A study of wetting was carried out on porous silicon films with pore diameters spanning three orders of magnitude. Water contact angle measurements on adjoining porous and nonporous regions yielded Wenzel roughness ratios that were either unphysical (less than unity) or unrealistically low when compared to those expected from specific surface area considerations. Moreover, results obtained from a sample consisting of a microporous film on a macroporous layer gave contact angles that were very similar to those found on films consisting of only a single microporous layer, contrary to what would be expected for complete filling of the pores by liquid. Values for wetted surface fractions calculated from the Cassie-Baxter model are unreasonably high for micro- , meso- and oxidized macroporous films considering their porosities, while relatively oxide-free macroporous films give wetted surface fractions in accord with those expected based on film porosity. Collectively, these results show that the predominant mode of wetting on these films is heterogeneous.
Efficient anti-reflection coatings (ARC) improve the light collection and thereby increase the current output of solar cells. By simple electrochemical etching of the Si wafer, porous silicon (PS) layers with excellent broadband anti-reflection properties can be fabricated. In this work, ageing of graded PS has been studied using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry, Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. During oxidation of PS elements such as pure Si (Si$^0$), Si$_2$O (Si$^+$), SiO (Si$^{2+}$), Si$_2$O$_3$ (Si$^{3+}$), and SiO$_2$ (Si$^{4+}$) are present. In addition bo…
The practical use of nanoparticle superlattices (NPSLs) which are of great interest as materials with designed functionalities is often limited by their lack of structural stability under various utilization conditions. Here, we report a new method for directly synthesizing NPSL fully embedded in hierarchically porous silica which provides exceptional stability and efficient pathways for reactant molecules, making the NPSL highly efficient catalyst. The superlattices made of 12 nm gold nanoparticles exhibit exceptionally high catalytic activity for CO oxidation at low temperature, showing high…
We report an approach to fully visualize the flow of two immiscible fluids through a model three-dimensional (3D) porous medium at pore-scale resolution. Using confocal microscopy, we directly image the drainage of the medium by the non-wetting oil and subsequent imbibition by the wetting fluid. During imbibition, the wetting fluid pinches off threads of oil in the narrow crevices of the medium, forming disconnected oil ganglia. Some of these ganglia remain trapped within the medium. By resolving the full 3D structure of the trapped ganglia, we show that the typical ganglion size, and the tota…
Many biological materials exhibit a multiscale porosity with small, mostly nanoscale pores as well as large, macroscopic capillaries to simultaneously achieve optimized mass transport capabilities and lightweight structures with large inner surfaces. Realizing such a hierarchical porosity in artificial materials necessitates often sophisticated and expensive top-down processing that limits scalability. Here we present an approach that combines self-organized porosity based on metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) with photolithographically induced macroporosity for the synthesis of single-cry…
In this paper, the oxidation-assisted dealloying (OAD) of Cu0.7Al0.3 films with different microstructures which were obtained by high vacuum annealing at different temperatures were studied using powder X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. It was observed that different microstructures such as eutectic mixture or solid solution, the grain size of Cu or Al component in eutectic-mixture Cu0.7Al0.3 films affected the corrosion morphology greatly. It thus provided a practical route to fabricate flexible CuO porous nanostructure-films …
Porous metal oxides with nano-sized features attracted intensive interest in recent decades due to their high surface area which is essential for many applications, e.g. Li ion batteries, photocatalysts, fuel cells and dye-sensitized solar cells. Various approaches were so far investigated to synthesize porous nanostructured metal oxides, including self-assembly and template-assisted synthesis. For the latter approach, forests of carbon nanotubes are considered as particularly promising templates, with respect to their one dimensional nature and the resulting high surface area. In this work, w…
Oxidation-resilient structural modifications in Nickel-functionalized 3D-graphene for hydrogen storage applications
Istituto Nanoscienze–CNR（意大利国家研究委员会纳米科学研究所）；NEST-Scuola Normale Superiore（新实验科学与技术学院-高等师范学校）；Department of Physical Science, Earth, and Environment, University of Siena（锡耶纳大学地球与环境物理科学系）；Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems, TU Wien（维也纳工业大学传感器与致动器系统研究所）；CNR - Istituto Officina dei Materiali (IOM)（意大利国家研究委员会材料工厂研究所）
The storage of hydrogen (H$_2$) is of economic and ecological relevance, because it could potentially replace petroleum-based fuels. However, H$_2$ storage at mild condition remains one of the bottlenecks for its widespread usage. In order to devise successful H$_2$ storage strategies, there is a need for a fundamental understanding of the weak and elusive hydrogen interactions at the quantum mechanical level. One of the most promising strategies for storage at mild pressure and temperature is physisorption. Porous materials are specially effective at physisorption, however the process at the …
In our work, a novel processing strategy for the continuous fabrication and surface modification of wires from Magnesium alloy WE43 by means of plasma-electrolytic oxidation (PEO) is presented. In the first step, wires with a strong basal texture and small grain size ($\approx$ 1 $μ$m) were manufactured by combined cold drawing and in-line stress-relief heat treatment steps that optimized the mechanical properties (in terms of strength and ductility) by means of annealing. In a second step, and to the best of our knowledge for the first time ever, the wires were continuously surface-modified w…
In this work, the instabilities at the nanoscale (i.e. nanoinstabilities) of triangular pyramids-like Cu2O porous nanostructured films (PNFs) are studied by heating treatments under different atmosphere and temperature. It is found that the nanoscale building triangular-pyramids turn round preferentially at the sharp angles and/or coalesce with their contacting ones by directional diffusion and plastic flow of atoms, which are driven by the nonuniformly-distributed surface nanocurvature. As a result, the triangular pyramids become quasi-sphere shape and the PNF evolves into a big, dense partic…
The synthesis of the photochromic YHO films is based on the oxidation of deposited yttrium hydride in ambient conditions. The actual state of the films during the deposition process, which is influenced by the deposition pressure and the oxidation caused by the residual gases, is not completely known. We report on the YHxOy thin films deposited by reactive pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering. Since the visible light transmittance is closely related to the phase and chemical composition of the films, in-situ transmittance measurements during and after deposition are performed. Ex-situ spectroscopic …
In this article, we report the process induced variation in the characteristics of PECVD deposited and thermally grown silicon dioxide (SiO2) thin film. We find key differences in the porosity, arrangement of the nano-pores, surface roughness, refractive index and electrical resistivity of the SiO2 thin films obtained by the two methods. While the occurrence of the nanoporous structure is an inherent property of the material and independent of the process of film growth or deposition, the arrangements of these nano-pores in the oxide film is process dependent. The distinct arrangements of the …
