Use of Different Metal Oxide Coatings in Stainless Steel Based ECDs for Smart Textiles

Electrochromism is the ability of a material to selectively change its coloration under the influence of an external electric current/potential and maintain it even after the power source has been disconnected. Devices that use such a mechanism are known as electrochromic devices (ECDs). Over the years, significant effort has been invested into the development of flexible ECDs. Such electrochromic tapes or fibers can be used as smart textiles. Recently, we utilized a novel geometrical approach in assembling electrochromic tapes which does not require the use of optically transparent electrodes. The so-called inverted sandwich ECD configuration can employ various color-changing mechanisms, e.g., intercalation, redox reactions of electrolytes or reactions on electrode surfaces. One of the most frequently used electrochromic metal oxides is WO3. However, other metal oxides with different coloration responses also exist. In this paper, we explore the use of V2O5 and TiO2 in metal-tape-based ECDs in the inverted sandwich configuration and compare their performance with WO3-based devices. Morphological features of metal oxide thin layers were investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the performance of the tapes was investigated electrochemically and spectroscopically. We demonstrate that well-established preparation techniques (e.g., sol–gel synthesis) along with coating approaches (e.g., dipping) are adequate to prepare optically nontransparent fiber electrodes. Depending on the metal oxide, flexible electrochromic fiber devices exhibiting different coloration patterns can be assembled. Devices with TiO2 showed little coloration response, while much better performance was achieved in the case of V2O5 and WO3 ECDs.

Flexible Single-Crystalline GaN Substrate by Direct Deposition of III-N Thin Films on Polycrystalline Metal Tape

Flexible electronics and mechanically bendable devices based on Group III-N semiconductor materials are emerging, while there are several challenges in manufacturing-cost reduction, device stability and flexibility, and device-performance improvement. To...

Effect of Annealing Temperature and Spin Coating Speed on Mn-Doped ZnS Nanocrystals Thin Film by Spin Coating

ZnS:Mn nanocrystals thin film was fabricated at 300°C and 500°C via the spin coating method. Its sol-gel was spin coated for 20 s at 3000 rpm and 4000 rpm with metal tape being used to mold the shape of the thin film. A different combination of these parameters was used to investigate their influences on the fabrication of the film. Optical and structural characterizations have been performed. Optical characterization was analyzed using UV-visible spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectrophotometer while the structural and compositional analysis of films was measured via field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray. From UV-vis spectra, the wavelength of the ZnS:Mn was 250 nm and the band gap was within the range 4.43 eV–4.60 eV. In room temperature PL spectra, there were two emission peaks centered at 460 nm and 590 nm. Under higher annealing temperature and higher speed used in spin coating, an increase of 0.05 eV was observed. It was concluded that the spin coating process is able to synthesize high quality spherical ZnS:Mn nanocrystals. This conventional process can replace other high technology methods due to its synthesis cost.

The Disturbance of Inductive Proximity Sensor for Mobile Robot

Non-contactingproximity sensors are widely promoted for position detection through determiningthe distance between sensor and object. Besides, the usage of non-contactinginductive proximity sensors for object detections such as finding non-ferrousand ferrous metal tape is the popular technique in mobile robots. Most of thetechnology uses simple HF- oscillation principle as an inductive proximitysensor (IPS) with a decrease in the quality of the oscillator circuit’selectromagnetic to find the tape. By applying this technique, the externalfactors may cause negative effects to systemperformance. To overcome this situation, we set up a hand measurement withinductive proximity sensors and two tapes, meanwhile main tape and disturbingtape are separated by an obstruction sheet. After measuring, dataresults are used to analyze the influence of the obstruction sheet thickness anddisturbance tape to the noise in received signals. The research isthe fundament for further applications, based on inductive proximity sensor formobile robot that could be more robust against noises and disturbances.

Improving the Production of Self-Assembled ZnS:Mn Nanocrystals through the Modification of Sol Gel – Spin Coating Approaches

It is difficult to produce a good film consisted of nanocrystals with good alignment. So far, a lot of methods and especially expensive vacuum-based methods have been used to produce such films. In this paper, sol gel and spin coating method were introduced. The combination of these simple and cheaper methods was used because of the high potential of those methods to produce good quality nanocrystals. First, nanocrystals were produced by sol gel method and later spin coating was done to control the thickness of the nanocrystals film. During the spin coating process, a metal tape was used to avoid solution from splashing out from the glass substrate. Subsequently, nanocrystals film was heated up from room temperature to 400 °C. To study the alignment of nanocrystals, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) was used. Through this analysis, we found that the nanocrystals was in spherical pattern and the alignment of this film was well arrayed. Here, the combination of the two cheaper and simpler methods can be used to produce good quality of nanocrystals thin film and at the same time can save our research cost.

Measurement of Static Performance of Inductive Proximity Switch for a Mobile Robot

For a control system, the static performance of a sensor is always a milestone of dynamic performance of the system. The static performance of a proximity switch plays an important role due to it affects the dynamic properties quality of a mobile robot and the results of dynamic identification. A proximity switch is a common sensor to search a metal guideline for a mobile robot. If the signal of a proximity switch is unstable or noise, it is more disturbance for a mobile robot control. Hence, a static performance evaluation of a proximity switch is basic technology for a mobile robot and will be proposed in this paper. When a proximity switch is used to search a signal of a metal tape as guideline for a mobile robot, there are giant effect so different metals such as diamagnetism, paramagnetism and ferromagnetism in materials. In this paper, the hand-made measurement system is successful development, and 6 types of metals are measured. Through measurement, the static performance of a proximity switch can be fast evaluated and analyzed, respectively. The experiment result shows that the signals of diamagnetism, paramagnetism and ferromagnetism metal tape in materials are giant differences. By using the developed measurement system of this study, the effects of different metals can be fast determined respectively. And base on this static performance, the dynamic performance of a proximity switch can be fast and precisely evaluated. Determining how to rapidly and efficiently control a mobile robot therefore becomes the key point in using the measurement technique of static performance.