Tag: soft tapping mode

Electrochromic switching of tungsten oxide films grown by reactive ion-beam sputter deposition

Because of the global climate change, energy-saving and sustainable technologies are becoming more and more important. Therefore, the demands on technologies for the conversion, storage and use of renewable energies are constantly growing. *

The building sector plays an important role in terms of energy saving potential. *

In particular, the class of so-called smart windows offers an approach to save energy in the building sector by efficiently regulating incident light. *

Chromogenic thin films are crucial building blocks in smart windows to modulate the flux of visible light and heat radiation into buildings. *

Due to their diversity in composition and structure as well as their superior performance, electrochromism based on thin film transition metal oxides has become increasingly important in the last decade. *

Electrochromic materials such as tungsten oxide are well established in those devices. Sputter deposition offers a well-suited method for the production of such layers, which can also be used on an industrial scale. *

The EC properties of tungsten oxide layers depend on the composition, the crystal structure and the morphology. *

The film characteristics are strongly dependent on the growth technique. *

In the article “Electrochromic switching of tungsten oxide films grown by reactive ion-beam sputter deposition” Mario Gies, Fabian Michel, Christian Lupó, Derck Schlettwein, Martin Becker and Angelika Polity describe how Tungsten oxide thin films were grown by ion-beam sputter deposition (IBSD), a less common sputtering variant. *

They then show the possibility of influencing technologically relevant samples characteristics by using different preparation parameters (e.g., gas mixture or growth temperature). This allows to tune the elemental composition, optical properties or to influence the structure and the degree of crystallization in the resulting thin films. *

The high reproducibility as well as the high purity of IBSD-grown layers render ion-beam sputter deposition a suitable candidate for growth of tungsten oxide and, most likely, other chromogenic materials. *

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were conducted to analyze the crystallite surface structure.

For the AFM investigations in air NanoWorld® Pointprobe® SEIHR AFM probes designed for soft non-contact mode imaging were used. (typical resonance frequency 130 kHz, typical force constant 15 N/m ). *

Figure 2 g, h and i from "Electrochromic switching of tungsten oxide films grown by reactive ion-beam sputter deposition" by Miario Gies et al. In Fig. 2 g, the surface of a sample deposited at RT and a moderate O2 flux of 5.15 sccm is shown as analyzed by Atomic Force Microscopy ( AFM ). Individual grains of about 0.2 μm size appear interconnected without sharply defined grain boundaries. The root-mean-square surface roughness was determined to be around 9 nm. In comparison, Fig. 2h shows the morphology of a sample synthesized at RT under oxygen-poor conditions. Again, no sharply defined grains are recognizable. However, the grains seem to be a bit more extended. The determined roughness of the surface is approximately 7 nm. At an increased deposition temperature of 400 ∘C, larger round-shaped grains of about 0.5 μm lateral expansion were obtained, cf. Fig. 2i, leading to an increased roughness of around 20 nm, much higher than for the unheated samples. NanoWorld Pointprobe SEIHR AFM probes were used.
Figure 2 g, h and i from “Electrochromic switching of tungsten oxide films grown by reactive ion-beam sputter deposition” by Mario Gies et al.:
AFM images of samples, deposited at room temperature under a moderate O2 flux of 5.15 sccm (g) and under oxygen-poor conditions (h). Compared to the surface of a sample grown at 400 ∘C (i), the surface roughness is significantly smoother. For the full figure please refer to the full article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10853-020-05321-y

*Mario Gies, Fabian Michel, Christian Lupó, Derck Schlettwein, Martin Becker and Angelika Polity
Electrochromic switching of tungsten oxide films grown by reactive ion-beam sputter deposition
Journal of Materials Science (2020)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05321-y

Please follow this external link to read the full article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10853-020-05321-y

Open Access : The article “Electrochromic switching of tungsten oxide films grown by reactive ion-beam sputter deposition” by Mario Gies, Fabian Michel, Christian Lupó, Derck Schlettwein, Martin Becker and Angelika Polity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

A Short Peptide Hydrogel with High Stiffness Induced by 310‐Helices to β‐Sheet Transition in Water

In the article “A Short Peptide Hydrogel with High Stiffness Induced by 310‐Helices to β‐Sheet Transition in Water” by Shu Hui Hiew, Harini Mohanram, Lulu Ning, Jingjing Guo, Antoni Sánchez‐Ferrer, Xiangyan Shi, Konstantin Pervushin, Yuguang Mu, Raffaele Mezzenga and Ali Miserez, a short biomimetic peptide composed of eight amino acid residues derived from squid sucker ring teeth proteins is demonstrated to form hydrogel in water without any cross‐linking agent or chemical modification and exhibits a stiffness on par with the stiffest peptide hydrogels.
Their study broadens the range of secondary structures available to create supramolecular hydrogels, and introduces 310‐helices as transient building blocks for gelation via a 310‐to‐β‐sheet conformational transition.*

The AFM images presented in this study were obtained in soft tapping mode using NanoWorld Pointprobe® NCSTR AFM probes.

Figure 1 from «A Short Peptide Hydrogel with High Stiffness Induced by
310‐ Helices to β‐Sheet Transition in Water” by Shu Hui Hiew et al.
Structural features and physico‐chemical properties of GV8 peptide hydrogel observed with time‐series spectroscopy measurements during gelation
b) AFM amplitude profile of dried GV8 hydrogel with fibers of ≈6–10 nm height.

*Shu Hui Hiew, Harini Mohanram, Lulu Ning, Jingjing Guo, Antoni Sánchez‐Ferrer, Xiangyan Shi, Konstantin Pervushin, Yuguang Mu, Raffaele Mezzenga, Ali Miserez
A Short Peptide Hydrogel with High Stiffness Induced by 310‐Helices to β‐Sheet Transition in Water
Advanced Science 2019, 1901173
Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201901173

Please follow this external link to read the full article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.201901173

Open Access: The article « A Short Peptide Hydrogel with High Stiffness Induced by 310‐Helices to β‐Sheet Transition in Water » ” by Shu Hui Hiew, Harini Mohanram, Lulu Ning, Jingjing Guo, Antoni Sánchez‐Ferrer, Xiangyan Shi, Konstantin Pervushin, Yuguang Mu, Raffaele Mezzenga and Ali Miserez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other thirdparty material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

    Self-assembled PCBM bilayers on graphene and HOPG examined by AFM and STM

    In the article «Self-assembled PCBM bilayers on graphene and HOPG examined by AFM and STM” Yanlong Li, Chuanhui Chen, John Burton, Kyungwha Park, James R Heflin and Chenggang Tao demonstrate that PCBM molecules self-assemble into bilayer structures on graphene and HOPG substrates. They used Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), and analyzed the observed morphology by comparison to molecular models.*

    The AFM measurements were carried out in a dark environment. NanoWorld™ Pointprobe® NCST AFM probes were used in soft tapping mode and simultaneous height and phase images were acquired and reproduced across multiple samples.*

    The results of this study shed light on improvement of the energy efficiency in solar cells containing graphene and organic molecules, by increasing the donor–acceptor interface area and could provide valuable insight into fabrication of new hybrid, ordered structures for applications to organic solar cells.*

    Figure 5. from “Self-assembled PCBM bilayers on graphene and HOPG examined by AFM and STM” by Yanlong Li et al.: AFM images of PCBM bilayer and size distributions of holes at different conditions. (a) AFM image of a PCBM bilayer before annealing. (b) AFM image of a PCBM bilayer after annealing at 140 °C. (c) AFM image of a PCBM bilayer after annealing at 160 °C. (d) Area distribution histogram of holes (without PCBM area) obtained from measurements of the area of holes in AFM images of before (green) and after annealing at 140 °C (dark red) and 160 °C (dark blue). Monolithic silicon cantilevers (NCST, NANO WORLD) with a spring constant of 7.4 N m−1, first longitudinal resonance frequencies between 120 and 205 kHz, and nominal tip radius of 8 nm were employed in soft tapping mode. Simultaneous height and phase images were acquired and reproduced across multiple samples.
    Figure 5. from “Self-assembled PCBM bilayers on graphene and HOPG examined by AFM and STM” by Yanlong Li et al.: AFM images of PCBM bilayer and size distributions of holes at different conditions. (a) AFM image of a PCBM bilayer before annealing. (b) AFM image of a PCBM bilayer after annealing at 140 °C. (c) AFM image of a PCBM bilayer after annealing at 160 °C. (d) Area distribution histogram of holes (without PCBM area) obtained from measurements of the area of holes in AFM images of before (green) and after annealing at 140 °C (dark red) and 160 °C (dark blue).

    *Yanlong Li, Chuanhui Chen, John Burton, Kyungwha Park, James R Heflin, Chenggang Tao
    Self-assembled PCBM bilayers on graphene and HOPG examined by AFM and STM
    Nanotechnology, Volume 29, Number 18 (2018)
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/aab00a

    Open Access The article “Self-assembled PCBM bilayers on graphene and HOPG examined by AFM and STM” by Yanlong Li et al. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/