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- ItemThe Toxic Truth About Carbon Nanotubes in Water Purification: a Perspective View(New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer, 2018-6-18) Das, Rasel; Leo, Bey Fen; Murphy, FinbarrWithout nanosafety guidelines, the long-term sustainability of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for water purifications is questionable. Current risk measurements of CNTs are overshadowed by uncertainties. New risks associated with CNTs are evolving through different waste water purification routes, and there are knowledge gaps in the risk assessment of CNTs based on their physical properties. Although scientific efforts to design risk estimates are evolving, there remains a paucity of knowledge on the unknown health risks of CNTs. The absence of universal CNT safety guidelines is a specific hindrance. In this paper, we close these gaps and suggested several new risk analysis roots and framework extrapolations from CNT-based water purification technologies. We propose a CNT safety clock that will help assess risk appraisal and management. We suggest that this could form the basis of an acceptable CNT safety guideline. We pay particular emphasis on measuring risks based on CNT physico-chemical properties such as diameter, length, aspect ratio, type, charge, hydrophobicity, functionalities and so on which determine CNT behaviour in waste water treatment plants and subsequent release into the environment.
- ItemIon Beam Assisted Deposition of Thin Epitaxial GaN Films(Basel : MDPI, 2017-6-23) Rauschenbach, Bernd; Lotnyk, Andriy; Neumann, Lena; Poppitz, David; Gerlach, Jürgen W.The assistance of thin film deposition with low-energy ion bombardment influences their final properties significantly. Especially, the application of so-called hyperthermal ions (energy <100 eV) is capable to modify the characteristics of the growing film without generating a large number of irradiation induced defects. The nitrogen ion beam assisted molecular beam epitaxy (ion energy <25 eV) is used to deposit GaN thin films on (0001)-oriented 6H-SiC substrates at 700 °C. The films are studied in situ by reflection high energy electron diffraction, ex situ by X-ray diffraction, scanning tunnelling microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is demonstrated that the film growth mode can be controlled by varying the ion to atom ratio, where 2D films are characterized by a smooth topography, a high crystalline quality, low biaxial stress, and low defect density. Typical structural defects in the GaN thin films were identified as basal plane stacking faults, low-angle grain boundaries forming between w-GaN and z-GaN and twin boundaries. The misfit strain between the GaN thin films and substrates is relieved by the generation of edge dislocations in the first and second monolayers of GaN thin films and of misfit interfacial dislocations. It can be demonstrated that the low-energy nitrogen ion assisted molecular beam epitaxy is a technique to produce thin GaN films of high crystalline quality.
- ItemPrograming stimuli-responsiveness of gelatin with electron beams: Basic effects and development of a hydration-controlled biocompatible demonstrator(London : Nature Publishing Group, 2017) Riedel, Stefanie; Heyart, Benedikt; Apel, Katharina S.; Mayr, Stefan G.Biomimetic materials with programmable stimuli responsiveness constitute a highly attractive material class for building bioactuators, sensors and active control elements in future biomedical applications. With this background, we demonstrate how energetic electron beams can be utilized to construct tailored stimuli responsive actuators for biomedical applications. Composed of collagen-derived gelatin, they reveal a mechanical response to hydration and changes in pH-value and ion concentration, while maintaining their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. While this is explicitly demonstrated by systematic characterizing an electron-beam synthesized gelatin-based actuator of cantilever geometry, the underlying materials processes are also discussed, based on the fundamental physical and chemical principles. When applied within classical electron beam lithography systems, these findings pave the way for a novel class of highly versatile integrated bioactuators from micro-to macroscales.
- ItemFrom statistic to deterministic nanostructures in fused silica induced by nanosecond laser radiation(Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2018) Lorenz, Pierre; Klöppel, Michael; Zagoranskiy, Igor; Zimmer, KlausThe production of structures by laser machining below the diffraction limit is still a challenge. However, self-organization processes can be useful. The laser-induced self-organized modification of the shape of photolithographic produced chromium structures on fused silica as well as the structuring of the fused silica surface by nanosecond UV laser radiation was studied, respectively. Low fluence single pulse laser irradiation (□ > 300 mJ/cm2) cause the formation from chromium squares to droplets due to the mass transport in the molten chromium film. This process is governed by the instability of the molten metal due to the surface tension driven liquid phase mass transport. For a chromium pattern size similar to the instability length two specific droplet distributions were found which are single droplets with a determined position near the centre of the original pattern or random distributed smaller droplets arranged circularly. Each of the metal patterns can be transferred into the fused silica by a multi-pulse irradiation. The experimental results can be simulated well for low fluences by sequential solving the heat and Navier-Stokes equation.
- ItemSelf-cleaning stainless steel surfaces induced by laser processing and chemical engineering(Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Lorenz, Pierre; Zajadacz, Joachim; Marquardt, Franka; Ehrhardt, Martin; Hommes, Gregor; Peter, Sebastian; Zimmer, KlausNanostructured surfaces show a variety of beneficial macroscopic effects. The combination of hierarchic nanostructures with a suitable chemical surface composition allows for the fabrication of surfaces with interesting fluidic properties beyond such effects. This approach enables the specification of nano/microstructure and chemical composition independent of each other. Various hierarchical micro- and nanostructures can be realized by laser texturing of stainless steel surfaces with infrared picosecond laser. Simultaneously, the surface is activated for chemical processing. The surface can now be tuned by bonding of a self-assembled monolayer on the laser-treated surface by chemical treatment. This two-step functionalization process allows the for separated adjusting of the surface topography and chemical composition and thus for the well-defined setting of the surface properties. The fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces with self-cleaning properties are performed that can be functionalized further by subsequent laser-irradiation. Furthermore, the long-time stability of the surface functionalization in relation to the impact chemicals or radiation was investigated.
- ItemDetection of small bunches of ions using image charges(London : Nature Publishing Group, 2018) Räcke, Paul; Spemann, Daniel; Gerlach, Jürgen W.; Rauschenbach, Bernd; Meijer, JanA concept for detection of charged particles in a single fly-by, e.g. within an ion optical system for deterministic implantation, is presented. It is based on recording the image charge signal of ions moving through a detector, comprising a set of cylindrical electrodes. This work describes theoretical and practical aspects of image charge detection (ICD) and detector design and its application in the context of real time ion detection. It is shown how false positive detections are excluded reliably, although the signal-to-noise ratio is far too low for time-domain analysis. This is achieved by applying a signal threshold detection scheme in the frequency domain, which - complemented by the development of specialised low-noise preamplifier electronics - will be the key to developing single ion image charge detection for deterministic implantation.
- ItemNanoscale patterning of self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-functionalised substrates with single molecule contact printing(Cambridge : RSC Publ., 2017) Sajfutdinow, M.; Uhlig, K.; Prager, A.; Schneider, C.; Abel, B.; Smith, D.M.Defined arrangements of individual molecules are covalenty connected ("printed") onto SAM-functionalised gold substrates with nanometer resolution. Substrates were initially pre-functionlised by coating with 3,3′-dithiodipropionic acid (DTPA) to form a self-assembled monolayer (SAM), which was characterised by atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle goniometry, cyclic voltammetry and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. Pre-defined "ink" patterns displayed on DNA origami-based single-use carriers ("stamp") were covalently conjugated to the SAM using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylamino-propyl)carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxy-succinimide (NHS). These anchor points were used to create nanometer-precise single-molecule arrays, here with complementary DNA and streptavidin. Sequential steps of the printing process were evaluated by AFM and SPR spectroscopy. It was shown that 30% of the detected arrangements closely match the expected length distribution of designed patterns, whereas another 40% exhibit error within the range of only 1 streptavidin molecule. SPR results indicate that imposing a defined separation between molecular anchor points within the pattern through this printing process enhances the efficiency for association of specific binding partners for systems with high sterical hindrance. This study expands upon earlier findings where geometrical information was conserved by the application of DNA nanostructures, by establishing a generalisable strategy which is universally applicable to nearly any type of prefunctionalised substrate such as metals, plastics, silicates, ITO or 2D materials.
- ItemSecondary electron yield engineering of copper surfaces by 532 nm ultrashort laser pulses(Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Lorenz, Pierre; Bez, Elena; Himmerlich, Marcel; Ehrhardt, Martin; Taborelli, Mauro; Zimmer, KlausNanostructured surfaces exhibit outstanding properties and enable manifold industrial applications. In this study the laser surface processing of polycrystalline, flat copper surfaces by 532 nm picosecond laser irradiation for secondary electron yield (SEY) reduction is reported. The laser beam was scanned in parallel lines across the sample surface in order to modify large surface areas. Morphology and SEY are characterized in dependence of the process parameters to derive correlations and mechanisms of the laser-based SEY engineering process. The nano- and microstructure morphology of the laser-modified surface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and the secondary electron yield was measured. In general, an SEY reduction with increasing accumulated laser fluence was found. In particular, at low scanning speed (1 mm/s - 10 mm/s) and “high” laser power (~ 1 W) compact nanostructures with a very low SEY maximum of 0.7 are formed.
- ItemPhase and grain size engineering in Ge-Sb-Te-O by alloying with La-Sr-Mn-O towards improved material properties(Oxford : Elsevier Science, 2020) Kraft, Nikolas; Wang, Guoxiang; Bryja, Hagen; Prager, Andrea; Griebel, Jan; Lotnyk, AndriyGe-Sb-Te alloys are promising materials for non-volatile memory applications. Alloying of the materials with various elements is considered as prospective approach to enhance material properties. This work reports on the preparation and characterization of pure Ge-Sb-Te-O (GSTO) and alloyed with La-Sr-Mn-O (LSMO) thin films. Thermal heating of amorphous thin films to different temperatures show distinct crystallization behavior. A general trend is the decrease in the size of GSTO crystallites and the suppression in the formation of stable trigonal GSTO phase with increasing content of LSMO. Microstructural studies by transmission electron microscopy show the formation of metastable GSTO nanocrystallites dispersed in the amorphous matrix. Analysis of local chemical bonding by X-ray spectroscopy reveal the presence of different oxides in the GSTO-LSMO composites. Moreover, the composites with a high LSMO content exhibit higher crystallization temperature and significant larger sheet resistance in amorphous and crystalline phase, while a memory device made of GSTO-LSMO alloy reveals bipolar switching and synaptic behavior. In addition, the amount of LSMO in GSTO-LSMO thin films influences their optical properties and band gap. Overall, the results of this work reveal the highly promising potential of GSTO-LSMO nanocomposites for data storage and reconfigurable photonic applications as well as neuro-inspired computing.
- ItemNanoporous Morphogenesis in Amorphous Carbon Layers: Experiments and Modeling on Energetic Ion Induced Self‐Organization(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2021) Hoffmann, Daniel T.; Dietrich, Johannes; Mändl, Stephan; Zink, Mareike; Mayr, Stefan G.Nanoporous amorphous carbon constitutes a highly relevant material for a multitude of applications ranging from energy to environmental and biomedical systems. In the present work, it is demonstrated experimentally how energetic ions can be utilized to tailor porosity of thin sputter deposited amorphous carbon films. The physical mechanisms underlying self-organized nanoporous morphogenesis are unraveled by employing extensive molecular dynamics and phase field models across different length scales. It is demonstrated that pore formation is a defect induced phenomenon, in which vacancies cluster in a spinodal decomposition type of self-organization process, while interstitials are absorbed by the amorphous matrix, leading to additional volume increase and radiation induced viscous flow. The proposed modeling framework is capable to reproduce and predict the experimental observations from first principles and thus opens the venue for computer assisted design of nanoporous frameworks.