC/cm2 was obtained in 7.4 nm-thick film. The fraction of orthorhombic phase, concentrations of defects and size effects are considered as possible mechanisms for the influences of ferroelectric properties. This study indicates that PLD is an effective technique to fabricate high-quality ferroelectric HfO2 thin films in the absence of chemical doping, capping layer deposition and post-growth annealing, which may boost the process of nonvolatile memory device application.

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) thin films are promising sensing layer for integration in gas sensor devices for detecting toxic and harmful molecules. Herein, tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films are deposited on interdigital electrodes by vacuum thermal evaporation to realize batch fabrication of high-performance gas sensors. Subsequent annealing at different temperatures allows for regulation of the concentration of oxygen vacancies in the WO3 films, which has been found to exert a great influence on the sensor properties. In addition, the surface structure of WO3 films is also highly dependent on the annealing temperature. Gas sensing investigations show that the WO3 sensor annealed at 500 °C possesses the best sensing properties for detecting triethylamine (TEA) including very high response, good selectivity, fast response, and low limit of detection (63 ppb). The excellent sensor performances are attributed to the enhanced adsorption of oxidative oxygen species due to the presence of abundant oxygen vacancies. The scalable fabrication of WO3 thin film gas sensors and the oxygen vacancy engineering strategy proposed herein may shed some light to developing high performance environmental sensors.

We have studied the effects of proton irradiation on the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with AlN buffer layer as well as conventional GaN buffer layer. It was found that a short time proton irradiation (~ 50 sec) can promote beneficial effects on device performances, which results in great reduction in the off-state leakage current and the gate leakage current without degrading the output current and transconductance. The pulsed I-V measurement demonstrated that both devices exhibit greatly improved current dispersion characteristics and, particularly, the device with AlN buffer layer shows stronger radiation hardness than that of the device with GaN buffer layer. These interesting results are believed to be due to the hydrogen passivation with thermal annealing effect during the proton irradiation. It is expected that the proper irradiation condition such as fluence, energy, and time is crucial to improve the device performances, rather than to deteriorate the performances.

In the field of food packaging, the addition of exfoliated layered silicates in polymers has been established to improve the polymers&rsquo, gas barrier properties. Using these polymers as coatings to protect smart textiles from oxidation and corrosion while maintaining their textile properties should significantly extend their lifetime and promote their market penetration. The aim of this study was to print new polymer dispersions containing layered silicates to protect screen-printed conductive structures, and to test the resulting samples. For this, appropriate printing parameters were determined by statistical design of experiments. According to these results, conductive structures were printed and protected with the selected coating. The abrasion resistance and the continuity of the protective layer of the printed samples were then measured. A continuous protective coating of approximately 70&ndash, 80 &micro, m thickness was applied on a conductive structure. The printed samples showed a very high resistance to abrasion (unchanged by 85,000 abrasion cycles) while remaining flexible and presenting a lower water vapor permeability (&lt, 2.5 g/m&sup2, d) than the coatings commonly used in the textile field.

Using wide-band (0.5-6.5 eV) spectroscopic ellipsometry we study ultrathin [Bi(0.6-2.5 nm)-FeNi(0.8,1.2 nm)]N multilayer films grown by rf sputtering deposition, where the FeNi layer has a nanoisland structure and its morphology and magnetic properties change with decreasing the nominal layer thickness. From the multilayer model simulations of the ellipsometric angles, Psi(omega) and Delta(omega), the complex (pseudo)dielectric function spectra of the Bi layer were extracted. The obtained results demonstrate that the Bi layer can possess the surface metallic conductivity, which is strongly affected by the morphology and magnetic properties of the nanoisland FeNi layer in the GMR-type Bi-FeNi multilayer structures., 6 pages, 4 figures

A facile solution process to synthesis ZnO thin films was successfully conducted in this work. Zinc acetate dihydrates were used as the main precursor, dissolved in the mixture of acetylacetone and ethanol whichact as solvent and precursor simultaneously. This mixture deposited by spin coating and dried under ambient atmosphere at room temperature. The reaction mechanism, structure, morphology, chemical composition and optoelectrical properties of the resulted ZnO thin film were studied. The as deposited films were annealed at 500 °C for 2 h under O2 gas flow added with H2O vapor and CO2 gas. The ZnO thin films showed a dense, homogenous morphology and high transparency. The film is an n-type semiconductor with 3.18 eV bandgap, has 1.25 × 10−19 cm3 carrier concentration, 12 cm2/Vs electron mobility and 2.42 × 10−3 Ω·cm resistivity making it suitable for application as window layer in a photovoltaic cell.

The thermodynamic properties of few-layer graphene arbitrarily stacked on LiNbO3 crystal were characterized by measuring the parameters of a surface acoustic wave as it passed through the graphene/LiNbO3 interface. The parameters considered included the propagation velocity, frequency, and attenuation. Mono-, bi-, tri-, tetra-, and penta-layer graphene samples were prepared by transferring individual graphene layers onto LiNbO3 crystal surfaces at room temperature. Intra-layer lattice deformation was observed in all five samples. Further inter-layer lattice deformation was confirmed in samples with odd numbers of layers. The inter-layer lattice deformation caused stick–slip friction at the graphene/LiNbO3 interface near the temperature at which the layers were stacked. The thermal expansion coefficient of the deformed few-layer graphene transitioned from positive to negative as the number of layers increased. To explain the experimental results, we proposed a few-layer graphene even–odd layer number stacking order effect. A stable pair-graphene structure formed preferentially in the few-layer graphene. In even-layer graphene, the pair-graphene structure formed directly on the LiNbO3 substrate. Contrasting phenomena were noted with odd-layer graphene. Single-layer graphene was bound to the substrate after the stable pair-graphene structure was formed. The pair-graphene structure affected the stacking order and inter-layer lattice deformation of few-layer graphene substantially.

The transparent ceramic laminated structures are comprising of transparent ceramic, glass and PC laminates joined with the polymeric interlayer. Thickness and configuration of the intermediate layer, i.e. the glass layers, play a vital role in the dwell time of projectile and wave propagation response and optical properties of transparent laminates. In present study, ballistic tests are performed to investigate effects of glass configuration structure, e.g., the thickness of sode-lime glasses, the differences in intrinsic characteristics between the sode-lime glass and the borosilicate glass as well as the thickness of the first backing layer of borosilicate glass on ballistic resistance of the transparent sapphire laminated structures. For further clarify the ballistic resistance mechanism, penetration process and response of two transparent laminated structures with three or two borosilicate glass layers were incorporated in the numerical model, respectively, and analyzed using ABAQUS. As revealed by ballistic and optical tests, a novel lightened transparent sapphire laminated structure against 12.7 mm armor-piercing incendiary (API) with integration of good optical properties was fabricated, demonstrating the widely potential application in defense equipment. It was found that the sapphire/sode-lime glass/PC laminated structure exhibits better ballistic resistance than that of the sapphire/borosilicate glass/PC laminated structure. For two targets with equal thickness of glass layers, the thicker of the first backing glass exhibits higher ballistic resistance.

During the synthesis of CdTe quantum dots (QDs) by the hydrothermal method, a CdS shell layer is naturally formed by the thermal decomposition of thiol ligands, and CdTe/CdS core/shell QDs are produced. Herein, we investigate the selective synthesis of CdTe and CdTe/CdS QDs to control the thermal decomposition of thiol ligands by changing the Te/Cd molar ratio of the precursor solutions. ...

Mirrors are used in optical sensors and measurement setups. This creates a demand for mirrors made of new materials and having various properties tailored to specific applications. In this work, we propose silicon covered with a thin silicon nitride layer as a mirror for near-infrared measurements. SiN layer was deposited on a standard silicon wafer with a Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition furnace. Then, the created layer was investigated using ellipsometry and scanning electron microscope. Subsequently, the mirror was used as a reflecting surface in a Fabry–Perot fiber-optic interferometer. The mirror performance was investigated for wavelengths used in telecomunication (1310 nm and 1550 nm) and then compared with results obtained with the same measurement setup, with a silver mirror instead of silicon covered with SiN, as reference. Results showed that the proposed mirror can replace the silver one with satisfying results for investigated wavelengths.

In order to prepare a new high-performance and flexibility stab-resistant composite material, one type of high-toughness and high-strength hydrogel is combined with aramid fabric. In this paper, the nanocomposite (NC) hydrogels are prepared using Pluronic F127 Diacrylate (PF127DA) as the crosslinking agent, acrylamide as the monomer and nano-silica as nano additive. The influence of the addition amount of nano-silica on the toughness and strength of nano-composite hydrogels is discussed. The strength and toughness of the NC hydrogels with nano silica are higher than that of the acrylamide hydrogel without nano particles. The NC hydrogel with the best strength is made as a composite with aramid fabric and the effect of nanocomposite hydrogel on the stab resistance of the stab-resistant composite material is studied. The research shows that the stab resistance performance of the composite material prepared by aramid fabric and nanocomposite hydrogel is effectively improved in comparison with aramid fabric, and the yarn pulling force is also improved. The composite material with high stab resistance can be used as the stab-resistant layer of armor, cut-resistant gloves and stab-resistant base material of shoes. This work provided a possibility for preparing a kind of lightweight composite material with high stab resistance.

The performance and durability of orthopedic implants are mainly determined by their surface integrity. Ball burnishing (BB) is a kind of finishing treatment which improves the surface dependant mechanical properties of metallic biomaterials. In this work, this process was applied on the flat surface of 316L stainless steel to enhance its microhardness and wear resistance. The mathematical modeling of microhardness Vickers was performed by the response surface method (RSM) based on Box–Behnken plans, and the optimum regime was applied under several passes to investigate the effect of number of passes (i) on the surface properties. The evolution of microhardness, nano-hardness and elastic modulus was then examined. Wear resistance, in terms of variation of Coefficient of friction and wear loss, was also investigated. Finally, XRD analysis was performed to evaluate any change in structure produced by BB. The results show that burnishing treatment permits to raise the microhardness by up to 38.3% and to reduce the wear loss by up to 65.2%. Nano-hardness and elastic modulus were also increased after application of the process. XRD patterns indicate that grain refinement was induced with no change in phases composition. The number of passes is proved effective in increasing the depth of the hardened layer, which influences subsequently on the frictional behavior of 316L stainless steel.

To improve the process of mechanical dehydration of semi-finished wet leather products, a multilayer dehydration using felt materials – monshons was experimentally investigated. The process is conducted by vertical feed of semi-finished wet leather products on a base plate between rotating squeezing rollers. The D-optimal method of mathematical planning of the experiment and the Kano design matrix were used for conducting experiments. The multi-layer package consists of five layers of semi-finished wet leather products and two layers of moistureremoving materials between each layer, folded over the base plate. The studies were carried out in laboratory conditions on an experimental bench, taking into account the production parameters of processing. As a result of the study, mathematical dependences of the amount of removed moisture for each of five layers of semifinished wet leather product on the feed speed and the pressure of the squeezing rollers were derived. The analysis of the results showed that, with the existing parameters of mechanical dehydration, it was possible to simultaneously squeeze out moisture from five layers of the semi-finished leather product with a minimum pressure of the squeezing rollers and an average feed speed. The productivity of the technological process was more than five times higher in comparison with the productivity of similar roller machines. In the near future, this research methodology will be used to determine the technological factors affecting the extraction of excess moisture from a package consisting of ten semi-finished wet leather products and moisture-removing materials.

An effective pore sealing post-treatment was applied on a micro-arc oxidation (MAO) layer coated on AZ91 Mg alloy using a new organic-inorganic sealant fabricated by mixing cement particles in paraffin wax. The corrosion behavior of the untreated alloy, the coatings before and after sealing treatment was comparably investigated in 3.5% NaCl solution by immersion tests and electrochemical measurements. Results show that the pores of the MAO coating are successfully sealed and the resultant surface is smooth and hydrophobic. The sealed coating provides excellent corrosion protection for Mg alloys by remarkably delaying the initiation of pitting corrosion. Moreover, the sealed MAO coating reveals an improvement in corrosion resistance compared with the unsealed coating. Such improvement is related to the hydrophobic surface and a new layer formed by the combination of ionic species originating from decomposed coating materials and cement particles in the electrolyte. The new layer along with the decomposed MAO coating develops a two-layer structure which postpones the initiation of pitting corrosion. In addition, the corrosion products that remain in pits also contribute to the smallest corrosion rate for the sealed coating. The sealing treatment using the sealant presented herein provides an effective way to modify porous coatings to enhance the corrosion resistance performance of magnesium alloys.

The present study aims to develop multilayer barrier-bioactive hybrid sol-gel coatings from a mixture of the silane precursors tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GPTMS) deposited on the Elektron 21 magnesium alloy. The purpose of the inner layer (barrier coating) was to provide corrosion protection to the magnesium alloy, whereas the outer layer (bioactive coating) was doped with different Ca and Mg contents to produce a bioactive material. The coatings were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and their corrosion behaviour was evaluated by anodic polarisation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy after immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 ± 0.5 °C. The experimental results showed that the multilayer coatings increased the corrosion resistance of the alloy up to three orders of magnitude during immersion in SBF solution. On the other hand, the presence of Ca and Mg in the bioactive coating promoted the growth of apatite-like phases. However, an increment of salt content favoured the formation of porous coatings, which allowed the access of the electrolyte to the substrate leading to their rapid deterioration. Despite the latter, this research endorses the premise that the TEOS-GPTMS hybrid system represents a promising alternative to produce bifunctional barrier-bioactive coatings.

In order to enhance the plasma nitriding efficiency and improve the hardness and wear resistance of 316L austenitic stainless steel, severe plastic deformation was adopted prior to plasma nitriding. The microstructure, phase constituents, hardness and wear resistance samples after plasma nitriding were determined by metallographic microscope, X-ray diffractometer, microhardness tester and universal friction and wear tester. The results showed that severe plastic deformation had significant enhancement effect on plasma nitriding efficiency. Under the same plasma nitriding parameters of 420 °C and 4 h, the thickness of nitriding layer was increased from 6.36 μm to 14.10 μm, more than twice thicker enhanced by severe plastic deformation. XRD confirmed that the nitriding layer is consisted of S phase. Meanwhile, the surface hardness was improved from 990HV to 1110 HV and with moderated gradient of cross sectional hardness; more valuably, the wear resistance was greatly enhanced by severe plastic deformation.

The fast shrinkage nature and volume reduction after printing are the main problems whereby semi-crystalline polymers like polypropylene (PP) are not commonly used as a fused filament fabrication material. Finding a solution to shrinkage reduction, therefore, is of great importance. This work has formulated peroxide-coagent modified PP filament to suit the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process to reduce shrinkage through in-situ cross-linking. The peroxide-coagent composition was optimized through the melt-mixing study by evaluating the processing temperature and peroxide-coagent concentration. Experimental results were confirmed the in-situ bond formation during printing and the impact on printed samples' shrinkage and mechanical performance. Several printing parameters (printing temperature, infill ratio, layer height) were evaluated to obtain a 3D printed sample with less shrinkage. The sample printed at 245 °C with 0.2 mm layer height and 100% infill was found to have a higher gel content and improved welding between the adjacent layers, enhancing the mechanical property and reducing shrinkage on the printed part. The elevated bed and printing temperature helped keep the layer in a partially liquefied stage during printing, making pressure relaxation and progress in inter-layer adhesion. Generally, this work expands PP utilization in the FFF 3D printing process and provides insight into the cross-linking during 3D printing.

A deposited layer of Sn-based Babbitt alloys was fabricated on the surface of the steel substrate via the arc deposition technique. The effect of the composition of Zn on the microstructure and mechanical properties has been systematically studied. The morphology of Babbitt alloys and the interfacial microstructure of the interface between the cladding layer and substrate have been investigated. The experimental results revealed that SnSb phases and Cu6Sn5 phases become more uniformly dispersed in the Sn-matrix as Zn composition increased, which resulting in the improvement of hardness and tensile strength. The enhanced performance can be attributed to precipitation strengthening of the newly formed substitutional solid solution Cu6Zn0.5Sn4.5. The bonding strength of Babbitt and steel has been tested according to the standard destructive testing method of sliding bearing. The bonding strength increased and decreased with the increment of Zn, since excessive Zn led the fracture site to shift from the SnSb phase to the segregated Cu6Sn4.5Zn 0.5 at the interface near IMC layers.

The characteristics of traps between the Al0.25Ga0.75N barrier and the GaN channel layer in a high-electron-mobility-transistors (HEMTs) were investigated. The interface traps at the Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaN interface as well as the border traps were experimentally analyzed because the Al0.25Ga0.75N barrier layer functions as a dielectric owing to its high dielectric constant. The interface trap density Dit and border trap density Nbt were extracted from a long-channel field-effect transistor (FET), conventionally known as a FATFET structure, via frequency-dependent capacitance–voltage (C–V) and conductance–voltage (G–V) measurements. The minimum Dit value extracted by the conventional conductance method was 2.5 × 1012 cm−2·eV−1, which agreed well with the actual transistor subthreshold swing of around 142 mV·dec−1. The border trap density Nbt was also extracted from the frequency-dependent C–V characteristics using the distributed circuit model, and the extracted value was 1.5 × 1019 cm−3·eV−1. Low-frequency (1/f) noise measurement provided a clearer picture of the trapping–detrapping phenomena in the Al0.25Ga0.75N layer. The value of the border trap density extracted using the carrier-number-fluctuation (CNF) model was 1.3 × 1019 cm−3·eV−1, which is of a similar level to the extracted value from the distributed circuit model.

Ti-based electrode coated with MnOx catalytic layer has presented superior electrochemical activity for degradation of organic pollution in wastewater, however, the industrial application of Ti-based MnOx electrode is limited by the poor stability of the electrode. In this study, the novel Ti-based MnOx electrodes co-incorporated with rare earth (Ce) and conductive carbon black (C) were prepared by spraying-calcination method. The Ti/Ce:MnOx-C electrode, with uniform and integrated surface and enhanced Mn(IV) content by C and Ce co-incorporation, could completely remove ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) with N2 as the main product. The cell potential and energy consumption of Ti/Ce:MnOx-C electrode during the electrochemical process was significantly reduced compared with Ti/MnOx electrode, which mainly originated from the enhanced electrochemical activity and reduced charge transfer resistance by Ce and C co-incorporation. The accelerated lifetime tests in sulfuric acid showed that the actual service lifetime of Ti/Ce:MnOx-C was ca. 25 times that of Ti/MnOx, which demonstrated the significantly promoted stability of MnOx-based electrode by Ce and C co-incorporation. HIGHLIGHTS The Ti-based MnOx electrodes co-incorporated with Ce and C were prepared and served as electrocatalysts to remove ammonia nitrogen.; The cell potential and energy consumption of Ti/Ce:MnOx-C was reduced by 35% compared with Ti/MnOx, originating from the enhanced activity and reduced resistance.; The service lifetime of Ti/Ce:MnOx-C was improved by 25 times compared with Ti/MnOx, demonstrating the promoted stability.

AA6061 alloy sheets have been successfully spot-welded to dual-phase DP600 steel sheets with pinless friction stir spot welding method. The Box-Behnken design of experiments was implemented to arrange the tests. The individual and interaction effect of each process parameter on the lap-shear failure load of the joints was investigated. The maximum failure load of 4.4 kN was achieved at 1300 rpm rotational speed, 2000 kg axial force, and 10 s welding time. Microstructural features of the interfaces and phase evolution were studied by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The bonding mechanisms at the joint interface are classified into two types: thick intermetallic layer (type I), and thin intermetallic layer with thick Zn–Al diffusion region (type II) in the aluminum/steel interface.

The effects of secondary passivation on the electrochemical behavior of passive films on the surface of 2205 duplex stainless steel were studied by potentiodynamic polarization, EIS and Mott-Schottky analysis. The composition and surface morphology of the passive film were analyzed by ICP-MS, ARXPS and SEM. These results manifested that the passive film formed by secondary passivation has good pitting resistance, due to the increase of the content of oxidized Fe3+, Cr3+ and Mo4+ in the passive film, which improves and increases the dissolution and migration rate of metal cations in the passive film, thus improving the compactness and stability of the passive film. The Mott-Schottky plots demonstrated that the five kinds of passive films have different semiconductor properties. The estimated doping density shows that the donor density of the passive film was significantly reduced by secondary passivation. In addition, Cl- and SO42- are permeated in the passivation layer and their adsorption on the surface of the passive film can be inhibited by the secondary passivation.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) can be used as passive wireless sensors in high temperature environments. For such applications, protective layers are crucial and important for the SAW sensors. In this paper, ultra-thin Al2O3 layers prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and RF magnetron sputtering were used to protect SAW devices with platinum (Pt) electrodes and their temperature stability was studied systematically. The devices were thermally treated up to 1150 °C in air, the real-time resistance of Pt resistive tracks with a sputtering Al2O3 protective layer showed much better and improved thermal stability than those without or with an ALD Al2O3 protective layer. Microstructure characterizations showed that the superior temperature stability is attributed to its mixture of amorphous and nano-crystalline nature of the Al2O3 layer deposited by sputtering and full recrystallization at high temperatures. SAW devices with a sputtering Al2O3 protective layer after 1150 °C treatment maintained almost unchanged properties, while those with an ALD Al2O3 protective layer failed to work. Investigation also indicated there exists an optimal thickness for the sputtering Al2O3 layer to achieve best performance and thermal-stability for the SAW devices. Besides, the deposition rate of Al2O3 layer by sputtering is 10 times faster than that by ALD. All the results demonstrate that the sputtering Al2O3 protective layer is more suitable for high temperature SAW device applications owing to its lower cost, higher deposition rate and temperature stability.

To achieve adhesive and conformable wearable electronics, improving stretchable transparent electrode (STE) becomes an indispensable bottleneck needed to be addressed. Here, we adopt a nonuniform Young’s modulus structure with silver nanowire (AgNW) and fabricate a STE layer. This layer possesses transparency of >88% over a wide spectrum range of 400–1000 nm, sheet resistance below 20 Ω sq−1, stretchability of up to 100%, enhanced mechanical robustness, low surface roughness, and good interfacial wettability for solution process. As a result of all these properties, the STE enables the fabrication of a highly efficient ultraflexible wearable device comprising of both organic photovoltaic (OPV) and organic photodetector (OPD) parts with high mechanical durability and conformability, for energy-harvesting and biomedical-sensing applications, respectively. This demonstrates the great potential of the integration of OPVs and OPDs, capable of harvesting energy independently for biomedical applications, paving the way to a future of independent conformable wearable OPV/OPDs for different applications.

Phosphorus oxide (PO x ) capped by aluminum oxide (Al2O3) has recently been discovered to provide excellent surface passivation of crystalline silicon (c-Si). In this work, insights into the passivation mechanism of PO x /Al2O3 stacks are gained through a systematic study of the influence of deposition temperature (Tdep = 100-300 °C) and annealing temperature (Tann = 200-500 °C) on the material and interface properties. It is found that employing lower deposition temperatures enables an improved passivation quality after annealing. Bulk composition, density, and optical properties vary only slightly with deposition temperature, but bonding configurations are found to be sensitive to temperature and correlated with the interface defect density (Dit), which is reduced at lower deposition temperature. The fixed charge density (Qf) is in the range of + (3-9) × 1012 cm-2 and is not significantly altered by annealing, which indicates that the positively charged entities are generated during deposition. In contrast, Dit decreases by 3 orders of magnitude (∼1013 to ∼1010 eV-1 cm-2) upon annealing. This excellent chemical passivation is found to be related to surface passivation provided by hydrogen, and mixing of aluminum into the PO x layer, leading to the formation of AlPO4 upon annealing.

Purpose. The problem of a non-zonal vortex layer on the β-plane in the Miles – Ribner formulation is considered. It is known that in the absence of the β-effect, the vortex layer has no neutral eigenmodes, and the available two ones (varicose and sinusoidal) are unstable. Initially, generalization of the problem to the β-plane concerned only the zonal case. The problem for a non-zonal vortex layer is examined for the first time in the paper. It is known that in the WKB approximation for the linear wave disturbances (regardless of whether a zonal or non-zonal background flow is considered), there is an adiabatic invariant in the form of the law of the enstrophy flow (vorticity) conservation. For the zonal vortex layer, the enstrophy conservation law also holds, and no vorticity exchange occurs between the waves and the flow in the zonal case. The non-zonal vortex layer has qualitatively different features; particularly, it does not retain enstrophy. Thus, as a result, there appears a new class of solutions which can be interpreted as pure radiation of the Rossby waves by a non-zonal flow. Generalizing the vortex layer problem on the β-plane to the non-zonal case constitutes the basic aim of the present study. Methods and Results. A new class of linear stationary wave solutions, namely the Rossby waves, is found. It is shown a non-zonal flow can be directed in one way, whereas the stationary wave disturbances can move in the opposite (contrary) direction. The coexistence of such solutions for the shear non-zonal flow and stationary wave disturbances takes place due to the influence of the external force and mathematically comes from a non-self-adjoint character of the linear operator for a non-zonal background flow. Conclusion. There exists a new class of solutions that can be interpreted as pure radiation of the Rossby waves by a non-zonal flow. There is no such solution for a zonal flow. It is just non-zoning that gives the effect of pure radiation and corresponds to the classical definition of radiation. This approach makes it possible to eliminate inconsistency in terminology, when instabilities are mistakenly called radiation, and radiation – pure radiation.

Layer stacking of two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, is critical for controlling their physical and transport properties. By exploiting a specific stacking order, the electronic band structures of such 2D materials can be tuned, from which unusual and exotic properties may emerge. Graphene oxide (GO) undergoes layer stacking along with its photo- and thermal-induced reduction process; however, the underlying mechanism and dynamics during its layer stacking have not been revealed. In this study, we demonstrate time-resolved electron diffraction for monitoring the structural dynamics during the layer stacking of GO induced by ultraviolet photoexcitation. The experimental results accompanied by the density functional theory calculations reveal that AB stacking of graphitic domains of GO layers coincides within ∼40 ps with photoinduced removal of the epoxy-oxygen from the basal plane of GO via the strong interactions between the GO layers.

One-dimensional and two-dimensional materials are widely used to compose the conductive network atop soft substrate to form flexible strain sensors for several wearable electronic applications. However, limited contact area and layer misplacement hinder the rapid development of flexible strain sensors based on 1D or 2D materials. To overcome these drawbacks above, we proposed a hybrid strategy by combining 1D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2D graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), and the developed strain sensor based on CNT-GNP hierarchical networks showed remarkable sensitivity and tenability. The strain sensor can be stretched in excess of 50% of its original length, showing high sensitivity (gauge factor 197 at 10% strain) and tenability (recoverable after 50% strain) due to the enhanced resistive behavior upon stretching. Moreover, the GNP-CNT hybrid thin film shows highly reproducible response for more than 1000 loading cycles, exhibiting long-term durability, which could be attributed to the GNPs conductive networks significantly strengthened by the hybridization with CNTs. Human activities such as finger bending and throat swallowing were monitored by the GNP-CNT thin film strain sensor, indicating that the stretchable sensor could lead to promising applications in wearable devices for human motion monitoring.

We have developed a simplified approach to fabricate high-reflectivity mirrors suitable for applications in a strongly-coupled organic-semiconductor microcavity. Such mirrors are based on a small number of quarter-wave dielectric pairs deposited on top of a thick silver film that combine high reflectivity and broad reflectivity bandwidth. Using this approach, we construct a microcavity containing the molecular dye BODIPY-Br in which the bottom cavity mirror is composed of a silver layer coated by a SiO2 and a Nb2O5 film, and show that this cavity undergoes polariton condensation at a similar threshold to that of a control cavity whose bottom mirror consists of ten quarter-wave dielectric pairs. We observe, however, that the roughness of the hybrid mirror—caused by limited adhesion between the silver and the dielectric pair—apparently prevents complete collapse of the population to the ground polariton state above the condensation threshold.

Two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets have emerged as a promising material for transparent, flexible micro-supercapacitors, but their use in electrodes is hindered by their poor electrical conductivity and cycling stability because of restacking. In this paper, we report a novel electrode architecture to exploit electrochemical activity of MoS2 nanosheets. Electrochemically exfoliated MoS2 dispersion was spin coated on mesh-like silver networks encapsulated with a flexible conducting film exhibiting a pseudocapacitive behavior. MoS2 nanosheets were electrochemically active over the whole electrode surface and the conductive layer provided a pathway to transport electrons between the MoS2 and the electrolyte. As the result, the composite electrode achieved a large areal capacitance (89.44 mF cm−2 at 6 mA cm−2) and high energy and power densities (12.42 µWh cm−2 and P = 6043 µW cm−2 at 6 mA cm−2) in a symmetric cell configuration with 3 M KOH solution while exhibiting a high optical transmittance of ~80%. Because the system was stable against mechanical bending and charge/discharge cycles, a flexible micro-supercapacitor that can power electronics at different bending states was realized., Graphical abstract

This research studies the physical, superhydrophobic, and optical properties of functionalized silica-coated copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) pigments. The silica coating was confirmed by the size increase and the atomic ratio of silicon and copper of the coated pigments. Under optimal conditions, the green and blue shades of the pigments were enhanced as indicated by the increase in solar reflectance at 450-540 nm for the CuPc green and 380-520 nm for the CuPc blue. The total near-infrared (NIR) reflectance of the CuPc green and blue also increases by 10.6 and 11.5% compared to the uncoated pigments, respectively. The functionalized silica layer also adds a superhydrophobic property to the pigments. The contact angles of the functionalized pigments with water and oil are 154.4 and 54.3° for the CuPc green pigment and 142.9 and 78.1° for the CuPc blue pigment, respectively. The improved optical and hydrophobic properties make the pigment suitable for outdoor applications as an advanced protection layer to slow down material degradations from heat and humidity.

This study represents the investigation of In2S3 thin films as an electron transport layer in the CuBaSn(S, Se)-CBT(S, Se) solar cells, which have been deposited using the Chemical Spray Pyrolysis method. For studying the electrical properties of films such as conduction and valence band, carrier densities, Fermi level, flat band potential, and semiconductor type, the Mott–Schottky analysis has been used. UV–VIS, XRD, and FESEM have been applied to investigate the optical properties of the layers and the layer’s morphologies. The experimental CBT(S, Se) solar cell has been simulated and validated as the next step. After that, the In2S3 layer has been used as the electron transport layer. The results represent that the In2S3 layer is a suitable substitution for toxic CdS. Finally, the In2S3 properties are varied in reasonable ranges, which means different electron transport layers are screened.

The effect of interfacial layer (SnOx) on the performance of the complementary electrochromic devices (ECDs) was examined, revealing that the SnOx/WO3 bilayer cathodes could enhance the electrochromic performance, such as a superior long-term cycling stability over 10,000 cycles, a high coloration efficiency of 101.61 cm2 C−1 and a maximum transmittance modulation of 49.27%@633 nm. Moreover, compared with the single layer WO3, the SnOx/WO3 bilayer exhibited improved electrochemical activities and reaction kinetics. The probable explanation is that the introduced interfacial layer can boost the double injection of ions and electrons, balance the transport of ions and electrons, and protect the electrode from degradation by serving as a buffer layer during coloration/bleaching cycles. These results further provide a valuable insight for improving the electrochromic properties of the films instead of relying on conventional methods such as nanostructural or compositional control.

We prepared a hybrid electrode comprosed of a silver nanowires/poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (AgNW/PEDOT:PSS) nanocomposite for flexible organic light-emitting diodes (FOLEDs). To increase the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS, diethylene glycol (DEG) was introduced into the PEDOT:PSS solution. The PEDOT:PSS layer shows a higher figure of merits (FoM) when prepared with the optimum amount of 7 vol%-DEG in the coating solution, due to the three-dimensional conducting network formed in the hybrid electrode. The perfluorinated ionomer (PFI) was also introduced into the PEDOT:PSS solution, and the resulting polymer solution was used to prepare a transparent anode on polymeric substrates. The PEDOT:PSS layers with higher contents of PFI exhibited higher work functions of 5.9 eV, due to control of the surface composition. After bending for 600,000 cycles, the hybrid electrode maintained a low R/R0 value. When the hybrid electrode with PFI-PEDOT:PSS was used as a transparent anode in a flexible OLED device, the FOLED exhibited a 25% higher current efficiency. Therefore, the enhanced performance of the FOLED devices fabricated on PFI-PEDOT:PSS anodes could be applicable to flexible displays.

In this research work, Ti laminated composites were successfully prepared by employing metallic additive powders between Ti sheets; this was done using the spark plasma sintering process. Accordingly, Mo, Cr, Si and Co were inserted between Ti layers, and spark plasma sintering was carried out at 1250°C. Regarding the Ti-Si laminated composite, the final products comprised divided sintered Si and Ti sheets not stuck together. A new sample was prepared at a temperature higher than 1850°C with the appropriate bonding of layers. The XRD pattern of the samples cross-section revealed dominant Ti peaks in Ti-Cr and Ti-Mo; meanwhile, in the related XRD patterns, the intermetallic compounds between Ti and metallic additives of Co and Si were the dominant peaks. The FESEM images taken from the samples cross-section demonstrated the ultra-short-range diffusion of Mo into the Ti sheets. The process was amplified from Cr additives to Co; it appeared that the laminated structure was changed into a uniform one of the Ti-Co alloy. Regarding the Si additive, the laminated structure turned into the intermetallic of Ti5Si3-Ti5Si4 islands and seemed to be the composite. Studying the mechanical properties also showed the highest Vickers hardness of 1121±32 HV1 for the Ti-Si sample in terms of the intermetallic nature of the formed sample, whereas the highest bending strength of 998±16 MPa was noticed in the Ti-Cr laminated composite.

Total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) is a powerful technique for trace elemental analysis of various liquid samples. A small volume of the liquid sample is dropped onto a flat substrate, and the dried residue is measured using TXRF. Usually, the substrate surface is treated with a silicone solution to make it hydrophobic. Such hydrophobic substrates are useful to concentrate the analyte at a small point, leading to a dot-type residue. However, the solution sample will provide a residue with a height of several tens of μm depending on the matrix of the solution, in which self-absorption is a serious problem. In this paper, the authors applied a He atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) treatment to a glass substrate to obtain a hydrophilic surface. The chemical properties of the glass substrate surface were drastically changed by the application of the He APPJ. The contact angle of the liquid droplet was 5.2° on the APPJ-treated glass, while it was 88.8° on the glass with a silicone layer. A droplet of the liquid solution smoothly spread over the APPJ-treated glass substrate, leading to a thin film-like residue. The recovery and detection limits for TXRF analysis of a standard solution sample were improved especially for low-Z elements by using the APPJ-treated glass substrates. This new sample preparation technique was also applied for TXRF analysis of a red wine sample. We found that this hydrophilic glass substrate gave a film-like residue from a small droplet of the red wine. Reasonable TXRF quantitative results were obtained by the Ga internal standard method. The preliminary experimental results suggested that the film-type residue produced on the APPJ-treated substrate was effective in decreasing the matrix effect especially for low-Z elements.

Two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), due to its extraordinary thermal, chemical, and optical properties, has arisen as an enticing material for the research community to explore for various applications, including the use of site defects in hBN as single photon emitters (SPEs). In this review, we systematically summarize recent advanced strategies towards the controllable synthesis of 2D hBN using chemical vapor deposition, towards a full control of the domain size, orientation, morphology, layer number, and stacking order, etc. Moreover, we review the underlying mechanisms for single photon emission (SPE) in hBN and methods to selectively generate and tune the SPEs. Defects (e.g., carbon substituted defects) are discussed for the potential use as emission sites. We finally give an outlook of future challenges and opportunities on desirable hBN synthesis and further investigation of SPEs in hBN, targeting to utilize hBN as single photon emitters in an industrial scale.

Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) has held great potential for the advancement of biodegradable implants, as it helps in developing porous bioceramic coatings on the surface of magnesium alloys. In this research work, MgO-based bioceramic coatings containing the Si, P, Ca, Na, and F elements have been successfully fabricated on an AZ31 magnesium alloy plate utilizing the PEO method. The characteristic current-voltage behavior of the samples during the process was surveyed in an electrolyte containing Ca(H2PO4)2, Na2SiO3·9H2O, Na3PO4·12H2O, NaF, and KOH with a pH of 12.5 and electrical conductivity of 20 mS/cm. The results revealed that applying a voltage of 350–400 V (that is 50–100 V higher than the breakdown limit) could greatly facilitate the synthesis of a PEO ceramic coating with fewer defects and more uniform morphology. The resulting coating was a compositionally graded bioceramic layer with a thickness in the range of 3.5 ± 0.4 to 6.0 ± 0.7 µm, comprising the above-mentioned elements as promising bioactive agents. The synthesized ceramic features were investigated in terms of the elemental distribution of components through the thickness, which indicated a gradual rise in the Si and P contents and, conversely, a decline in the F content towards the outer surface. The growth mechanism of the PEO coating has been discussed accordingly.

It has been found that two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, can be used as remarkable gas detection platforms as even minimal chemical interactions can lead to distinct changes in electrical conductivity. In this work, epitaxially grown graphene was decorated with iron oxide nanoparticles for sensor performance tuning. This hybrid surface was used as a sensing layer to detect formaldehyde and benzene at concentrations of relevance in air quality monitoring (low parts per billion). Moreover, the time constants could be drastically reduced using a derivative sensor signal readout, allowing detection at the sampling rates desired for air quality monitoring applications.

We describe here the construction and characterization of a high-resolution optical magnetometer to measure the full vector magnetic field on an ultrathin layer near the surface of the device. This solid-state device is based on quantum sensors created by a layer of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers less than 20 nm below the surface of an ultrapure diamond. This ensemble of nanosensors provides a versatile device capable of mapping magnetic fields and surface current densities with a sub-micrometer resolution and high sensitivity, making it suitable for many applications. Here, we show a custom-built prototype to demonstrate an operating proof-of-concept device., 13 pages, 7 figures, SBFoton International Optics and Photonics Conference 2021

In this research, plasma electrolytic oxidation coatings were prepared on AZ31 Mg alloy in a silicate-based solution containing K2TiF6 using bipolar and soft sparking waveforms with 10, 20, and 30% cathodic duty cycles. The coatings displayed a net-like surface morphology consisted of irregular micro-pores, micro-cracks, fused oxide particles, and a sintered structure. Due to the incorporation of TiO2 colloidal particles and the cathodic pulse repair effect, most of the micro-pores were sealed. Long-term corrosion performance of the coatings was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy during immersion in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution up to 14 days. The coating grown by the soft sparking waveform with a 20% cathodic duty cycle having the lowest porosity (6.2%) and a sharp layer concentrated in F element at the substrate/coating interface shows the highest corrosion resistance. The friction coefficient of this coating has remained stable during the sliding even under 5 N normal load, showing relatively higher wear resistance than other coatings. The coating produced using the equivalent unipolar waveform, as the reference specimen, showed the highest friction coefficient and the lowest wear resistance despite its highest micro-hardness.

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have become a major topic of research in thin film photovoltaics due to their advantageous optoelectronic properties. These devices typically have the MHP absorber layer sandwiched between two charge selective layers (CSLs). The interfaces between the perovskite layer and these CSLs are potential areas of higher charge recombination. Understanding the nature of these interfaces is key for device improvement. Additionally, non-stoichiometric perovskite films are expected to strongly impact the interfacial properties. In this study, the interface between CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) and copper phthalocyanine (CuPc), a hole transport layer (HTL), is studied at the atomic scale. We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) combined with density functional theory (DFT) predictions to show that CuPc deposited on MAPbX3 (X = I,Br) forms a self-assembled layer consistent with the α-polymorph of CuPc. Additionally, STM images show a distinctly different adsorption orientation for CuPc on non-perovskite domains of the thin film samples. These findings highlight the effect of non-stoichiometric films on the relative orientation at the MHP/HTL interface, which may affect interfacial charge transport in a device. Our work provides an atomic scale view of the MHP/CuPc interface and underscores the importance of understanding interfacial structures and the effect that the film stoichiometry can have on interfacial properties.

Biofouling has been persisting as a worldwide problem due to the difficulties in finding efficient environment-friendly antifouling coatings for long-term applications. Developing novel coatings with desired antifouling properties has been one of the research goals for surface coating community. Recently hydrogel coating was proposed to serve as antifouling layer, for it offers the advantages of the ease of incorporating green biocides, and resisting attachment of microorganisms by its soft surface. Yet poor adhesion of the hydrogel on steel surfaces is a big concern. In this study, porous matrix aluminum coatings were fabricated by cored wire arc spray, and the sizes of the pores in the aluminum (Al) coatings were controlled by altering the size of the cored powder of sodium chloride. Silicone hydrogel was further deposited on the porous coating. The hydrogel penetrated into the open pores of the porous Al coatings, and the porous Al structure significantly enhanced the adhesion of the hydrogel. In addition, hydrogel coating exhibited very encouraging antifouling properties.

Discharge failure mechanism of the cable buffer layer is investigated in this paper by the analysis of causes and characteristics of partial discharge (PD) behaviours in the case of failure. The obtained results show that both the volume resistivity and the surface resistance of the buffer layer increase as the relative humidity is elevated. It is found that the electric field distribution inside the buffer layer is distorted when there is poor contact condition and aggravated with the increase of the volume resistivity by the finite element analysis. PD behaviours analysis shows that the PD intensity is closely related to the contact state of the buffer layer, and hence the latter can be reflected by statistical parameters like the maximum pulse amplitude and the average equivalent frequency. The conclusions indicate that the electric field distortion is caused by the variation of the contact state of the buffer layer and the deterioration, which is responsible for the occurrence of PD. Therefore, the PD detection for the suspected faulty cables provides an effective method for the state evaluation of the buffer layer.

Cu2S is a promising solar energy conversion material owing to its good optical properties, elemental earth abundance, and low cost. However, simple and cheap methods to prepare phase‐pure and photo‐active Cu2S thin films are lacking. This study concerns the development of a cost‐effective and high‐throughput method that consists of dissolving high‐purity commercial Cu2S powder in a thiol‐amine solvent mixture followed by spin coating and low‐temperature annealing to obtain phase‐pure crystalline low chalcocite Cu2S thin films. After coupling with a CdS buffer layer, a TiO2 protective layer and a RuO x hydrogen evolution catalyst, the champion Cu2S photocathode gives a photocurrent density of 2.5 mA cm−2 at −0.3 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (VRHE), an onset potential of 0.42 VRHE, and high stability over 12 h in pH 7 buffer solution under AM1.5 G simulated sunlight illumination (100 mW cm−2). This is the first thiol‐amine‐based ink deposition strategy to prepare phase‐pure Cu2S thin films achieving decent photoelectrochemical performance, which will facilitate its future scalable application for solar‐driven hydrogen fuel production., Phase‐pure and photoactive Cu2S thin films are prepared by dissolving Cu2S powder in a thiol‐amine solvent mixture followed by spin‐coating and low‐temperature annealing. The champion photocathode delivers a photocurrent density of 2.5 mA cm−2 at −0.3 V vs. VRHE, an onset potential of 0.42 VRHE, and high stability over 12 h in a pH 7 buffer solution under AM1.5 G simulated sunlight illumination (100 mW cm−2).