Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Item
    A Patternable and In Situ Formed Polymeric Zinc Blanket for a Reversible Zinc Anode in a Skin-Mountable Microbattery
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Zhu, Minshen; Hu, Junping; Lu, Qiongqiong; Dong, Haiyun; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D.; Becker, Christian; Karnaushenko, Daniil; Li, Yang; Tang, Hongmei; Qu, Zhe; Ge, Jin; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Owing to their high safety and reversibility, aqueous microbatteries using zinc anodes and an acid electrolyte have emerged as promising candidates for wearable electronics. However, a critical limitation that prevents implementing zinc chemistry at the microscale lies in its spontaneous corrosion in an acidic electrolyte that causes a capacity loss of 40% after a ten-hour rest. Widespread anti-corrosion techniques, such as polymer coating, often retard the kinetics of zinc plating/stripping and lack spatial control at the microscale. Here, a polyimide coating that resolves this dilemma is reported. The coating prevents corrosion and hence reduces the capacity loss of a standby microbattery to 10%. The coordination of carbonyl oxygen in the polyimide with zinc ions builds up over cycling, creating a zinc blanket that minimizes the concentration gradient through the electrode/electrolyte interface and thus allows for fast kinetics and low plating/stripping overpotential. The polyimide's patternable feature energizes microbatteries in both aqueous and hydrogel electrolytes, delivering a supercapacitor-level rate performance and 400 stable cycles in the hydrogel electrolyte. Moreover, the microbattery is able to be attached to human skin and offers strong resistance to deformations, splashing, and external shock. The skin-mountable microbattery demonstrates an excellent combination of anti-corrosion, reversibility, and durability in wearables. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Digital Electrochemistry for On-Chip Heterogeneous Material Integration
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Bao, Bin; Rivkin, Boris; Akbar, Farzin; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D.; Bandari, Vineeth Kumar; Teuerle, Laura; Becker, Christian; Baunack, Stefan; Karnaushenko, Daniil; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Many modern electronic applications rely on functional units arranged in an active-matrix integrated on a single chip. The active-matrix allows numerous identical device pixels to be addressed within a single system. However, next-generation electronics requires heterogeneous integration of dissimilar devices, where sensors, actuators, and display pixels sense and interact with the local environment. Heterogeneous material integration allows the reduction of size, increase of functionality, and enhancement of performance; however, it is challenging since front-end fabrication technologies in microelectronics put extremely high demands on materials, fabrication protocols, and processing environments. To overcome the obstacle in heterogeneous material integration, digital electrochemistry is explored here, which site-selectively carries out electrochemical processes to deposit and address electroactive materials within the pixel array. More specifically, an amorphous indium-gallium-zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film-transistor (TFT) active-matrix is used to address pixels within the matrix and locally control electrochemical reactions for material growth and actuation. The digital electrochemistry procedure is studied in-depth by using polypyrrole (PPy) as a model material. Active-matrix-driven multicolored electrochromic patterns and actuator arrays are fabricated to demonstrate the capabilities of this approach for material integration. The approach can be extended to a broad range of materials and structures, opening up a new path for advanced heterogeneous microsystem integration.
  • Item
    Interfacial Covalent Bonds Regulated Electron-Deficient 2D Black Phosphorus for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reactions
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Wang, Xia; Raghupathy, Ramya Kormath Madam; Querebillo, Christine Joy; Liao, Zhongquan; Li, Dongqi; Lin, Kui; Hantusch, Martin; Sofer, Zdeněk; Li, Baohua; Zschech, Ehrenfried; Weidinger, Inez M.; Kühne, Thomas D.; Mirhosseini, Hossein; Yu, Minghao; Feng, Xinliang
    Developing resource-abundant and sustainable metal-free bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts is essential for the practical application of zinc–air batteries (ZABs). 2D black phosphorus (BP) with fully exposed atoms and active lone pair electrons can be promising for oxygen electrocatalysts, which, however, suffers from low catalytic activity and poor electrochemical stability. Herein, guided by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst is demonstrated via covalently bonding BP nanosheets with graphitic carbon nitride (denoted BP-CN-c). The polarized P-N covalent bonds in BP-CN-c can efficiently regulate the electron transfer from BP to graphitic carbon nitride and significantly promote the OOH* adsorption on phosphorus atoms. Impressively, the oxygen evolution reaction performance of BP-CN-c (overpotential of 350 mV at 10 mA cm−2, 90% retention after 10 h operation) represents the state-of-the-art among the reported BP-based metal-free catalysts. Additionally, BP-CN-c exhibits a small half-wave overpotential of 390 mV for oxygen reduction reaction, representing the first bifunctional BP-based metal-free oxygen catalyst. Moreover, ZABs are assembled incorporating BP-CN-c cathodes, delivering a substantially higher peak power density (168.3 mW cm−2) than the Pt/C+RuO2-based ZABs (101.3 mW cm−2). The acquired insights into interfacial covalent bonds pave the way for the rational design of new and affordable metal-free catalysts. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    High-Entropy Metal-Organic Frameworks for Highly Reversible Sodium Storage
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Ma, Yanjiao; Ma, Yuan; Dreyer, Sören Lukas; Wang, Qingsong; Wang, Kai; Goonetilleke, Damian; Omar, Ahmad; Mikhailova, Daria; Hahn, Horst; Breitung, Ben; Brezesinski, Torsten
    Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) are reported to be efficient sodium storage materials because of the unique advantages of their metal-organic framework structure. However, the issues of low specific capacity and poor reversibility, caused by phase transitions during charge/discharge cycling, have thus far limited the applicability of these materials. Herein, a new approach is presented to substantially improve the electrochemical properties of PBAs by introducing high entropy into the crystal structure. To achieve this, five different metal species are introduced, sharing the same nitrogen-coordinated site, thereby increasing the configurational entropy of the system beyond 1.5R. By careful selection of the elements, high-entropy PBA (HE-PBA) presents a quasi-zero-strain reaction mechanism, resulting in increased cycling stability and rate capability. The key to such improvement lies in the high entropy and associated effects as well as the presence of several active redox centers. The gassing behavior of PBAs is also reported. Evolution of dimeric cyanogen due to oxidation of the cyanide ligands is detected, which can be attributed to the structural degradation of HE-PBA during battery operation. By optimizing the electrochemical window, a Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100% is retained after cycling for more than 3000 cycles.
  • Item
    Mechanical Characterization of Compact Rolled-up Microtubes Using In Situ Scanning Electron Microscopy Nanoindentation and Finite Element Analysis
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Moradi, Somayeh; Jöhrmann, Nathanael; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D.; Zschenderlein, Uwe; Karnaushenko, Daniil; Wunderle, Bernhard; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Self-assembled Swiss-roll microstructures (SRMs) are widely explored to build up microelectronic devices such as capacitors, transistors, or inductors as well as sensors and lab-in-a-tube systems. These devices often need to be transferred to a special position on a microchip or printed circuit board for the final application. Such a device transfer is typically conducted by a pick-and-place process exerting enormous mechanical loads onto the 3D components that may cause catastrophic failure of the device. Herein, the mechanical deformation behavior of SRMs using experiments and simulations is investigated. SRMs using in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with nanoindentation are characterized. This allows us to mimic and characterize mechanical loads as they occur in a pick-and-place process. The deformation response of SRMs depends on three geometrical factors, i.e., the number of windings, compactness of consecutive windings, and inner diameter of the microtube. Nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) showing good agreement with experiments is performed. It is believed that the insights into the mechanical loading of 3D self-assembled architectures will lead to novel techniques suitable for a new generation of pick-and-place machines operating at the microscale. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Engineering Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Graphene transfer methods: A review
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Springer, 2021) Ullah, Sami; Yang, Xiaoqin; Ta, Huy Q.; Hasan, Maria; Bachmatiuk, Alicja; Tokarska, Klaudia; Trzebicka, Barbara; Fu, Lei; Rummeli, Mark H.
    Graphene is a material with unique properties that can be exploited in electronics, catalysis, energy, and bio-related fields. Although, for maximal utilization of this material, high-quality graphene is required at both the growth process and after transfer of the graphene film to the application-compatible substrate. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an important method for growing high-quality graphene on non-technological substrates (as, metal substrates, e.g., copper foil). Thus, there are also considerable efforts toward the efficient and non-damaging transfer of quality of graphene on to technologically relevant materials and systems. In this review article, a range of graphene current transfer techniques are reviewed from the standpoint of their impact on contamination control and structural integrity preservation of the as-produced graphene. In addition, their scalability, cost- and time-effectiveness are discussed. We summarize with a perspective on the transfer challenges, alternative options and future developments toward graphene technology.
  • Item
    Freestanding Nanolayers of a Wide-Gap Topological Insulator through Liquid-Phase Exfoliation
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Lê Anh, Mai; Potapov, Pavel; Wolf, Daniel; Lubk, Axel; Glatz, Bernhard; Fery, Andreas; Doert, Thomas; Ruck, Michael
    The layered salt Bi14Rh3I9 is a weak three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI), that is, a stack of two-dimensional (2D) TIs. It has a wide non-trivial band gap of 210 meV, which is generated by strong spin-orbit coupling, and possesses protected electronic edge-states. In the structure, charged layers of (Formula presented.) (Bi4Rh)3I]2+ honeycombs and (Formula presented.) Bi2I8]2− chains alternate. The non-trivial topology of Bi14Rh3I9 is an inherent property of the 2D intermetallic fragment. Here, the exfoliation of Bi14Rh3I9 was performed using two different chemical approaches: (a) through a reaction with n-butyllithium and poly(vinylpyrrolidone), (b) through a reaction with betaine in dimethylformamide at 55 °C. The former yielded few-layer sheets of the new compound Bi12Rh3I, while the latter led to crystalline sheets of Bi14Rh3I9 with a thickness down to 5 nm and edge-lengths up to several ten microns. X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy proved that the structure of Bi14Rh3I9 remained intact. Thus, it was assumed that the particles are still TIs. Dispersions of these flakes now allow for next steps towards the envisioned applications in nanoelectronics, such as the study of quantum coherence in deposited films, the combination with superconducting particles or films for the generation of Majorana fermions, or studies on their behavior under the influence of magnetic or electric fields or in contact with various materials occurring in devices. The method presented generally allows to exfoliate layers with high specific charges and thus the use of layered starting materials beyond van der Waals crystals. © 2020 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
  • Item
    Molecularly Engineered Black Phosphorus Heterostructures with Improved Ambient Stability and Enhanced Charge Carrier Mobility
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Shi, Huanhuan; Fu, Shuai; Liu, Yannan; Neumann, Christof; Wang, Mingchao; Dong, Haiyun; Kot, Piotr; Bonn, Mischa; Wang, Hai I.; Turchanin, Andrey; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Shaygan Nia, Ali; Yang, Sheng; Feng, Xinliang
    Overcoming the intrinsic instability and preserving unique electronic properties are key challenges for the practical applications of black phosphorus (BP) under ambient conditions. Here, it is demonstrated that molecular heterostructures of BP and hexaazatriphenylene derivatives (BP/HATs) enable improved environmental stability and charge transport properties. The strong interfacial coupling and charge transfer between the HATs and the BP lattice decrease the surface electron density and protect BP sheets from oxidation, resulting in an excellent ambient lifetime of up to 21 d. Importantly, HATs increase the charge scattering time of BP, contributing to an improved carrier mobility of 97 cm2 V-1 s-1 , almost three times of the pristine BP films, based on noninvasive THz spectroscopic studies. The film mobility is an order of magnitude larger than previously reported values in exfoliated 2D materials. The strategy opens up new avenues for versatile applications of BP sheets and provides an effective method for tuning the physicochemical properties of other air-sensitive 2D semiconductors.
  • Item
    Exceptionally High Blocking Temperature of 17 K in a Surface-Supported Molecular Magnet
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Paschke, Fabian; Birk, Tobias; Enenkel, Vivien; Liu, Fupin; Romankov, Vladyslav; Dreiser, Jan; Popov, Alexey A.; Fonin, Mikhail
    Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) are among the most promising building blocks for future magnetic data storage or quantum computing applications, owing to magnetic bistability and long magnetic relaxation times. The practical device integration requires realization of 2D surface assemblies of SMMs, where each magnetic unit shows magnetic relaxation being sufficiently slow at application-relevant temperatures. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, it is shown that sub-monolayers of Dy2 @C80 (CH2 Ph) dimetallofullerenes prepared on graphene by electrospray deposition exhibit magnetic behavior fully comparable to that of the bulk. Magnetic hysteresis and relaxation time measurements show that the magnetic moment remains stable for 100 s at 17 K, marking the blocking temperature TB(100) , being not only in excellent agreement with that of the bulk sample but also representing by far the highest one detected for a surface-supported single-molecule magnet. The reported findings give a boost to the efforts to stabilize and address the spin degree of freedom in molecular magnets aiming at the realization of SMM-based spintronic units.
  • Item
    Oxidation and Hot Gas Corrosion of Al–Cr–Fe–Ni-Based High-Entropy Alloys with Addition of Co and Mo
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Gabrysiak, Katharina Nicole; Gaitzsch, Uwe; Weißgärber, Thomas; Kieback, Bernd
    Multicomponent, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) are promising candidates for replacing conventional alloys in high-temperature applications. Herein, the high-temperature corrosion of AlCrFeNiX0.5 (X = Co, Mo) is investigated. The samples are tested for their oxidation resistance at temperatures up to 1200 °C for 120 h and their behavior in NaCl/Na2SO4 at 900 °C for 96 h. They are benchmarked against commercial alloys such as FeCrAl. Despite the same contents of Al and Cr, the HEAs form different oxide layers showing very different oxidation resistance. The type of oxide is related to the multiphase microstructure. The samples exhibit different amounts of ordered and unordered body-centered cubic (bcc) phase. The Co-containing specimen shows an oxidation resistance that performs similarly well as FeCrAl. Its behavior is ascribed to the formation of an Al2O3 layer, which is very stable at high temperatures. The sample with X = Mo exhibits an additional Mo-rich sigma phase, thus posing the risk of catastrophic oxidation. However, the Mo-containing HEA is more resistant in the environment of molten salt. Preoxidation treatment at a lower oxygen partial pressure proves to prolong life span of the Mo-containing HEA in hot air. Furthermore, a positive impact on oxidation resistance by addition of Y is affirmed. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Engineering Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.