A prototype of an industrial installation for the deposition of self-restoring nitride coatings on the surface of reed switch contacts using electro-spark erosion alloying was developed, manufactured, and tested under the laboratory conditions at LLC Nitron. It was shown that the coatings are formed inside a bulb of reed switches at the final stage of their production following the impact from the spark breakdown between the contacts, stimulated via alternating magnetic and electric fields. The nitrogen concentration in the surface layers of the nitride coatings, estimated by means of X-ray microanalysis, was ca. 19 at. % and their thickness, measured by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry via sputter depth profiling, ranged between 250 and 350 nm. The novelty of the presented work consists of the development of an innovative piece of equipment, the operating principle and design of which are protected by intellectual property rights (four Russian patents). The technological approach implemented in this installation differs from the industrial galvanic technology due to its high level of environmental safety and economic efficiency, since it does not require the use of gold, ruthenium, or other high-priced metals.

Considering α-RbCu 4 Cl 3 I 2 is isostructural with α-RbAg 4 I 5 ,in this work,we built a molecular dynamics simulation system of the former superionic conductor with an empirical pairwise potential model,which was verified on the latter crystal,including long-ranging Coulomb,short-ranging Born-Mayer,charge-dipole,and dipole-quadrupole interactions.The corresponding parameters were collected from the crystal structure and several reports of interionic potentials in alkali halides.The coordination number of fixed ions was examined,and the dynamic distribution of dissociative Cu + was described by the radial distribution function.The diffusion behavior of the ions was evaluated with mean square displacements and velocity auto-correlation functions.The diffusion coefficient of copper ions obtained is（47.9±6.1） × 10 -7 cm 2 /s,which is approximately 37 times that of the simulation result（1.3 ± 0.1） ×10 -7 cm 2 /s of silver in α-RbAg 4 I 5 at room temperature.In this work,the diffusion coefficient of Cu + was first discussed by molecule simulation,while there are few experimental reports.

Due to the rapid increase in wastewater worldwide, with the development of industries that add heavy metals to the ecosystem. Among these metal ions, a harmful substantial metal is hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) due to carcinogenicity and toxicity. In quest of finding the solution to Cr(VI) reduction, MIL-88B(Fe) has suitable activity, however, its photogenerated carriers have fast recombination. To overcome this problem, we doped NS-CQD’s prepared from L-Cysteine and citric acid as the source and added in the precursor of MIL-88B using the hydrothermal method. The experiment revealed that synthesized NS-CQD’s@MIL-88B is a beneficial candidate for photocatalysis, due to its wide-range absorption of visible light and low recombination rate. Herein the optimal doping content of NS-CQD’s@MIL-88B 0.20wt.% exhibited an exceptional Cr(VI), reduction which was reduced by almost 99.96% under UV/Visible irradiation in 120min. Composite was directly grown on cotton fabric, which offers recyclability and lower secondary pollution.

CrWN/MoN nano-multilayer coatings were deposited in pure N2 by multi-arc ion plating using CrW and Mo targets, with the cathode co-controlled by a permanent magnet combined with an electromagnet. The effects of the thickness modulation period on the microstructure and mechanical and tribological performance were systematically analyzed by grazing-incident X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Nanoindentation, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and profilometry using a Talysurf profilometer. The local coherent interfaces and nanoscale modulation period were confirmed by TEM, while the coatings were confirmed to be composed of fcc-CrWN and hexagonal δ-MoN by GIXRD. With the increase in the modulation period, the hardness of the CrWN/MoN nano-multilayer coatings decreased, and the values of the H/E ratio and friction coefficient showed the same variation trend. At an 8.0 nm modulation period, the CrWN/MoN nano-multilayer coating showed the maximum hardness (30.2 GPa), the lowest H/E value (0.082) and an H3/E*2 value of 0.16. With the decrease in the modulation period, the average friction coefficient of the CrWN/MoN nano-multilayer coatings gradually decreased from 0.45 to 0.29, while the wear rate decreased from 4.2 × 10−7 mm3/Nm to 3.3 × 10−7 mm3/Nm.

The results of a secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) study on Ag and ZrN decorative coatings on nickel and white bronze substrates for fancy goods accessories are presented. It was found that for Ag coatings, an intense diffusion of Cr from the adhesion layer between the coating and the substrate is observed, and corrosion testing in an acetic salt (CH3COOH+NaCl) atmosphere leads to the almost complete degradation of such coatings. ZrN coatings on white bronze turned out to be the most resistant to Cr diffusion and corrosion processes.

To elucidate the influence of gas cluster-induced impacts on the deep structure of disturbances in tungstate optical materials, experimental studies were carried out. The precision-polished surface of a KGd(WO4)2 (KGW) single crystal was processed by an argon cluster ion beam with the average cluster size of 1000 atom/cluster at the energy of 10 keV, which ensures minimal damage and high processing efficiency. By using high-resolution TEM and EDX techniques of the transversely cut lamellae, the alterations in both the structure and chemical composition at varying depths were explore. In a 15 nm thick subsurface layer of the initial specimen, a nonuniform depth distribution was found for the constituent atoms of KGW. The results showed that, after the cluster bombardment, the initial amorphous layer thickness resulting from precision chemical–mechanical polishing was decreased from 50 to 23 nm. The distribution nonuniformity of constituent KGW atoms decreases in the upper subsurface layer, while it increases at greater depths.

Local bacterial infection remains an increasingly severe threat to human health worldwide, and infection control is still a challenging task. Carbon Quantum Dots (CQSs) and barium tungstate show antibacterial properties. CQDs doped Barium Tungstate (BaWO4) are synthesized by using a hydrothermal route and their optical and antimicrobial activities against the Gram-positive bacteria staphylococcus aureus and optical properties were investigated. The UV–Vis reveals a shift in the bandgap from 3.62eV to 2.93eV due to doping of CQDs in BaWO4. The structure of the CQDs/BaWO4 were studied by XRD, which shows CQDs doped BaWO4 samples possess tetragona4 werelite structure with the preferred orientation of (112) identified by XRD at 26° having crystallite size∼31nm. Nanocomposite BaWO4/CQDs exhibit a spherical-like shape and are composed of Ba, O, W and C according to the design of the experiment. Zeta sizer of CQDs by DLS shows the size of CQDs is 7.65nm. The FT-IR shows the presence of functional groups in doped material like C＝C, C－O, and COOH bonds which indicate that the C-dots are functionalized with epoxy, carbonyl, hydroxyl, and carboxylic acid groups. Their elemental composition and surface morphology were studied by EDS which shows the percentage variation of CQDs in BaWO4, SEM results show the change in shape of the sample by adding CQDs to BaWO4. The TEM image proves the presence of doped material in the BaWO4. The PL spectra reveals the emission spectra shift towards a higher wavelength and absorption increases. The qualitative analysis shows the antimicrobial activity and enlargement of the inhibition zone and quantitative analysis confirms it.

Although the synthesis of NiCo2S4(NCS)/g-C3N4(GCN)/PANI as an electroactive material has been extensively documented, assembling a Nickel cobalt sulfide (NCS) electrode with outstanding electrochemical efficiency at high current density is still difficult. In this work, the fabrication of a supercapacitor (Sc) electrode of petal-like NiCo2S4/g-C3N4/PANI using a hydrothermal, thermal condensation, and chemical oxidative polymerization method was done. In this nanocomposite, g-C3N4 stabilized the metal atoms and PANI integration considerably improves ion mobility, leading to rapid charge transmission. Due to improvement in electron mobility, the eventual NiCo2S4/g-C3N4(0.40wt%) /PANI(A-3) electrode had shown a specific capacitance (Cs) of 3.4 F/cm2 (1799.07 F/g) with 90% retention and 2700 cycles at the current density of 2 mA/cm2. A good rate capacity of 87.36% at 5 mA/cm2, 82.92% at 10 mA/cm2, and a 50.35% decline of its original capacitance at a high charge/discharge current density of 20 mA/cm2. This work demonstrates that the produced NiCo2S4/g-C3N4/PANI electrode has a high potential for use in energy storage gadget technologies.

Industrial development worldwide adds heavy metals into the ecosystem, which increase the quantity of wastewater along with many diseases. In quest of finding the solution, for Cr(VI) reduction, MIL-88B(Fe) has suitable activity, however, its photogenerated carriers have fast recombination, thus restricting the photocatalytic performance. To overcome this problem, a doped NS-CQD's in the precursor of MIL-88B is used by hydrothermal method. The photocatalytic experiment revealed that synthesized NS-CQD's@MIL-88B (0.20 wt%) composite exhibit synergistical reduction of Cr(VI) due to its wide-range absorption of sun light with bandgap 2.95 eV and low recombination rate. Herein the optimal doping content 0.20 wt% reduced almost 99 % in 120 min and 99.96 % in 90 min under Photo and Electrocatalysis method respectively. In XRD results peak at 23 degrees with plane (200) and d-spacing 0.386 nm shows the presence of NS-CQD's on bisprism structure of MIL-88B which was confirmed using SEM and TEM images. However, FTIR results show ester group (O-C = O) at peak 1376 cm- 1, its presence boosts the absorption peak. In BET results shows that pore size of composite is greater than pure MIL-88B as 6.36 and 3.49 respectively. Additionally, composite exhibits 70 % and 78 % reduction of Cr (VI) in acidic behaviour, and 2 x 2 cm by size respectively. Direct growth on cotton fabric provides reusability, which shows 80 % reduction after 5 cycles, along with easier recovery and lower secondary pollution.

Deposition of (Ti-Al)N/MoN multilayered coatings was carried out through a cathodic ion-plating system in an argon and then nitrogen atmosphere. Bilayer thickness (Λ) of all the samples were achieved, from 22 to 104 nm, by organizing substrate holder rotational speed (SRS). To obtain the optimum properties of the (Ti-Al)N/MoN coatings, the Ti and Al ratio was maintained at a level of 1:1. X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy were utilized to analyze the crystal structure and morphology of the coatings. Mechanical and tribological properties were examined by nanohardness and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The preferred orientation of the (Ti-Al)N/MoN nanoscale multilayer films was TiAlN (200) and MoN (200), which had face centered cubic (fcc) and hexagonal structures, respectively. The hardness increased with the decrease in Λ (104 nm to 26 nm), and then it increased. The highest hardness of 37 GPa was revealed at Λ = 26 nm, whereas the least wear rate of 8.09 × 10−7 mm3/N.m was attained at Λ = 22 nm. Wear rate, roughness, and coefficient of friction were decreased with decreasing bilayer period. EDS results showed that Al and Ti contents were almost the same in all samples, as per design of the experiment.

Hardware implementation and application of the combined energy and mass spectrometric analysis of backscattered and sputtered ions are discussed. For a ternary jewelry alloy contained Au, Ag and Cu, it was shown that this method is able improving analytical sensitivity by suppressing the background related to sputtered ions, and with heavy Ar + ions to obtain information on the surface condition of a lanthanum sample and to detect backscattered and sputtered Ar 2+ ions on this surface. Keywords: ion scattering, ion sputtering, mass spectrometric analysis, energy spectra, lanthanum

The damage in an inorganic single crystal surface caused by gas cluster ion bombardment is still an open issue. In this work, the influence of the kinetic energy per atom in the clusters E/N on the physicochemical structure of KGd(WO4)2:Nd single crystals was evaluated using XPS, Raman spectroscopy and XRD techniques. The high-energy mode with an energy per atom in the cluster E/N of about 100 eV provides a sufficient sputtering efficiency, while the low-energy mode with an energy of a several eV provides the minimal surface damage. The results revealed no substantial damage to the subsurface crystal structure after the cluster bombardment processing. Nevertheless, the unexpected increase in the relative concentration of O atoms by 12% and depletion of K atoms by a factor of 2 in the subsurface layer of KGd(WO4)2:Nd crystals were detected. The features of surface sputtering of inorganic single crystals at different E/N-modes are discussed.

Authors: A.B. Tolstoguzov, S.I. Gusev, D.J. Fu Hardware implementation and application of the combined energy and mass spectrometric analysis of backscattered and sputtered ions are discussed. For a ternary jewelry alloy contained Au, Ag and Cu, it was shown that this method is able improving analytical sensitivity by suppressing the background related to sputtered ions, and with heavy Ar+ ions to obtain information on the surface condition of a lanthanum sample and to detect backscattered and sputtered Ar2+ ions on this surface.

A three-step treatment of Si wafers by gas cluster ion beam with decreasing energy was used to improve the performance of surface smoothing. First, a high energy treatment at 15 keV and an ion fluence of 2 × 1016 cm−2 was used to remove initial surface features (scratches). Next, treatments at 8 and 5 keV with the same fluences reduced the roughness that arose due to the formation of morphological features induced by the surface sputtering at the first high energy step. The surface morphology was characterized by the atomic force microscopy. The root mean square roughness Rq and 2D isotropic power spectral density functions were analyzed. For comparison, the smoothing performances of single-step treatments at 15, 8, and 5 keV were also studied. The lowest roughness values achieved for the single and three-step treatments were 1.06 and 0.65 nm, respectively.

液态固体电解质材料的离子电导率低,安全性问题在一定程度上限制了其发展与应用,而固体电解质材料在室温下具有很好的稳定性和高的离子电导率值,具有较好的应用前景.本文采用机械化学球磨法制备固体电解质Rb4 Cu16 I7 Cl13粉末,探索制备工艺和球磨参数,对其晶体结构进行解析、观察粉体微观结构、通过交流阻抗谱及等效电路分析得到了离子电导率与活化能、并详细探讨其离子传导性能与晶体结构的关系以及化学成分稳定性进行研究.实验结果表明,在480 rpm转速下球磨6 h时可得到纯的固体电解质Rb4 Cu16 I7 Cl13物相.粉体晶粒尺寸分布均匀,均在20 nm-400 nm之间,室温下固体电解质Rb4 Cu16 I7Cl13离子电导率可达到0.213 S/cm且活化能为0.087(9)eV.在真空干燥条件下存放5天和12天后观察了微观形貌和化学稳定性,符合阿伦尼乌斯定律.

Since the fabrication of micro-/nano-electronic devices is approaching nanoscales and demanding low energy, high dose ion beam processing with controlled area and dense patterns to meet the current semiconductor industry demands, continuous advancement is needed in terms of material design and ion beam techniques. In this perspective, development of new ion sources may provide advanced technologies useful in the manufacture of high-performance devices. Silver ion beams have salient features including simple generating process, nanoscale beam spot size and high intensity ion current. In this paper, we have developed a solid electrolyte multi emitter ion source (SEIS) with CsAg4Br3-xI2+x (x = 0.25) films deposited on silver tips. Ag+ ion emission is significantly enhanced with the added number of emitters and the ion current of 1.95 mu A (with four emitter tips) has been obtained at 168 degrees C temperature and 20 kV accelerating voltage. The stability and cooling/heating curves of the multi-emitter ion beam are measured, and the interrelation between ion current intensity and mechanism of shape geometry of the emitter tips are discussed. Finally, both the solid electrolyte multi-tip emitters and the collector surfaces are analyzed, with an attempt to precisely control of formation of the nanoparticles (NPs) including their size and height through the control of the ion implantation parameters.

An experimental study on the energy spectra of ions emitted from the surface of a polycrystalline Cu target under the bombardment by 2 keV O2+ molecular ions was carried out. Sputtered atomic ions Cu+ and O+ were prevailed among the positively charged secondary ions, and among the negative ions, in addition to sputtered ions Cu-, CuO2-, O-, and O2-, intense elastically and inelastically backscattered O-, and O2+ ions were revealed. Keywords: energy spectra, ion sputtering, backscattered ions, charge exchange.

Nanocomposite coatings have become promising protective materials due to their high hardness and anti-wear properties applicable in high-speed dry cutting and grinding tool industries. The monolithic TiN, TiBN, TiAlSiN and hierarchical TiBN/TiAlSiN coatings were deposited on Si and cemented carbide substrates at various N2 partial pressures using a cathodic multi-arc ion plating system wherein the alloyed TiB2 and TiAlSi targets were selected as cathodes. The microstructure, composition and morphology were measured by XRD, XPS, SEM, HRTEM and AFM, respectively. Nanoindentation and ball-on-disc friction testing were performed to investigate the mechanical and tribological properties of the coatings. The results show that TiBN/TiAlSiN coatings compose of numbers of alternating TiBN and TiAlSiN sublayers with a few nanometer periods. As compared to hardness beneath 28 GPa and coefficient of friction over 0.50 for monolithic TiBN and TiAlSiN coatings fabricated at 2.0 Pa, the TiBN/TiAlSiN multilayered coatings possess a microhardness value of 34 GPa with the lowest COF of 0.29, while the maximum value can reach 38 GPa on samples prepared at 1.0 Pa. Their mechanical and tribo-logical properties are superior significantly to the monolithic TiBN or TiAlSiN, which pave the way for fabricating hard/lubricant nanosized multilayered coatings for application on dry-cutting and grinding tools.

Copper ion conducting solid electrolyte Rb4Cu16I6.5Cl13.5 was prepared by means of mechano-chemical method. The structure and morphology of the powder was investigated by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The grain size was estimated to be 0.2–0.9 μm and the ionic conductivity at room temperature was approximately 0.206 S/cm. The solid electrolyte Rb4Cu16I6.5Cl13.5 was exploited for copper ion beam generation. The copper ion emission current of several nA was successfully obtained at acceleration voltages of 15 kV and temperature of 197 °C in vacuum of 2.1 × 10−4 Pa. A good linear correlation between the logarithmic ion current (log I) and the square root of the acceleration voltage (U acc) at high voltage range was obtained, suggesting the Schottky emission mechanism in the process of copper ion beam generation.

The functional diversities of two-dimensional (2D) material devices with simple architectures are ultimately limited by immature doping techniques. An alternative strategy is to use geometry-asymmetric metal-semiconductor-metal (GA-MSM) structures, which enable the basic functions of semiconductor junctions such as rectification and photovoltaics. Here, the mixed-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures (MDvdWHs) based on the separation and self-assembly of p-type SnS layered nanosheets (NSs) and n-type SnS2 nanoparticles (NPs) are obtained using an aqueous phase exfoliation (APE) method. Due to the surface charge transfer doping, the carrier transport mechanism of devices based on MDvdWHs turns from thermionic field emission (TFE) to thermionic emission (TE), with the rectification factor (Iforward/Ireverse) changing from 0.7 to 3. To further illustrate the experimental results, the generic current transport models of GA-MSM devices have been established based on the TE and TFE mechanisms in which the TE and TFE mechanisms lead to opposite rectification phenomena in good agreement with the experimental results. The GA-MSM devices show a photovoltaic effect with a high responsivity of 35 A W-1 and detectivity of 3.4 × 1011 cm Hz1/2 W-1. This study not only provides a novel strategy to design photovoltaic devices with MDvdWHs, but more importantly, we have established fundamental models for the rectification behavior of GA-MSM devices.