In this work, we studied dispersion correction, adsorption and substitution of chalcogen dopants (O, S, Se and Te) on the surface of graphene using density functional theory. The results reveal that a single oxygen atom is more preferred for adsorption onto the graphene surface than the other dopants, with an adsorption energy of −0.84 eV. The preference of this dopant is evidenced by a greater charge transfer of 0.34 electrons from the graphene surface to the oxygen. The substitutional doping of oxygen is energetically more favourable than the doping of other atoms. While nitrogen activation is enhanced by the adsorption, the activation is not significant with the doping of chalcogen atoms.
{"title":"Chalcogen Atom-Doped Graphene and Its Performance in N2 Activation","authors":"N. Kuganathan","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5020016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5020016","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we studied dispersion correction, adsorption and substitution of chalcogen dopants (O, S, Se and Te) on the surface of graphene using density functional theory. The results reveal that a single oxygen atom is more preferred for adsorption onto the graphene surface than the other dopants, with an adsorption energy of −0.84 eV. The preference of this dopant is evidenced by a greater charge transfer of 0.34 electrons from the graphene surface to the oxygen. The substitutional doping of oxygen is energetically more favourable than the doping of other atoms. While nitrogen activation is enhanced by the adsorption, the activation is not significant with the doping of chalcogen atoms.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89866662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Detection of explosives is vital for protection and criminal investigations, and developing novel explosives’ sensors stands at the forefront of the analytical and forensic chemistry endeavors. Due to the presence of terminal nitro groups that can be electrochemically reduced, nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) have been an analytical target for explosives’ electrochemical sensors. Various electrode materials have been used to detect NACs in solution, including glassy carbon electrodes (GCE), platinum (Pt), and gold (Au) electrodes, by tracking the reversible oxidation/reduction properties of the NACs on these electrodes. Here, we show that the reduction of dinitrobenzene (DNB) on oxide-free silicon (Si–H) electrodes is irreversible with two reduction peaks that disappear within the successive voltammetric scanning. AFM imaging showed the formation of a polymeric film whose thickness scales up with the DNB concentration. This suggest that Si–H surfaces can serve as DNB sensors and possibly other explosive substances. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements showed that the limit of detection (LoD) on Si–H is one order of magnitude lower than that obtained on GCE. In addition, EIS measurements showed that the LoD of DNB on Si–H is two orders of magnitude lower than the CV method. The fact that a Si–H surface can be used to track the presence of DNB makes it a suitable surface to be implemented as a sensing platform. To translate this concept into a sensor, however, it would require engineering and fabrication prospect to be compatible with the current semiconductor technologies.
{"title":"Electrochemical Detection of Dinitrobenzene on Silicon Electrodes: Toward Explosives Sensors","authors":"Essam M. Dief, N. Hoffmann, N. Darwish","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010015","url":null,"abstract":"Detection of explosives is vital for protection and criminal investigations, and developing novel explosives’ sensors stands at the forefront of the analytical and forensic chemistry endeavors. Due to the presence of terminal nitro groups that can be electrochemically reduced, nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) have been an analytical target for explosives’ electrochemical sensors. Various electrode materials have been used to detect NACs in solution, including glassy carbon electrodes (GCE), platinum (Pt), and gold (Au) electrodes, by tracking the reversible oxidation/reduction properties of the NACs on these electrodes. Here, we show that the reduction of dinitrobenzene (DNB) on oxide-free silicon (Si–H) electrodes is irreversible with two reduction peaks that disappear within the successive voltammetric scanning. AFM imaging showed the formation of a polymeric film whose thickness scales up with the DNB concentration. This suggest that Si–H surfaces can serve as DNB sensors and possibly other explosive substances. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements showed that the limit of detection (LoD) on Si–H is one order of magnitude lower than that obtained on GCE. In addition, EIS measurements showed that the LoD of DNB on Si–H is two orders of magnitude lower than the CV method. The fact that a Si–H surface can be used to track the presence of DNB makes it a suitable surface to be implemented as a sensing platform. To translate this concept into a sensor, however, it would require engineering and fabrication prospect to be compatible with the current semiconductor technologies.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79441259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A.B. de Paiva, L. Vargas, Matheus José da Silva, A. D. Rodrigues, D. Soares, M. L. Peres, M. D. de Godoy
The main goal of this work is to provide a general description of the negative photoconductivity effect observed in Ag/AgO films grown by the spray-pyrolysis technique. X-ray diffractograms display hybrid films with high texturized AgO and metallic Ag phases. Scanning electron microscopy images show small Ag particles on the surface. Due to its surface nature, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the predominance of the metallic character of Ag 3d spectra as compared to Ag2+. Negative photoconductivity with photoresponse in the order of seconds is observed under several wavelengths of excitation. We found that the amplitude of the negative photoresponse is strongly dependent on the optical absorbance and enhanced by surface plasmon resonance. The low-cost technique employed and the special features regarding negative photoconductivity provide an exciting platform for developing optical-electronic devices with low power consumption.
{"title":"The Negative Photoconductivity of Ag/AgO Grown by Spray-Pyrolysis","authors":"A.B. de Paiva, L. Vargas, Matheus José da Silva, A. D. Rodrigues, D. Soares, M. L. Peres, M. D. de Godoy","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010014","url":null,"abstract":"The main goal of this work is to provide a general description of the negative photoconductivity effect observed in Ag/AgO films grown by the spray-pyrolysis technique. X-ray diffractograms display hybrid films with high texturized AgO and metallic Ag phases. Scanning electron microscopy images show small Ag particles on the surface. Due to its surface nature, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the predominance of the metallic character of Ag 3d spectra as compared to Ag2+. Negative photoconductivity with photoresponse in the order of seconds is observed under several wavelengths of excitation. We found that the amplitude of the negative photoresponse is strongly dependent on the optical absorbance and enhanced by surface plasmon resonance. The low-cost technique employed and the special features regarding negative photoconductivity provide an exciting platform for developing optical-electronic devices with low power consumption.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86588810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y. Niu, E. Omurzak, R. Cai, D. Syrgakbek kyzy, Z. Zhasnakunov, A. Satyvaldiev, R. Palmer
Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were successfully prepared by using the in-liquid pulsed plasma technique. This method is based on a low voltage, pulsed spark discharge in a dielectric liquid. We explore the effect of the protecting ligands, specifically Cetyl Trimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and Sodium n-Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS), used as surfactant materials to prevent nanoparticle aggregation. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples confirm the face-centered cubic crystalline structure of Ag nanoparticles with the presence of Ag2O skin. Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) reveals that spherically shaped Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of 2.2 ± 0.8 nm were synthesised in aqueous solution with PVP surfactant. Similarly, silver nanoparticles with a peak diameter of 1.9 ± 0.4 nm were obtained with SDS surfactant. A broad size distribution was found in the case of CTAB surfactant.
{"title":"Eco-Friendly Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Pulsed Plasma in Liquid: Effect of Surfactants","authors":"Y. Niu, E. Omurzak, R. Cai, D. Syrgakbek kyzy, Z. Zhasnakunov, A. Satyvaldiev, R. Palmer","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010013","url":null,"abstract":"Silver (Ag) nanoparticles were successfully prepared by using the in-liquid pulsed plasma technique. This method is based on a low voltage, pulsed spark discharge in a dielectric liquid. We explore the effect of the protecting ligands, specifically Cetyl Trimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB), Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and Sodium n-Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS), used as surfactant materials to prevent nanoparticle aggregation. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples confirm the face-centered cubic crystalline structure of Ag nanoparticles with the presence of Ag2O skin. Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) reveals that spherically shaped Ag nanoparticles with a diameter of 2.2 ± 0.8 nm were synthesised in aqueous solution with PVP surfactant. Similarly, silver nanoparticles with a peak diameter of 1.9 ± 0.4 nm were obtained with SDS surfactant. A broad size distribution was found in the case of CTAB surfactant.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81174159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. E. Oliveira, B. V. Lopes, Jessica H. H. Rossato, G. K. Maron, B. B. Gallo, A. B. La Rosa, R. Balboni, M. Alves, M. R. Ferreira, Luciano da Silva Pinto, F. Conceição, E. Piva, C. D. de Pereira, M. Escote, N. Carreño
The severe acute respiratory syndrome originated by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that emerged in late 2019, known to be a highly transmissible and pathogenic disease, has caused the COVID-19 global pandemic outbreak. Thus, diagnostic devices that help epidemiological public safety measures to reduce undetected cases and isolation of infected patients, in addition to significantly help to control the population’s immune response to vaccine, are required. To address the negative issues of clinical research, we developed a Diagnostic on a Chip platform based on a disposable electrochemical biosensor containing laser-induced graphene and a protein (SARS-CoV-2 specific antigen) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The biosensors were produced via direct laser writing using a CO2 infrared laser cutting machine on commercial polyimide sheets. The presence of specific antibodies reacting with the protein and the K3[Fe(CN)6] redox indicator produced characteristic and concentration-dependent electrochemical signals, with mean current values of 9.6757 and 8.1812 µA for reactive and non-reactive samples, respectively, proving the effectiveness of testing in clinical samples of serum from patients. Thus, the platform is being expanded to be measured in a portable microcontrolled potentiostat to be applied as a fast and reliable monitoring and mapping tool, aiming to assess the vaccinal immune response of the population.
{"title":"Electrochemical Biosensor Based on Laser-Induced Graphene for COVID-19 Diagnosing: Rapid and Low-Cost Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Biomarker Antibodies","authors":"M. E. Oliveira, B. V. Lopes, Jessica H. H. Rossato, G. K. Maron, B. B. Gallo, A. B. La Rosa, R. Balboni, M. Alves, M. R. Ferreira, Luciano da Silva Pinto, F. Conceição, E. Piva, C. D. de Pereira, M. Escote, N. Carreño","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010012","url":null,"abstract":"The severe acute respiratory syndrome originated by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that emerged in late 2019, known to be a highly transmissible and pathogenic disease, has caused the COVID-19 global pandemic outbreak. Thus, diagnostic devices that help epidemiological public safety measures to reduce undetected cases and isolation of infected patients, in addition to significantly help to control the population’s immune response to vaccine, are required. To address the negative issues of clinical research, we developed a Diagnostic on a Chip platform based on a disposable electrochemical biosensor containing laser-induced graphene and a protein (SARS-CoV-2 specific antigen) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The biosensors were produced via direct laser writing using a CO2 infrared laser cutting machine on commercial polyimide sheets. The presence of specific antibodies reacting with the protein and the K3[Fe(CN)6] redox indicator produced characteristic and concentration-dependent electrochemical signals, with mean current values of 9.6757 and 8.1812 µA for reactive and non-reactive samples, respectively, proving the effectiveness of testing in clinical samples of serum from patients. Thus, the platform is being expanded to be measured in a portable microcontrolled potentiostat to be applied as a fast and reliable monitoring and mapping tool, aiming to assess the vaccinal immune response of the population.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82077799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peer review is the driving force of journal development, and reviewers are gatekeepers who ensure that Surfaces maintains its standards for the high quality of its published papers [...]
同行评议是期刊发展的推动力,审稿人是确保Surfaces保持其高质量发表论文标准的看门人[…]
{"title":"Acknowledgment to Reviewers of Surfaces in 2021","authors":"","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010011","url":null,"abstract":"Peer review is the driving force of journal development, and reviewers are gatekeepers who ensure that Surfaces maintains its standards for the high quality of its published papers [...]","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88649802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nanoscale surface topographies mediated with biochemical cues influence the differentiation of stem cells into different lineages. This research focuses on the adsorption behavior of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) on nanopatterned gold substrates, which can aid in the differentiation of bone and cartilage tissue constructs. The gold substrates were patterned as flat, pillar, linear grating, and linear-grating deep based, and the BMP-2 conformation in end-on configuration was studied over 20 ns. The linear grating deep substrate pattern had the highest adsorption energy of around 125 kJ/mol and maintained its radius of gyration of 18.5 Å, indicating a stable adsorption behavior. Secondary structures including α-helix and β-sheet displayed no denaturation, and thus, the bioavailability of the BMP-2, for the deep linear-grating pattern. Ramachandran plots for the wrist and knuckle epitopes indicated no steric hindrances and provided binding sites to type I and type II receptors. The deep linear-grating substrate had the highest number of contacts (88 atoms) within 5 Å of the gold substrate, indicating its preferred nanoscale pattern choice among the substrates considered. This research provides new insights into the atomistic adsorption of BMP-2 on nanoscale topographies of a gold substrate, with applications in biomedical implants and regenerative medicine.
{"title":"An Atomistic Investigation of Adsorption of Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 on Gold with Nanoscale Topographies","authors":"I. Marquetti, S. Desai","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010010","url":null,"abstract":"Nanoscale surface topographies mediated with biochemical cues influence the differentiation of stem cells into different lineages. This research focuses on the adsorption behavior of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) on nanopatterned gold substrates, which can aid in the differentiation of bone and cartilage tissue constructs. The gold substrates were patterned as flat, pillar, linear grating, and linear-grating deep based, and the BMP-2 conformation in end-on configuration was studied over 20 ns. The linear grating deep substrate pattern had the highest adsorption energy of around 125 kJ/mol and maintained its radius of gyration of 18.5 Å, indicating a stable adsorption behavior. Secondary structures including α-helix and β-sheet displayed no denaturation, and thus, the bioavailability of the BMP-2, for the deep linear-grating pattern. Ramachandran plots for the wrist and knuckle epitopes indicated no steric hindrances and provided binding sites to type I and type II receptors. The deep linear-grating substrate had the highest number of contacts (88 atoms) within 5 Å of the gold substrate, indicating its preferred nanoscale pattern choice among the substrates considered. This research provides new insights into the atomistic adsorption of BMP-2 on nanoscale topographies of a gold substrate, with applications in biomedical implants and regenerative medicine.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77929867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shalini Nagabooshanam, Souradeep Roy, S. Wadhwa, A. Mathur, S. Krishnamurthy, L. Bharadwaj
Pesticides are unavoidable in agriculture to protect crops from pests and insects. Organophosphates (OPs) are a class of pesticides that are more harmful because of the irreversible inhibition reaction with acetylcholinesterase enzyme, thereby posing serious health hazards in human beings. In the present work, a sensitive and selective immuno-sensing platform is developed using gold inter-digitized electrodes (Au-IDEs) as substrates, integrated with a microfluidic platform having the microfluidic well capacity of 10 µL. Au-IDE having digit width of 10 µm and gap length of 5 µm was used in this study. The surface morphological analysis by field-effect scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed the direct information regarding the modification of Au-IDEs with anti-parathion (Anti-PT) antibodies. In SEM analysis, it was seen that the Au-IDE surface was smooth in contrast to the Anti-PT modified surface, which is supported by the AFM studies showing the surface roughness of ~2.02 nm for Au-IDE surface and ~15.86 nm for Anti-PT modified surface. Further, Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis confirms the immobilization of Anti-PT by the bond vibrations upon the successive modification of Au-IDE with –OH groups, amine groups after modifying with APTES, and the amide bond formation after incubation in Anti-PT antibody. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was carried out for the electrochemical characterization and for testing the sensing performances of the fabricated electrode. The developed immuno-sensor provided a linear range of detection from 0.5 pg/L–1 µg/L, with a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.66 ng/L and sensitivity of 4.1 MΩ/ngL−1/cm2. The sensor response was also examined with real samples (pomegranate juice) with good accuracy, exhibiting a shelf life of 25 days. The miniaturized sensing platform, along with its better sensing performance, has huge potential to be integrated into portable electronics, leading to suitable field applications of pesticide screening devices.
{"title":"Ultra-Sensitive Immuno-Sensing Platform Based on Gold-Coated Interdigitated Electrodes for the Detection of Parathion","authors":"Shalini Nagabooshanam, Souradeep Roy, S. Wadhwa, A. Mathur, S. Krishnamurthy, L. Bharadwaj","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010009","url":null,"abstract":"Pesticides are unavoidable in agriculture to protect crops from pests and insects. Organophosphates (OPs) are a class of pesticides that are more harmful because of the irreversible inhibition reaction with acetylcholinesterase enzyme, thereby posing serious health hazards in human beings. In the present work, a sensitive and selective immuno-sensing platform is developed using gold inter-digitized electrodes (Au-IDEs) as substrates, integrated with a microfluidic platform having the microfluidic well capacity of 10 µL. Au-IDE having digit width of 10 µm and gap length of 5 µm was used in this study. The surface morphological analysis by field-effect scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed the direct information regarding the modification of Au-IDEs with anti-parathion (Anti-PT) antibodies. In SEM analysis, it was seen that the Au-IDE surface was smooth in contrast to the Anti-PT modified surface, which is supported by the AFM studies showing the surface roughness of ~2.02 nm for Au-IDE surface and ~15.86 nm for Anti-PT modified surface. Further, Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis confirms the immobilization of Anti-PT by the bond vibrations upon the successive modification of Au-IDE with –OH groups, amine groups after modifying with APTES, and the amide bond formation after incubation in Anti-PT antibody. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was carried out for the electrochemical characterization and for testing the sensing performances of the fabricated electrode. The developed immuno-sensor provided a linear range of detection from 0.5 pg/L–1 µg/L, with a limit of detection (LoD) of 0.66 ng/L and sensitivity of 4.1 MΩ/ngL−1/cm2. The sensor response was also examined with real samples (pomegranate juice) with good accuracy, exhibiting a shelf life of 25 days. The miniaturized sensing platform, along with its better sensing performance, has huge potential to be integrated into portable electronics, leading to suitable field applications of pesticide screening devices.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84863849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Diamond offers great potential for use as a thermal spreader in various applications, including power electronics and radio-frequency (RF) applications. However, to be used as an efficient thermal spreader, the atomically smooth surface of the diamond is critical to be bonded with chips. Herein, a polishing technique for a 2-inch diameter wafer-scale bulk polycrystalline diamond substrate is proposed. In this work, 350 μm thick polycrystalline diamond is grown by the microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPACVD) technique on a Si substrate at a growth rate of 8 µm/h. Thereafter, a three-step polishing process was applied to achieve an atomically smooth surface, consisting of grinding using a diamond slurry with an iron plate, ICP etching using the SF6 gas, and final mechanical polishing using a resin-bonded diamond wheel. Surface roughness of diamond characterized by atomic force microscopy showed the significantly reduced from 900 nm to 0.3 nm. Hence, this study provide the practical methods for obtaining atomically smooth diamond films suitable for thermal management in various areas including power electronics and RF devices.
{"title":"Wafer-Scale Polishing of Polycrystalline MPACVD-Diamond","authors":"Xue-Qin Huang, Changjie Zhou, Bo-Yu Wu, Zhiming Geng, Xing Zhang","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010008","url":null,"abstract":"Diamond offers great potential for use as a thermal spreader in various applications, including power electronics and radio-frequency (RF) applications. However, to be used as an efficient thermal spreader, the atomically smooth surface of the diamond is critical to be bonded with chips. Herein, a polishing technique for a 2-inch diameter wafer-scale bulk polycrystalline diamond substrate is proposed. In this work, 350 μm thick polycrystalline diamond is grown by the microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPACVD) technique on a Si substrate at a growth rate of 8 µm/h. Thereafter, a three-step polishing process was applied to achieve an atomically smooth surface, consisting of grinding using a diamond slurry with an iron plate, ICP etching using the SF6 gas, and final mechanical polishing using a resin-bonded diamond wheel. Surface roughness of diamond characterized by atomic force microscopy showed the significantly reduced from 900 nm to 0.3 nm. Hence, this study provide the practical methods for obtaining atomically smooth diamond films suitable for thermal management in various areas including power electronics and RF devices.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84361534","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mechanochemistry initiated the reaction of hydrogen-terminated porous silicon (H/por-Si) powder with arginine. Samples were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Arginine, which was physisorbed onto the surface of por-Si, blue-shifted the peak PL intensity from ~630 nm for the H/por-Si to ~565 nm for arginine-coated por-Si. Grinding for 4 h reduced >80% of the initially 2–45 µm particles to <500 nm, but was observed to quench the PL. With appropriate rinsing and centrifugation, particles in the 100 nm range were isolated. Rinsing ground powder with water was required to remove the unreacted arginine. Without rinsing, excess arginine induced the aggregation of passivated particles. However, water reacted with the freshly ground por-Si powder producing H2. A zeta potential of +42 mV was measured for arginine-terminated por-Si particles dispersed in deionized water. This positive value was consistent with termination such that NH2 groups extended away from the surface. Furthermore, this result was confirmed by FTIR spectra, which suggested that arginine was bound to silicon through the formation of a covalent Si–O bond.
{"title":"Characterization of Mechanochemical Modification of Porous Silicon with Arginine","authors":"Jacklyn A. DiPietro, K. Kolasinski","doi":"10.3390/surfaces5010007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/surfaces5010007","url":null,"abstract":"Mechanochemistry initiated the reaction of hydrogen-terminated porous silicon (H/por-Si) powder with arginine. Samples were analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Arginine, which was physisorbed onto the surface of por-Si, blue-shifted the peak PL intensity from ~630 nm for the H/por-Si to ~565 nm for arginine-coated por-Si. Grinding for 4 h reduced >80% of the initially 2–45 µm particles to <500 nm, but was observed to quench the PL. With appropriate rinsing and centrifugation, particles in the 100 nm range were isolated. Rinsing ground powder with water was required to remove the unreacted arginine. Without rinsing, excess arginine induced the aggregation of passivated particles. However, water reacted with the freshly ground por-Si powder producing H2. A zeta potential of +42 mV was measured for arginine-terminated por-Si particles dispersed in deionized water. This positive value was consistent with termination such that NH2 groups extended away from the surface. Furthermore, this result was confirmed by FTIR spectra, which suggested that arginine was bound to silicon through the formation of a covalent Si–O bond.","PeriodicalId":22129,"journal":{"name":"Surfaces","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78507899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}