Crystallization in Zirconia Film Nano-Layered with Silica

Gravitational waves are detected using resonant optical cavity interferometers. The mirror coatings’ inherent thermal noise and photon scattering limit sensitivity. Crystals within the reflective coating may be responsible for either or both noise sources. In this study, we explored crystallization reduction in zirconia through nano-layering with silica. We used X-ray diffraction (XRD) to monitor crystal growth between successive annealing cycles. We observed crystal formation at higher temperatures in thinner zirconia layers, indicating that silica is a successful inhibitor of crystal growth. However, the thinnest barriers break down at high temperatures, thus allowing crystal growth beyond each nano-layer. In addition, in samples with thicker zirconia layers, we observe that crystallization saturates with a significant portion of amorphous material remaining.

Double-Layered Zirconia Films for Carbon-Based Mesoscopic Perovskite Solar Cells and Photodetectors

Carbon-based mesoscopic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and photodetectors were fabricated with the application of double-layered ZrO2 films, consisting of zirconia nanoparticles and microparticles for the first and the second layer, respectively. This assembly exploits the ability of the zirconia microparticles to scatter and hence diffuse the incident light, causing a more efficient illumination of the perovskite layer. As a result, the photocurrent densities produced by a photodetector and a carbon-based PSC were increased by nearly 35% and 28%, respectively, compared to devices assembled using a conventional single zirconia film. Following the increase in the photocurrent, the responsivity of the photodetector and the power conversion efficiency of the PSC were increased analogously, due to the improved light harvesting efficiency of the perovskite layer. Parameters, such as the total thickness, the roughness, and the crystallinity of the films, were examined. Differences in the grain size and in the crystal planes of the perovskite were observed and evaluated. These results demonstrate that a double-layered ZrO2 film can enhance the efficiency of solar cells and photodetectors, enhancing the prospects for their potential commercialization.

Water adsorption at zirconia: from the ZrO2(111)/Pt3Zr(0001) model system to powder samples

A comprehensive study of water adsorption and desorption on an ultrathin trilayer zirconia film by experimental and computational methods shows good agreement with data for H2O/ZrO2 powder material.

Surface Modification of 316 L Stainless Steel by Sol-Gel Ceramic Coating and its Cytocompatibility

In this research, sol-gel method was utilized to prepare ceramic coating on medical grade 316 L stainless steel with different annealing temperature, solution constitute and coating layers. As-prepared zirconia film morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscope. The human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured on specimens to evaluate their biocompatibility, with fluorescence staining to observe the morphology of cells. The results showed that annealed zirconia film was improved mechanical properties. According to the bio-evaluation results, HUVECs shows very small difference on proliferation activity on ZrO2coatings compared to 316 L stainless steel, which was shows high difference on proinflammation response test. This indicated that ceramic coating can be indeed less aggressive, which was use for potential future application in surface treatment of stainless steel in scalpels and indwelling needle.