The Fourth State of Engineering: Nanoengineered Materials and Coatings Facilitated by Plasma Techniques (Closed)

A topical collection in Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This collection belongs to the section "Synthesis, Interfaces and Nanostructures".

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Academician Professor, School of Chemistry and Physics and QUT Centre for Materials Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia
Interests: plasma nanoscience; nanotechnology, nanofabrication; nanoscale synthesis and processing; materials science; functional nanomaterials and devices; low-temperature plasma applications; energy, environmental, health, and other industrial technologies; clean and renewable energy; nano-plasmas and plasmonics; plasma health care and medicine; virus entry and prevention mechanisms; anti-viral and anti-bacterial surfaces; plasma catalysis; genetic modifications; cleantech; industrial biotechnology; advanced (e.g., additive) manufacturing

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Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Blvd, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia
Interests: antifungal & antibacterial surface coatings; low-fouling coatings; plasma polymerization; SI-ATRP; contact-killing materials; thin films; surface analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale BioPhotonics and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Interests: chemical and biosensors; biomaterials; thin film coatings; plasma polymerization; surface modification of 2D and 3D substrates; effective drug delivery platforms; bio-interfaces; immunological responses to biomaterials

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plasma, the fourth state of matter, has captivated humans for millennia. In the last several decades, we have witnessed exciting breakthroughs in the use of plasma processes; to generating a diverse range of nanomaterials, nanoengineered coatings and interfaces. Examples include nanowires, nanotubes, nanoparticles, and nanostructured coatings for applications in numerous areas of everyday life, ranging from medical devices to electronics. Furthermore, many of these materials, coatings and interfaces are unique and cannot be derived by “conventional” means.

This Special Issue will bring together the latest advances in the fields of plasma nanoengineering of interfaces, coatings and structures and their application in a multitude of fields. In addition, the issue will highlight current challenges and obstacles. Overcoming these challenges and obstacles will foster the fundamental understanding of the physical, chemical and physicochemical phenomena underpinning the plasma facilitated processes.

Finally, this Special Issue will provide state-of-the art guidance to researchers and engineers in the plasma-field, as well as inform the community about future directions.

For this reason, in this Special Issue, we invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles. These articles are to inspire research towards the next generation of plasma derived nanoscale interfaces, coatings and structures. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Plasma synthesis of nanomaterials
  • Nanoscale plasma polymer coatings
  • Plasma assisted surface modification
  • Plasma nano texturing of surfaces
  • Applications of plasma derived nanomaterials, coatings and interfaces in different fields (such as medicine, energy, agriculture and beyond)
  • Modeling of plasma facilitated process for fabrication of nanomaterials

Prof. Dr. Krasimir Vasilev
Prof. Dr. Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov
Dr. Thomas Michl
Dr. Akash Bachhuka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • plasma nanomaterials
  • plasma polymerization
  • plasma nanosynthesis
  • plasma deposition
  • plasma etching
  • plasma polymerization
  • plasma coatings
  • plasma medicine
  • plasma agriculture
  • plasma applications

Published Papers (6 papers)

2022

Jump to: 2020, 2019, 2018

11 pages, 17938 KiB  
Article
Stability of Wafer-Scale Thin Films of Vertically Aligned Hexagonal BN Nanosheets Exposed to High-Energy Ions and Reactive Atomic Oxygen
by Shiyong Huang, Zhi Kai Ng, Hongling Li, Apoorva Chaturvedi, Jian Wei Mark Lim, Roland Yingjie Tay, Edwin Hang Tong Teo, Shuyan Xu, Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov and Siu Hon Tsang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(21), 3876; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12213876 - 02 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1414
Abstract
Stability of advanced functional materials subjected to extreme conditions involving ion bombardment, radiation, or reactive chemicals is crucial for diverse applications. Here we demonstrate the excellent stability of wafer-scale thin films of vertically aligned hexagonal BN nanosheets (hBNNS) exposed to high-energy ions and [...] Read more.
Stability of advanced functional materials subjected to extreme conditions involving ion bombardment, radiation, or reactive chemicals is crucial for diverse applications. Here we demonstrate the excellent stability of wafer-scale thin films of vertically aligned hexagonal BN nanosheets (hBNNS) exposed to high-energy ions and reactive atomic oxygen representative of extreme conditions in space exploration and other applications. The hBNNS are fabricated catalyst-free on wafer-scale silicon, stainless steel, copper and glass panels at a lower temperature of 400 °C by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and subsequently characterized. The resistance of BNNS to high-energy ions was tested by immersing the samples into the plasma plume at the anode of a 150 W Hall Effect Thruster with BNNS films facing Xenon ions, revealing that the etching rate of BNNS is 20 times less than for a single-crystalline silicon wafer. Additionally, using O2/Ar/H2 plasmas to simulate the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment, it is demonstrated that the simulated plasma had very weak influence on the hBNNS surface structure and thickness. These results validate the strong potential of BNNS films for applications as protective, thermally conductive and insulating layers for spacecrafts, electric plasma satellite thrusters and semiconductor optoelectronic devices. Full article
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2020

Jump to: 2022, 2019, 2018

10 pages, 1902 KiB  
Article
Bactericidal Silver Nanoparticles by Atmospheric Pressure Solution Plasma Processing
by Janith Weerasinghe, Wenshao Li, Rusen Zhou, Renwu Zhou, Alexander Gissibl, Prashant Sonar, Robert Speight, Krasimir Vasilev and Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(5), 874; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10050874 - 01 May 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3979
Abstract
Silver nanoparticles have applications in plasmonics, medicine, catalysis and electronics. We report a simple, cost-effective, facile and reproducible technique to synthesise silver nanoparticles via plasma-induced non-equilibrium liquid chemistry with the absence of a chemical reducing agent. Silver nanoparticles with tuneable sizes from 5.4 [...] Read more.
Silver nanoparticles have applications in plasmonics, medicine, catalysis and electronics. We report a simple, cost-effective, facile and reproducible technique to synthesise silver nanoparticles via plasma-induced non-equilibrium liquid chemistry with the absence of a chemical reducing agent. Silver nanoparticles with tuneable sizes from 5.4 to 17.8 nm are synthesised and characterised using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and other analytic techniques. A mechanism for silver nanoparticle formation is also proposed. The antibacterial activity of the silver nanoparticles was investigated with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The inhibition of both bacteria types was observed. This is a promising alternative method for the instant synthesis of silver nanoparticles, instead of the conventional chemical reduction route, for numerous applications. Full article
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12 pages, 4135 KiB  
Article
Plasma Enabled Fe2O3/Fe3O4 Nano-aggregates Anchored on Nitrogen-doped Graphene as Anode for Sodium-Ion Batteries
by Qianqian Wang, Yujie Ma, Li Liu, Shuyue Yao, Wenjie Wu, Zhongyue Wang, Peng Lv, Jiajin Zheng, Kehan Yu, Wei Wei and Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 782; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10040782 - 18 Apr 2020
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 3725
Abstract
Low electrical conductivity severely limits the application of Fe2O3 in lithium- and sodium-ion batteries. In respect of this, we design and fabricate Fe2O3/Fe3O4 nano-aggregates anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene as an anode for sodium-ion [...] Read more.
Low electrical conductivity severely limits the application of Fe2O3 in lithium- and sodium-ion batteries. In respect of this, we design and fabricate Fe2O3/Fe3O4 nano-aggregates anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene as an anode for sodium-ion batteries with the assistance of microwave plasma. The highly conductive Fe3O4 in the composite can function as a highway of electron transport, and the voids and phase boundaries in the Fe2O3/Fe3O4 heterostructure facilitate Na+ ion diffusion into the nano-aggregates. Furthermore, the Fe–O–C bonds between the nano-aggregates and graphene not only stabilize the structural integrity, but also enhance the charge transfer. Consequently, the Fe2O3/Fe3O4/NG anode exhibits specific capacity up to 362 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1, excellent rate capability, and stable long-term cycling performance. This multi-component-based heterostructure design can be used in anode materials for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries, and potential opens a new path for energy storage electrodes. Full article
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2019

Jump to: 2022, 2020, 2018

9 pages, 1504 KiB  
Article
Oriented Graphenes from Plasma-Reformed Coconut Oil for Supercapacitor Electrodes
by Shailesh Kumar, Phil Martin, Avi Bendavid, John Bell and Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov
Nanomaterials 2019, 9(12), 1679; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9121679 - 25 Nov 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2914
Abstract
The utilization of vertical graphene nanosheet (VGN) electrodes for energy storage in supercapacitors has long been desired yet remains challenging, mostly because of insufficient control of nanosheet stacking, density, surface functionality, and reactivity. Here, we report a single-step, scalable, and environment-friendly plasma-assisted process [...] Read more.
The utilization of vertical graphene nanosheet (VGN) electrodes for energy storage in supercapacitors has long been desired yet remains challenging, mostly because of insufficient control of nanosheet stacking, density, surface functionality, and reactivity. Here, we report a single-step, scalable, and environment-friendly plasma-assisted process for the fabrication of densely packed yet accessible surfaces of forested VGNs (F-VGNs) using coconut oil as precursor. The morphology of F-VGNs could be controlled from a continuous thick structure to a hierarchical, cauliflower-like structure that was accessible by the electrolyte ions. The surface of individual F-VGNs was slightly oxygenated, while their interior remained oxygen-free. The fabricated thick (>10 μm) F-VGN electrodes presented specific capacitance up to 312 F/g at a voltage scan rate of 10 mV/s and 148 F/g at 500 mV/s with >99% retention after 1000 cycles. This versatile approach suggests realistic opportunities for further improvements, potentially leading to the integration of F-VGN electrodes in next-generation energy storage devices. Full article
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16 pages, 4647 KiB  
Article
Single-Crystalline Metal Oxide Nanostructures Synthesized by Plasma-Enhanced Thermal Oxidation
by Bin Guo, Martin Košiček, Junchi Fu, Yazhou Qu, Guanhua Lin, Oleg Baranov, Janez Zavašnik, Qijin Cheng, Kostya (Ken) Ostrikov and Uroš Cvelbar
Nanomaterials 2019, 9(10), 1405; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9101405 - 02 Oct 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3239
Abstract
To unravel the influence of the temperature and plasma species on the growth of single-crystalline metal oxide nanostructures, zinc, iron, and copper foils were used as substrates for the study of nanostructure synthesis in the glow discharge of the mixture of oxygen and [...] Read more.
To unravel the influence of the temperature and plasma species on the growth of single-crystalline metal oxide nanostructures, zinc, iron, and copper foils were used as substrates for the study of nanostructure synthesis in the glow discharge of the mixture of oxygen and argon gases by a custom-made plasma-enhanced horizontal tube furnace deposition system. The morphology and microstructure of the resulting metal oxide nanomaterials were controlled by changing the reaction temperature from 300 to 600 °C. Experimentally, we confirmed that single-crystalline zinc oxide, copper oxide, and iron oxide nanostructures with tunable morphologies (including nanowires, nanobelts, etc.) can be successfully synthesized via such procedure. A plausible growth mechanism for the synthesis of metal oxide nanostructures under the plasma-based process is proposed and supported by the nanostructure growth modelling. The results of this work are generic, confirmed on three different types of materials, and can be applied for the synthesis of a broader range of metal oxide nanostructures. Full article
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2018

Jump to: 2022, 2020, 2019

12 pages, 3806 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Nickel Nanoparticles by Direct Current Arc Discharge Method and Their Catalytic Application in Hybrid Na-Air Battery
by Fengmei Su, Xuechao Qiu, Feng Liang, Manabu Tanaka, Tao Qu, Yaochun Yao, Wenhui Ma, Bin Yang, Yongnian Dai, Katsuro Hayashi and Takayuki Watanabe
Nanomaterials 2018, 8(9), 684; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano8090684 - 01 Sep 2018
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5593
Abstract
Nickel nanoparticles were prepared by the arc discharge method. Argon and argon/hydrogen mixtures were used as plasma gas; the evaporation of anode material chiefly resulted in the formation of different arc-anode attachments at different hydrogen concentrations. The concentration of hydrogen was fixed at [...] Read more.
Nickel nanoparticles were prepared by the arc discharge method. Argon and argon/hydrogen mixtures were used as plasma gas; the evaporation of anode material chiefly resulted in the formation of different arc-anode attachments at different hydrogen concentrations. The concentration of hydrogen was fixed at 0, 30, and 50 vol% in argon arc, corresponding to diffuse, multiple, and constricted arc-anode attachments, respectively, which were observed by using a high-speed camera. The images of the cathode and anode jets were observed with a suitable band-pass filter. The relationship between the area change of the cathode/anode jet and the synchronous voltage/current waveform was studied. By investigating diverse arc-anode attachments, the effect of hydrogen concentration on the features of nickel nanoparticles were investigated, finding that 50 vol% H2 concentration has high productivity, fine crystallinity, and appropriate size distribution. The synthesized nickel nanoparticles were then used as catalysts in a hybrid sodium–air battery. Compared with commercial a silver nanoparticle catalyst and carbon black, nickel nanoparticles have better electrocatalytic performance. The promising electrocatalytic activity of nickel nanoparticles can be ascribed to their good crystallinity, effective activation sites, and Ni/NiO composite structures. Nickel nanoparticles prepared by the direct current (DC) arc discharge method have the potential to be applied as catalysts on a large scale. Full article
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