EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

We investigate the precise synthesis of 2D materials and their assembly into three-dimensional functional devices for energy storage and energy conversion systems and in two-dimensional devices for electronic applications.
The precise synthesis enables critical level of control through the crystal structure and doping, so that we can go beyond chemical composition of 2D materials.
In this...

The conversion of commercial polymers into conductive porous graphene by direct laser scribing with a CO2 infrared laser, creating the Laser Induced Graphene (LIG), is an easy and highly scalable production method for conductive track patterning. LIG is a 3D porous material exhibiting very high surface area, excellent conductivity and high thermal stability.
While polyimide and other rigid...

The Pb₂Bi₂Te₅ compound has been reported in literature with two stacking sequences -Te-Pb-Te- Bi-Te-Bi-Te-Pb-Te- and -Te-Bi-Te-Pb-Te-Pb-Te-Bi-Te- labelled in this work as A and B, respectively. The electronic and the thermoelectric properties of the Pb₂Bi₂Te₅ compound with the 2 different stacking sequences have been determined...

Solution-processed organic photodetectors (OPDs) are increasingly attractive for light sensing applications as they combine high photogeneration yield with low fabrication costs. Visible-light photodiodes are proposed for use in indirect-conversion X-ray detectors, fingerprint scanners and intelligent surfaces for gesture recognition. Near-infrared (NIR) detectors find applications in...

The electronics industry is seeking the low-waste, low-energy, cost-effective manufacturing process for miniaturised components, often in the form of thick-film structures on various substrates. A promising route to such components is a printing technology that involves a layer-by-layer deposition of a suspension followed by a post-deposition curing of the as-deposited layers. This...

Developing a complete process chain and realization of production lines for bioanalytical lab-on-chip devices. The process is based on high-throughput R2R UV micro/nano- imprinting on a hundred meters-long flexible, polymeric foil in combination with complementary bio-printing and manufacturing technologies. Via our pilot line, R2R UV nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is performed at a foil...

Vigorous research efforts have advanced the state-of-the-art nanosensors with ultrahigh sensitivity for bioanalysis. However, a dilemmatic challenge remains: it is extremely difficult to obtain nanosensors that are both sensitive and high-speed for the detection of low-concentration molecules in aqueous samples. In this work, we demonstrate substantially accelerated the sensing speed of...

This research study focuses on the development of a new optical sensor platform. The device is based on a layered doped transparent ceramic pumped with a laser diode and coupled with a functionalized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) structure as an innovative photonic component for both lighting and sensing. Targeted areas are the detection of pollutants in water (Cu, Fe, etc.) or air (CO, NOx,...

Randomly oriented nanowire networks, or nanonets (NNs), are interesting macrostructures as they combine properties at the nano-scale, from the nanowires, and the macro-scale, from the network. As such, they are easy to integrate into electrical devices. Moreover, they also present a high sensitivity and tolerance to defects or faults in network which is quite promising for sensing...

Microfluidic chips – which are used for the implementation of chemical, biochemical or biological processes in miniaturised devices – often contain complex channel networks having different geometries and sizes. Such structures can not be fabricated by conventional UV-photolithography using a single photomask. An appropriate method for creating the original structures (called master) is given...

In recent years, soft pneumatic actuators have come in the spotlight because of their simple control and the wide range of complex motions. For the monitoring of soft robotic systems, elastomer-based deformation sensors are being used. However, the use of conventional mold casting processes for embedding deformation sensors in soft actuators, is time consuming and difficult to upscale on an...

Wafer scale 2D ferromagnetic materials CrxTey [1] and Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) [2] are epitaxially grown by molecular beam epitaxy on InAs /Si and insulating MoS2/sapphire substrates. In situ STM and XRD experiments reveal that CrxTey are compatible with Cr2Te3 and Cr5Te8 compositions although a clear distinction between these phases cannot be made. The FGT composition is verified by Raman and EDX....

The discovery of graphene has opened novel exciting opportunities in terms of functionalities and performances for spintronics devices. It was recently shown that graphene could have a strong potential for Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs) with perspective of band filtering similar to MgO.[1][2][3][4] We present new venues where the spin filtering properties of graphene are greatly enhanced...

2D materials have recently demonstrated a strong potential for spintronic applications. This has been further reinforced by the discovery of ferromagnetic 2D layers.[1] Nevertheless, the fragility of many 2D magnetic materials to ambient conditions has so far hindered their faster characterization and integration into devices. We will discuss here a simple large-scale method which allows to...

The term magneto-ionics has been coined for electrochemical reactions, which are utilised for the modification of magnetic properties. In this rapidly growing field, one key goal is to enable a complete and reversible On- and Off-switching of magnetism. Here, we achieved this goal via hydrogen-charging of nanoporous (np) Pd(Co) prepared via electrochemical dealloying.

Owed to their high...

Today there is a strong interest in the use of sustainable materials and in some cases, materials from renewable origin for electronic applications, driven by the development goals as well as by low-cost applications. One of the most representative examples is cellulose, not only in the form of raw material mainly for pulp and paper production, but also in the development of advanced...

Magnetorheological elastomers (MRE) are increasing in popularity in many applications because of their ability to change stiffness by applying a magnetic field. In this report, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) have been investigated as matrix material, instead of more often investigated liquid-based 1K and 2K elastomers. Here we show the thermoplastic processing of magnetorheological...

The Ni-Mn-Ga Heusler alloys have been widely investigated in the last few decades as a potential material for actuator and sensor devices. This alloy exhibits shape memory effect (SME) associating with the martensitic transformation, superelasticity, and magnetic field-induced strain (MFIS). In these materials, the functional properties can be tuned by chemical modification. Thus, the series...

B-H hysteresis loops represent essential information for engineering applications such as the design of efficient electric engines and induction heating processes in the steel industry. Modern simulation techniques can reduce development times for industrial processes and components but they rely on proper material data. Electromagnetic simulations require data for B-H hysteresis loops that...

The hexagonal system of AlN leads to its anisotropy in the a/b-axis and c-axis directions. The thermal conductivity is different in a/b axis and c axis due to the phonon propagation velocity is obviously different in the a/b axis and c axis direction of AlN. Besides, AlN has different elastic modulus and thermal expansion coefficients in the a/b axis and c axis directions, which results in...

Interconnected networks of carbon nanotubes (CNT) synthesized by the direct Floating Catalyst CVD process (FCCVD) are the key structural components in macroscopic ensembles, such as CNT yarns and fabrics used in composite engineering and damage-tolerant multifunctional structures.
Measuring the tensile properties of CNT bundles (i.e., building blocks of the nanostructured network) yet...

Silicon nanonets are networks of randomly oriented silicon nanowires. Due to its flexibility, transparency and reproducibility, this material is highly attractive as an alternative to amorphous silicon or organic materials for various macroelectronic applications involving sensors and displays. Based on our original integration process simply relying on standard photolithography, we were...

A deeper understanding of the evolution of the electrical properties of elastomeric composite materials undergoing mechanical deformations represents an essential prerequisite for developveloping non-destructive in-situ coupled approaches able to detect the impact of fatigues effects leading to irreversible damages. This can have numerous applications in the field of in-situ monitoring,...

Fiber reinforced composites (FRPs) find extensive use in various applications due to their intrinsically high specific strength, replacing conventional materials in fields such as sports, transportation, and aerospace. A novel multiscale reinforcement for the interlayer (region between two successive laminas) is suggested via the thermal consolidation of a polymer nanofiber system on both...

Graphene-based nano-laminates (GNL) consist of disordered stacked sheets of pure graphene, which can form macroscopic films or fibers. GNLs are flexible, strong, and lightweight. They have a very high potential as electrical and thermal conductors [1].
We show different modeling approaches for GNLs, which relate the structural arrangement and the properties of the individual graphene flakes...

In this study we investigated the interfacial adhesion behaviour of GaN/AlN heterostructures grown on sapphire and Si substrates by cross-sectional nanoindentation (CSN) and four-point bending (4PB) tests. Particularly, the influence of the AlN buffer layers, necessary for GaN growth on Si, on the delamination response is determined. Analytical models based on beam- and elastic plate theory...

Metallic glasses lack of periodic atomic structure and thus they not have crystal lattices with glide planes on which mobile dislocation can cause plastic flow. As a result, they exhibit a wide elastic strain range of the order of ~2% before the onset of plastic deformation which occurs in a highly localized manner on planes of maximum shear stress. Their exceptional mechanical properties lead...

In the present work, we use density functional theory to investigate the structural, optical and electronic properties of fluorine doped tin dioxide (F:SnO2). We performed hybrid calculations for defects intercalated either at interstitial or substitutional sites and we predicted the effect of vacancies and charge to their properties. The obtained lattice parameters and band gap of pure and...

Applying dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure is an emerging technology with applications in industrial, medical, hygiene, food and consumer industry. The activated and ionized gas molecules of the plasma, for example, destroy bacteria, viruses or organic molecules, thus cleaning and disinfecting the air. Since the interaction is physical, antibiotic-resistant bacteria can also...

Magnetic hyperthermia uses magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) to heat tumor cells up to 40–45 °C, when exposed to an external alternating magnetic field (AMF) [1]. The major challenges of this promising therapy are the MNP aggregation and restriction of heat to the tumor area, which may cause burns and death of healthy cells [2]. MNP can be stabilized in composite materials to prevent aggregation...

In this work, we continue the reports on the functionalization of the Poly(L-lactic) acid (PLLA) (biocompatible and biodegradable semicrystalline synthetic polymer) surface for bone tissue engineering according to the task started in Refs. [1-3]. Here we report the series of thin films investigated using the scanning probe microscopy technique (SPM) implemented in atomic force (AFM),...

Piezoelectric composites have wide ranging potential for advanced electronic devices, particularly as sensors, energy harvesters, and actuators, and have a number of advantages over single phase or monolithic piezoelectric ceramics. Introducing a low permittivity second phase into a piezoceramic leads to significant reductions in the bulk permittivity of the material, which is beneficial in...