In this study, we investigated the ordered self-assembly of N-heterocyclic donors (8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ)) on porous material surfaces (MgO-MgAl2O4) to fabricate flower-like structures. Further, we examined the effect of the solvent (ethanol, methanol, and water) on the self-ordered assembly of these molecules. The 8-HQ molecules exhibited different morphology as they grew on the porous inorganic surface, which were attributed to the distinct polarity that influences the coordination between 8-HQ and metal ions dissolved from the inorganic layer using the solvent. The electrochemical performance was improved significantly with the addition of an organic layer on the porous inorganic surface, as confirmed through an electrochemical analysis. And Ethanol exhibited the best promotion with respect to the formation of a compact and well-organized assemblies flower structure, facilitated by the strongest inter-molecular hydrogen bonding and & lcy;-& lcy; interactions. The results showed that the ethanol-derived hybrid coating showed the lowest corrosion rate with a value of 2.174 x 10-4 mpy, and highest R value of 4.96 x 105 Omega cm2, demonstrating superior anti-corrosion performance over Mg substrate under aggressive environment. These results highlight solvent polarity as a powerful strategy for directing supra-molecular assembly and achieving substantial improvements in corrosion protection.

The potential applications of biocompatible Ni-Cr-Mo alloys in dental prosthetics have been evaluated focusing on their resistance to oral environments and biocompatibility behavior. Two types of alloys were examined: a commercially available alloy used as received and a manufactured alloy, which was deposited onto a Teflon substrate via direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering. The corrosion resistance of these two nickel-based alloys was assessed through immersion testing procedures. A total of six samples were analyzed under three different distinct environmental conditions: drinking water, artificial saliva, and water with elevated concentrations of fluoride. The results revealed that the commercially available alloy released nickel ions at remarkably high concentrations in all three solutions, followed by molybdenum and then chromium. However, the DC-deposited manufactured samples presented notable decreases in nickel and molybdenum ion release with increasing release of chromium ion. This trend suggests that the potential of DC magnetron sputtering for improving biocompatible Ni-Cr-Mo alloys can be evaluated to determine the risk of this type of alloy for dental applications.

Our study uniquely explores the function of DC magnetron sputtering power in enhancing the deposition of Ni-Cr-Mo thin films for dental implant applications. Films deposited on 304 stainless steel and silicon substrates (70-100 W) exhibited power-dependent structural and compositional changes, directly linked to enhanced performance. Increasing sputtering power to 100 W elevated Cr/Mo content by similar to 10 % and reduced corrosion rate by 40 % compared to 70 W, while contact angles surpassed 98 degrees, achieving hydrophobicity. These improvements stem from denser morphologies and preferential deposition of passivating elements (Cr/Mo), as confirmed by XRD and SEM-EDX. In contrast to previous studies concerning mainly bulk alloy properties, this study establishes a direct process-property relationship for thin film coatings enabling precise control for corrosion resistance and surface wettability as key players to improve implant longevity in biological settings. Therefore, by establishing the correlation between sputtering parameters and electrochemical stability, the present study enhances the design of durable, bioinert coatings, thereby providing a scalable strategy to optimize dental implant materials.

High‐entropy alloys (HEAs), which are near‐equimolar alloys of four or more metal elements, have long been used to achieve the desired properties of catalytic materials. However, a novel alloying approach that includes multiple principal elements at high concentrations to generate HEAs as novel catalytic materials has been reported. The fabrication of well‐defined ultrastable supported HEAs, which provide superior performance and stability of catalysts owing to their augmented entropy and lower Gibbs free energy, remains a critical challenge. Supported HEA catalysts are sophisticated because of the variety of their morphologies and large sizes at the nanoscale. To address these challenges, PtPdInGaP@TiO 2 , comprising five different metals, is prepared via ultrasonic‐assisted coincident electro‐oxidation–reduction precipitation (U‐SEO‐P). The electronic structure and catalytic performance of HEA nanoparticles (NPs) are studied using hard scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), which is the first direct observation of the electronic structure of HEA NPs. This research takes an important step forward in fully describing individual HEA NPs. Combining STEM with deep learning with convolutional neural network (CNN) of selected individual HEA NPs reveals significant aspects of shape and size for widespread and commercially important PtPdInGaP@TiO 2 NPs. The proposed method facilitates the detection and segmentation of HEA NPs, which has the potential for the development of high‐performance catalysts for the reduction of organic compounds. image

Structural microdefects on inorganic layers grown via soft plasma discharge can aggravate corrosion in numerous settings. Therefore, advanced surface treatments is required emergently to develop superior corrosion-resistant coating while it still remains challenging to incorporate dual functions such as anticorrosion and antibacterial attributes simultaneously for versatile applications. To this end, this study presents a rapid approach to treat structural pores and cracks with diverse dimensions and sizes in inorganic layers through the self-assembly of hydrogenated C36 dimer fatty acid (DFA; C36H68O4) on defect sites. Microstructural analysis and first-principles calculations revealed that physical and chemical interactions between DFA and the inorganic layer significantly improved the performance and accuracy of the defect treatment. The resulting DFA–inorganic hybrid material demonstrated superior corrosion resistance and antibacterial activity due to the hydroxyl group's electron-donating properties, which considerably enhanced the adsorption of the transparent hydrogenated DFA layer onto the inorganic layer. Additionally, the anticorrosive performance was driven by chemical adsorption through three Mg–O bonds.

ABSTRACT The synergistic effect of bi‐component support catalysts via facile synthesis remains a pivotal challenge in catalysis, particularly under mild conditions. Therefore, this study reports an ultrasonication‐plasma strategy to produce a PtGaPCoCoO@TiO x site catalyst encapsulated within a high‐entropy alloy framework. This approach harnesses instantaneous high‐temperature plasma generated using an electrical field and ultrasonication under ambient conditions in H₂O. This study also elucidates the origin of the bifunctional effect in high‐loading, ultra‐stable, and ultra‐fine PtGaPCoCoO catalysts, which are coated with a reducible TiO x layer, thereby achieving optimal catalytic activity and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. PtGaPCo intimacy in PtGaPCoCoO@TiO x is tuned and distributed on the porous titania coating based on strong metal–support interactions by leveraging the instantaneous high‐energy input from plasma discharge and ultrasonication under ambient conditions in H 2 O. PtGaPCoCoO@TiO x exhibits remarkable selectivity and durability in the hydrogenation of 3‐nitrophenylacetylene, even after 25 cycles with high conversion rates, significantly outperforming comparative catalysts lacking the ultrasonication plasma treatment and other reported catalysts. Furthermore, the catalyst exhibits exceptional HER activity, demonstrated by an overpotential of 187 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 and a Tafel slope of 152 mV dec −1 . This enhancement can be attributed to an increased electron density on the Pt surface within the PtGaPCo alloy. These findings highlight the potential of achieving synergistic chemical interactions among active metal sites in stable, industry‐applicable catalysts.

Phosphorus and nitrogen-containing flame retardants are well-known for their high efficacy when used in combination, either as separate compounds or within the same molecule. However, a detailed examination of the chemical bonding of phosphorus is needed to understand the flame behavior. To this end, two different scenarios were examined and compared with a phosphorus-free benchmark. Both scenarios contain a triazine ring and a silane-based precursor. The first scenario involves a direct bond between phosphorus and triazine (phosphonate), while the second involves a bridging of phosphorus and triazine via nitrogen (phosphoramidate). This allowed to investigate the structural effect of phosphoramidate and phosphonate of triazine derivatives on the thermal and flame retardant behavior. The flame-retardant performance and mechanism of the treated samples were investigated by means of the vertical flame test (DIN EN ISO 15025), thermogravimetric analysis and microscale combustion calorimetry, amongst others. Our research shows that triazine-based phosphonate has a better flame retarding effect on cotton than phosphoramidate at the same phosphorus concentration. Self-extinguishing characteristics was observed at a low add-on value of 0.23 mmol/g for phosphonate-based flame retardant, while a higher add-one value of 0.24 mmol/g was required in the case of phosphoramidate. The comprehensive analysis demonstrated that both flame retardants undergo mechanisms in both the gas phase and condensed phase by releasing incombustible gases and promoting the carbonization of cotton fabrics.

Polymer-embedded metal nanoparticles are in great demand owing to their unique features, leading to their use in various important applications, including catalysis reactions. However, particle sintering and aggregation are serious drawbacks, resulting in a drastic loss of catalytic activity and recyclability. Herein, a reduction-immobilizing strategy of polymer-embedded sub-2 nm Cu nanoparticles offered highly controlled distribution and nanoparticle size within polymer structures with high fidelity. This work sheds light on the high catalytic performance of nanoparticles that rely on their ultrasmall size and uniform distribution in polymer structures, generating more active sites that result in high efficiency reduction of organic compounds. A catalysis study was carried out for the hydrogenation of nitro compounds, achieving nearly 100% reduction in an extremely short time and remaining stable after 15 consecutive cycles. Furthermore, the catalytic mechanism was demonstrated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Notably, the discovery of this facile strategy may enable the remarkable cutting-edge design of catalyst materials with promising performance and stability.

Although Mg metal offers advantages such as a high strength-to-weight ratio, biocompatibility, low cost, and nontoxicity, fabricating coated Mg with high chemical stability and antibacterial activity remains a formidable challenge. To date, the problems of continuous corrosion caused by uncontrolled Mg electrodeposition and serious interfacial side reactions in aqueous solutions have remarkably slowed down the practical application of metallic Mg. To address these issues, we proposed a combination approach of interface-plasma electrolysis (I-PE) and layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition to fabricate a tannic acid (TA)-MgO hybrid coating on an Mg anode, in which the TA layer served as the blocking layer and porous MgO films had microdefects that triggered physical locking. LbL formation was initiated through the charge-transfer phenomenon between the defective porous surface and TA molecules in the presence of cross-linkers, such as 2,5-diamino-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DAT) and 2-amino-5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (AMT), to induce LbL deposition, that is, the consecutive growth of multilayer molecular structures on 2D hybrid organic-inorganic materials. The prepared coating surprisingly exhibited highly exceptional anticorrosion properties (inhibition efficiency similar to 82% and corrosion rate similar to 1610 nA/cm(2)) and excellent antibacterial activity, which are attributed to the optimized crosslinking degree and compactness due to the interaction between the TA-AMT composite and the porous MgO film. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to understand the reaction process between the organic AMT layers and the porous inorganic surface by bonding, adsorption behavior, and energy.

A novel humidity sensor based on a multimode graded index unclad fiber optic coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) was proposed. During synthesis process, the fiber diameter underwent optical control resulting in an enhanced repeatability. The achieved sensitivity was found to be 0.219 microwatts per relative humidity percent (µW/%RH), equivalent to 0.212 dB per relative humidity (dB/RH) within a humidity range of 65–95% RH. The response time was 0.02 s per relative humidity percent (s/%RH), indicating rapid detection capabilities. Therefore, this sensor could be used for respiration monitoring. The new sensor has low hysteresis and good repeatability and linearity.

Ultra-thin Zinc oxide nanowires were prepared by a simple thermal evaporation method using a suitable amount of lead sulfide as an additive. It has been found that the nanowires are single crystalline of zincate grown along [1 0 1] direction. The transmission electron microscopy images show that nanowires consist of smooth ultra-thin cantilever-like with a diameter in the range of 10-20 nanometer (nm) and length of few microns. At room temperature, the photoluminescence spectra exhibit unusual strong broad peaks extending from the visible to near infrared (similar to 500-800 nm). The synthesized nanowires can serve as a novel platform for electrochemical and nano-biomolecular applications.

Surface amelioration by hybrid spatial architectures can be attractive for scientific applications in electrochemistry and environmental science; however, reports of microflowers with a uniform distribution of organic components have rarely been reported under wet conditions. Herein, we propose a novel method for manipulating time-dependent self-assembly, leading to a scalable flower structure formed on an inorganic support with tunable defects through a benign combination of soft-plasma oxidation and chemical conversion, where 1-azanaphthalene-8-ol (1-AP-8-ol) works as an active electron donor. The heterogeneous nucleation of the organic cluster is effectively facilitated on a defective inorganic support with a high surface area through AlN and AlO chemical bonds, which influences the charge-transfer phenomena responsible for physiochemical adhesion. A spontaneous self-assembly of the formed flower petal is begun to grow and form stable hierarchical 1-AP-8-ol-inorganic layer, resulting from the inter-molecular hydrogen bonds and non-covalent bonds between aromatic molecules. Finally, the usefulness of the surface hierarchy by stable microflower agglomerates has been proved via the evaluation of catalytic activities as a type of functional property under visible irradiation. Photocatalytic performance towards the degradation of organic dyes was enhanced in the order MB, BG, CV, RhB and MO. And the performance is further promoted via the reduction deposition of Fe nanoparticles for the effective degradation of organic pollutants such as 4-nitrophenol. These results indicate that the remarkable facilitation of regular defects as an inorganic support for the establishment of uniform organic flowers and flower-supported nanoparticles that contribute to an enhanced photocatalytic performance, showcasing significant potential for further exploration.

Metal oxide-supported multielement alloy nanoparticles are very promising as highly efficient and cost-effective catalysts with a virtually unlimited compositional space. However, controllable synthesis of ultrasmall multielement alloy nanoparticles (us-MEA-NPs) supported on porous metal oxides with a homogeneous elemental distribution and good catalytic stability during long-term operation is extremely challenging due to their oxidation and strong immiscibility. As a proof of concept that such synthesis can be realized, this work presents a general "bottom-up" l ultrasonic-assisted, simultaneous electro-oxidation-reduction-precipitation strategy for alloying dissimilar elements into single NPs on a porous support. One characteristic of this technique is uniform mixing, which results from simultaneous rapid thermal decomposition and reduction and leads to multielement liquid droplet solidification without aggregation. This process was achieved through a synergistic combination of enhanced electrochemical and plasma-chemical phenomena at the metal-electrolyte interface (electron energy of 0.3-1.38 eV at a peak temperature of 3000 K reached within seconds at a rate of similar to 105 K per second) in an aqueous solution under an ultrasonic field (40 kHz). Illustrating the effectiveness of this approach, the CuAgNiFeCoRuMn@MgO-P3000 catalyst exhibited exceptional catalytic efficiency in selective hydrogenation of nitro compounds, with over 99% chemoselectivity and nearly 100% conversion within 60 s and no decrease in catalytic activity even after 40 cycles (>98% conversion in 120 s). Our results provide an effective, transferable method for rationally designing supported MEA-NP catalysts at the atomic level and pave the way for a wide variety of catalytic reactions.

Despite significant advances in multilayer hybrid composite structures for exceptionally promising applications, controlling their chemisorption and growth on stationary platforms for excellent anti-corrosion and self-healing properties remains challenging. In this study, we coated porous MgO on magnesium substrate, and alginic acid sodium salt (ALG) with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HMC; layer-forming agent) and sodium calcium (CaCl2; 2 ; self-healing agent), respectively, via a combination of interfacial plasma electrolysis (I-PE) and dip chemical coating (DCC). The HMC-ALG layer grew on the platform surface via robust physical and chemical bonds, affording HMC-ALG mats with two-dimensional morphologies. Polarization analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of HMC-ALG/MgO in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution demonstrated its excellent electrochemical performance (inhibition efficiency of 98.79 %), due to the electron donor effect of the hydroxyl group and cross-linking behavior between ALG and CaCl2. 2 . This elucidates the anti-corrosive mechanism of the additional layer with chemically adsorbed Mg-O bonds on the inorganic layer. This dual-network hydrogel offers good self-healing abilities, with healing efficiencies reaching up to 86 % within 45 min, owing to robust hydrogen bonding and aggregation during stretching. These results highlight the promise of the hydroxyl group's electron donor effect and cross-linking behavior for enhancing electrochemical performances with self-healing ability.

ZnS is an appealing material with wide potential applications in optoelectronics, sensors, and photocatalysis due to its fascinating properties, low cost, and eco-friendly. In this paper, we report the synthesis of ZnS nanowires and nanorods via a simple thermal-evaporation method using different concentrations of PbS as a dopant. The prepared nanostrutures were investigated in detalis using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results show that the fabricated ZnS nanowire/nanorod has a wurtzite (hcp) structure. In addition, based on the experimental results, the growth mechanism of the prepared nanostructures is reported. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping analyses confirmed that the ZnS nanorods were stoichiometric without impurities or defects, whereas PbS quantum dots were formed inside the high-quality nanowires. The formation mechanism of ZnS nanowires is discussed based on the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth model. Results demonstrated that thermal evaporation is a simple and effective techniques for producing high-quality heterostructured ZnS nanowires with potential applications in different fields.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural, surface roughness and corrosion properties of the zirconium oxide thin films deposited onto SS304 substrates using the direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering technique. Design/methodology/approach DC sputtering at different powers – 80, 100 and 120 W – was used to deposit ZrO 2 thin films onto different substrates (Si/SS304) without annealing of the substrate. Atomic force microscope (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Tafel extrapolation and contact angle techniques were applied to investigate the surface roughness, chemical compositions, corrosion behavior and hydrophobicity of these films. Findings Results showed that the thickness of the deposited film increased with power increase, while the corrosion current decreased with power increase. AFM images indicated that the surface roughness decreased with an increase in DC power. EDS analysis showed that the thin film has a stoichiometric ZrO 2 (Zr:O 1:2) composition with basic uniformity. Water contact angle measurements indicated that the hydrophobicity of the synthesized films decreased with an increase in surface roughness. Originality/value DC magnetron sputtering technique is infrequently used to deposition thin films. The obtained thin films showed good hydrophobic and anticorrosion properties. Finally, results are compared with other deposition techniques.

Fluoride is one of the drinking water contaminants regulated by the World Health Organization. The reduction of fluoride concentration to a safe range is of paramount importance to human life. Moreover, the fast and high-capacity removal of radioactive 18Fwastes is still challenging. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are a hybrid class of materials that can diminish such contaminants via both adsorption and catalysis processes. In this work, we synthesize three different MOFs and study their adsorption behavior towards fluoride ion removal. The synthesized materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction, FT-IR and scanning electron microscopy. Following investigation we showed that the as-synthetized materials were highly stable and had significantly effective fluoride adsorption performance What is more, the activity of fluoride captured by the material Al-Fu MOF is 603 mu Ci in 40 mg of this material, i.e., the removal efficiency is about 98%.

To address the global alarm of desertification and boost plant progress in arid and desert environments, super-hydrophobic sand has been suggested and fabricated in numerous researches. In the present work, sand was hydrophobized by coating with a mixture of paraffin wax and silicone oils. The contact angle (CA) of sand with 4.5 w% silicone oils increased from 143.2° to 154.2° with decreasing the chain size of silicone oil, and the further addition of 13.5 w% of paraffin wax produced a super hydrophobic sand with a CA value up to 160° comparing to 154.2° without added paraffin wax. The Fourier Transform Infrared spectra suggested the development of inter molecular forces between silicone oil and sand as well as between paraffin and silicone oil, the driving force of which was the variation in viscosity of silicone oils. The later was higher in the case of lower molecular weight silicone oil. In particular, analyzing the characteristic bands of –(CH2)n-in paraffin wax, i.e. the corresponding bands at 720, 730, 1460 and 1470 cm−1 and the two bands at 1020 and 1095 cm−1 of silicone oil revealed that two roles of paraffin were taking place. While paraffin was placed between sand and silicone oil, it coated the sand particles when lower molecular weight silicone oil was used in the first procedures, whereas it coated the higher molecular weight silicone oil in the second procedures. Molecular dynamic calculation has been performed and confirmed the previous reached conclusions and showed that paraffin molecules were encapsulated in a silicone oil shell. The average adsorption energy of paraffin and silicon oil molecules on sand particles were 29.5 and 38.9 kcal mol−1 respectively.

Control of chemical composition and incorporation of multiple metallic elements into a single metal nanoparticle (NP) in an alloyed or a phase-segregated state hold potential scientific merit; however, developing libraries of such structures using effective strategies is challenging owing to the thermodynamic immiscibility of repelling constituent metallic elements. Herein, we present a one-pot interfacial plasma–discharge-driven (IP-D) synthesis strategy for fabricating stable high-entropy-alloy (HEA) NPs exhibiting ultrasmall size on a porous support surface. Accordingly, an electric field was applied for 120 s to enhance the incorporation of multiple metallic elements (i.e., CuAgFe, CuAgNi, and CuAgNiFe) into ally HEA-NPs. Further, NPs were attached to a porous magnesium oxide surface via rapid cooling. With solar light as the sole energy input, the CuAgNiFe catalyst was investigated as a reusable and sustainable material exhibiting excellent catalytic performance (100% conversion and 99% selectivity within 1 min for a hydrogenation reaction) and consistent activity even after 20 cycles for a reduction reaction, considerably outperforming the majority of the conventional photocatalysts. Thus, the proposed strategy establishes a novel method for designing and synthesizing highly efficient and stable catalysts for the convertion of nitroarenes to anilines via chemical reduction.

In the present study, DOPO-based alkoxysilane (DOPO-ETES) and amido alkoxysilane (DOPO-AmdPTES) were synthesized by one-step and without by-products as halogen-free flame retardants. The flame retardants were applied on cotton fabric utilizing sol–gel method and pad-dry-cure finishing process. The flame retardancy, the thermal stability and the combustion ehaviour of treated cotton were evaluated by surface and bottom edge ignition flame test (according to EN ISO 15025), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and micro-scale combustion calorimeter (MCC). Unlike CO/DOPO-ETES sample, cotton treated with DOPO-AmdPTES nanosols exhibits self-extinguishing ehaviour with high char residue, an improvement of the LOI value and a significant reduction of the PHRR, HRC and THR compared to pristine cotton. Cotton finished with DOPO-AmdPTES reveals a semi-durability after ten laundering cycles keeping the flame-retardant properties unchanged. According to the results obtained from TGA-FTIR, Py-GC/MS and XPS, the major activity of flame retardant occurs in the condensed phase via catalytic induced char formation as physical barrier along with the activity in the gas phase derived mainly from the dilution effect. The early degradation of CO/DOPO-AmdPTES compared to CO/DOPO-ETES, triggered by the cleavage of the weak bond between P and C=O, as the DFT study indicated, provides the beneficial effect of this flame retardant on the fire resistance of cellulose. Graphical abstract