No description available.

Electroplated zinc finishes have been widely used in the packaging of electronic products for many years as a result of their excellent corrosion resistance and relatively low cost. However, the spontaneous formation of whiskers on zinc electroplated components, which are capable of resulting in electrical shorting or other damaging effects, can be highly problematic for the reliability of long life electrical and electronic equipment. To date, most research has focused on tin whiskers and much less attention has been paid to zinc whisker research. A number of mechanisms to explain zinc whisker growth have been proposed, but none of them are widely accepted and some are in conflict with each other. This study has investigated the mechanism for whisker growth from three commercial zinc electroplated coatings on mild steel substrates. Firstly, whisker growth from an alkaline cyanide-free zinc electrodeposit was studied. A reduction in deposition current density (from 50 to 5 mA/cm2) and an increase in deposit thickness (from 2 to 15 μm) both contributed to reduced whisker growth. In terms of the mechanisms of whisker growth, it was observed that the presence of spherical raised surface features (nodules) with cavities beneath, promoted whisker growth by markedly shortening the incubation time from ~ 5 months to ~ 4 weeks. More importantly, the time dependent recrystallisation of the as-deposited columnar structure is closely associated with whisker growth from both nodules and planar regions of the deposit. The formation of Fe-Zn intermetallic compounds (IMCs) was not observed at either the Fe/Zn interface or within the electroplated coatings and does not appear to be associated with Zn whisker growth. Whisker growth from an acid chloride zinc electroplated coating and a Zn-Ni alloy electroplated coating were also investigated. These two coatings were immune to whisker growth after 18 months of storage at room temperature, regardless of deposition current density, deposit thickness and substrate surface modification. Finally, the effect of potential mitigation strategies on whisker growth was evaluated. Exposure to elevated temperatures (50 to 150°C) for 24 hours promoted whisker growth by reducing the incubation time for whiskers to first appear from less than 4 weeks to less than 10 days, whilst whisker growth was significantly retarded when samples were subjected to a short period of thermal treatment (50 to 150°C) for 0.5 hour. More importantly, for a short period of thermal treatment, whisker mitigation became increasingly effective as the treatment temperature was raised. In addition, the formation of a trivalent chromium passive coating on the alkaline cyanide-free zinc electrodeposits immediately after deposition was not an effective mitigation method to retard whisker growth.

In this tribological study, a temperature dependent inquiry of the changes in chemistry and crystal structure of two selected double metal oxides is undertaken. It is known that chameleon coatings of Mo2N/Ag/MoS2 produce a friction coefficient of 0.1 from wear testing at 600 °C for 300,000 cycles. The low friction is attributed to the formation of silver molybdates layers, a lubricious double-metal oxide, in the coating. Double-metal oxides consisting of a group 6 transitional metal and silver (silver molybdate (Ag2Mo2O7) and silver tungstate (Ag2WO4)) were used for this investigation. Thin films and powders were investigated using high temperature x-ray diffraction, high-temperature Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry in tandem with sliding tests from 25 to 600 °C. Our results were compared to external ab-initio molecular dynamic simulations performed elsewhere to qualify experimental results. The layered atomic structure of silver molybdate facilitates sliding, resulting in a low coefficient of friction (<0.2) from 300-500 °C. Unlike Ag2Mo2O7, however, Ag2WO4 does not possess a layered atomic structure and produced coefficients of friction (>0.4) in all temperature ranges between room temperature and 500 °C. Applying the knowledge gained from prior studies of the intrinsic properties of double metal oxides of group 6, chameleon coatings consisting of group 5 transitional metal nitrides (vanadium nitride, niobium nitride, and tantalum nitride) with silver inclusions were created using unbalanced magnetron sputtering to investigate their potential application as adaptive, friction reducing coatings. The coatings were tribotested against a Si3N4 counterface in the 22 to 1000 °C temperature range. In-situ Raman Spectroscopy measurements were taken during heating and wear testing at 700 °C to identify the evolution of phases in the coatings' surfaces and in the wear track. The chemical and structural properties of the coatings were also characterized before and after wear testing using x-ray diffraction. At higher temperatures, oxygen, silver and the transition metals react on the surface to form potentially lubricious double oxide phases (silver vanadate, silver niobate and silver tantalate). All coatings performed similarly up to 750 °C. The VN/Ag coating, however, had a lower coefficient of friction at 750 °C comparatively to TaN/Ag and NbN/Ag, likely due to its reported lower melting temperature (450 °C) and its layered crystal structure.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-09-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:42:52Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 teixeira_dg_dr_araiq.pdf: 2545330 bytes, checksum: a6a1d20f601e5055143107f1be1c8ecb (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho está basicamente dividido em duas partes. A primeira está relacionada à limpeza da superfície da liga de alumínio AA6063T5 e sua influência na proteção contra a corrosão. A segunda parte se refere à preparação de revestimentos híbridos orgânicoinorgânico pelo processo sol-gel e deposição sobre a superfície da liga de alumínio por dipcoating. Três amostras de liga AA6063T5 foram investigadas: como recebida, debastada e polida mecanicamente e tratada quimicamente. O tratamento mecânico foi realizado utilizando lixas SiC de granulometria 320 a 4000 e o químico foi realizado utilizando uma solução aquosa contendo uma mistura de hidróxido, sulfato e cloreto de sódio. Todas as amostras foram caracterizadas fisicamente por difratometria de raios X (XRD), medidas de dureza, microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) e microscopia óptica (MO), e por medidas de potencial de circuito aberto (OCP) e espectroscopia de impedância eletroquímica (EIS) em solução 3,5% NaCl. As imagens SEM mostraram que a presença de partícula intermetálicas na superfície da liga diminui após o tratamento químico comparado ao tratamento mecânico. Os resultados de EIS mostraram que o tratamento químico oferece maior resistência à corrosão do que as submetidas aos outros tratamentos, porque o ataque alcalino utilizado dissolveu a maioria dos precipitados contendo Fe ou Cu, elementos responsáveis por sítios catódicos. A lavagem com HNO3 pela qual passou a amostra tratada quimicamente provavelmente reforçou a camada de óxido, tornando a superfície da liga mais resistente ao ataque por cloreto. Os revestimentos híbridos foram somente depositados na liga que recebeu tratamento químico. Esses filmes híbridos foram preparados com tetraetoxi-silano (TEOS) e 3-metacriloxipropril trimetoxi silano (MPTS), pela hidrólise e policondensação em meio ácido seguido por... / This work is basically divided in two parts: the first one is related to the surface treatment of AA6063T5 aluminum alloy and its influence on the protection against corrosion. The second concerns to the preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid coatings by the sol-gel process that were deposited on the aluminum alloys by dip-coating. Three samples of AA6063T5 aluminum alloys were investigated, the as-received one, after mechanical and chemical treatment, respectively. The mechanical treatment was realized using SiC paper grades 320 to 4000 and the chemical one was done by an aqueous solution containing a mixture of sodium hydroxide, chloride and sulfate. All samples were physically characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), hardness measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM), and electrochemically by open circuit measurements (OCP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5% NaCl solution. The SEM images depicted that the presence of intermetallic particles on the alloy surface decreased after the chemical treatment compared to the mechanical one. The EIS results showed that the sample chemically treated possesses a higher corrosion resistance than those obtained using other procedures. EIS results showed that the chemically treated sample presented higher corrosion resistance than the ones submitted to other procedures. The alkaline treatment dissolves the great part of precipitates containing iron or copper, which are responsible by the cathodic sites formation. The washing of the sample with nitric acid solution after the alkaline treatment removes impurities from the surface and can give to the oxide layer higher resistance against the action of the chloride ion. The hybrid coatings were only deposited on the alloy that received the chemical treatment. Hybrid films containing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-methacryloxypropyltrimetho... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Over the last five years, a dramatic expansion of renewable energy from Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells has been witnessed. This expansion is due in part to wafer based silicon solar cells. Crystalline silicon solar cells currently dominate the PV market because of their low cost per watt of electricity production. In order for silicon solar cells to continue to govern the market, efficiency improvements and cost reductions must be made. This work focuses on both cost reduction and efficiency improvements, for wafer based silicon solar cells. The main aim of the work was to produce a thin monocrystalline wafer based silicon solar cell. A large proportion of the cost of conventional monocrystalline solar cells is related to the use of high purity silicon substrates. By producing a cell that uses less silicon, significant cost savings can be made. Conventional wafering techniques used in industry are reaching their limit for thin wafer production. The method adopted in this work uses a simple silicon exfoliation technique capable of producing ultrathin silicon foils. A fully operational solar cell was fabricated from a 40mum exfoliated silicon foil. The thin wafer based silicon solar cell was more than four times thinner than a commercially produced equivalent. The work investigated a variety of principles related to the exfoliation and the suitability of the technique for thin photovoltaic devices. By using a thin exfoliated substrate, conventional anti-reflective (AR) suppressing processes could prove problematic. Experiments were conducted into finding an alternative technique to match the performance of the conventional AR process. The formation of porous silicon (PSi) on the surface of a silicon substrate was found not only to match the commercial process, but to exceed it. With a porous silicon layer, reflectivity was suppressed to just 6.68%. The technique could be applied to both thin silicon solar cells and conventional thicker wafer based cells. The reflectivity suppressive layer could be fabricated in a single simple processing step. Investigation was also focused upon the top contact for silicon solar cells. As the top of the cell is responsible for current collection and light absorption, large electrical contacts shade the cell resulting in a decrease in efficiency. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) were successfully analysed and deposited onto standard silicon solar cell top contacts as an enhancement coating. Such a coating was found to improve the collection ability of the top contact without causing a significant increase in shading loss. The use of an optimised AgNW coating can increase cell efficiency by as much as 37%.

This research work was undertaken to solve an industrial problem related to roll-to- roll production of dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs). It is possible to manufacture DSCs in a roll-to-roll production line on a sheet metal such as titanium. However, DSCs produced in such a way are not commercially viable due to the use of expensive titanium metal. Therefore, the intention behind this work was to utilize a cheap sheet metal such as ECCS (electro chrome coated steel) to manufacture DSCs in a roll-to-roll production facility of TATA steel Europe, as this project was funded by them. Unfortunately, ECCS corrodes in the I[-]/I[3-] redox electrolyte present in a DSC therefore, to protect ECCS from the corrosion whilst using it as a DSC substrate was the real challenging task in this research. In order to solve this problem high temperature resistant polyimide based coatings were developed which can be used to coat ECCS substrates whilst maintaining excellent dimensional stability at the DSC processing temperatures. Such coatings were electrically conducting which helped preserve the electrical conductivity of the underlying metallic substrate. Electrically conductive polyimides were developed by simply blending conductive fillers such as carbon materials and titanium nitride. It was initially thought that carbon/polyimide based coatings would be suitable for this application. However, severe interfacial charge recombination and poor reflectivity made carbon/PI coatings inferior compared to the TiN/PI coatings. TiN/PI coatings performed well but poor reflectivity produced low current outputs. Moreover, TiN/PI was found to reduce the catalytic activity of thermally deposited platinum therefore it was not useful as a counter electrode material. As a solution to these problems, TiN and carbon materials based hybrid coatings were developed. Hybrid coatings did perform efficiently in terms of overall PV performance but due to poor reflectivity, such coatings also produced low J[sc] values. However, counter electrodes prepared using hybrid coating demonstrated excellent PV performance with thermally deposited platinum. Furthermore, TCO (transparent conducting oxide) free glass substrates can also be used to manufacture low-cost PV devices when coated with these conductive coatings.

Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-26T18:08:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRGC.pdf: 5329968 bytes, checksum: b652cd552986315aba09ee039b032b16 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T19:38:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRGC.pdf: 5329968 bytes, checksum: b652cd552986315aba09ee039b032b16 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-09-27T19:38:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRGC.pdf: 5329968 bytes, checksum: b652cd552986315aba09ee039b032b16 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-27T19:38:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRGC.pdf: 5329968 bytes, checksum: b652cd552986315aba09ee039b032b16 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-05 / Não recebi financiamento / The constant search for means to reduce the energetic consumption motivates the use of high emissivity ceramic coatings in many high temperature applications. Its use aims to increase heat transfer efficiency by radiation from substrates on which coatings are applied, reducing the emission of gases that contribute to global warming by saving energy in heating processes. They are composed by refractory components and high emissivity materials such as cerium oxide, chromium (III) oxide, boron carbide and others with scarce availability or low commercial viability. The objective of this study is to improve knowledge in the compounds of high melting point that have high emissivity, seeking alternatives to more abundant and greater efficiency in their use in ceramic coatings compositions. For this purpose were evaluated different ceramic compounds in the composition of these high emissivity coatings. To verify the heat transfer efficiency was analyzed the coated surfaces and its temperature maintenance in substrates with and without application of coating, by an indirect method of measuring the emissivity. This method basically consists in compare the emissivity from the different coated surfaces with various coating compositions made from viable emissivity agents, using infrared temperature measurement. Also its microstructure and the chemical analysis were evaluated. The use of iron chromite achieved a promising result elevating the surface emissivity about 8% in relation to a coating composition without any emissive agent. / A constante busca por alternativas para redução no consumo energético motiva a utilização de coatings cerâmicos de alta emissividade em muitas aplicações a temperaturas elevadas. Sua aplicação tem por objetivo aumentar a eficiência de transferência de calor por radiação dos substratos sobre os quais estão aplicados, reduzindo a emissão de gases que contribuem para o efeito estufa ao economizar energia nos processos de aquecimento. São compostos por uma base cerâmica, componentes refratários e materiais de alta emissividade, tais como óxido de cério, óxido de cromo (III), carbeto de boro, entre outros de escassa disponibilidade ou baixa viabilidade comercial. O objetivo deste estudo é ampliar o conhecimento sobre os compostos de elevado ponto de fusão que apresentam elevada emissividade, buscando alternativas de maior abundância e igual ou superior eficiência na sua utilização em composições de coatings cerâmicos. Para isso foram avaliados diferentes compostos cerâmicos na composição desses coatings de alta emissividade. Para análise da eficiência foram observadas as superfícies recobertas e a retenção de temperatura em substratos com e sem aplicação de coating, através de um método de medição indireta da emissividade. O método proposto consistiu basicamente em comparar a emissividade relativa de diversas superfícies recobertas por diferentes composições de coatings de alta emissividade, onde foram utilizados agentes de emissividade acessíveis comercialmente, através da medição da temperatura por infravermelho. Foram ainda avaliadas as suas microestruturas e composição química. A cromita de ferro apresentou resultado promissor como agente de emissividade, ao elevar na ordem de 8% a emissividade da superfície em relação a um coating de referência sem adição de qualquer agente emissivo.

Sobre opiso desenvolvem-se todas as atividades a que se destina a edificação. Falhas Em sua execução, tais como, empenamentos, placas soltas, bolhas e manchas têm como conseqüências, desde o desconforto pessoal de andar em uma superfícieirregular, ao risco de acidentes de trabalho, contaminação de produtos por poeira, de salinhamento de equipamentos ou até mesmo a interferência no processo de produção, podendo provocar a paralisação parcial ou total da atividade produtiva da empresa.Tais problemas, muitas vezes são decorrentes do excesso de umidade do substrato de concreto, quando da aplicação do revestimento, por não ter tido o tempo de secagem adequado, de maneira a atingir o nível de umidade ideal. O excesso de água residual decorrente da umidade do substrato é uma das principais causas geradoras de patologias nos pisos de concreto quando utilizados revestimentos suscetíveis à presença de água. O comportamento da umidade do concreto é resultado de uma complexa ação entre a quantidade de água física e quimicamente ligada, durante a hidratação do cimento e a capacidade de transporte de água do sistema de poros do concreto. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho procura contribuir na sistematização do conhecimento sobre o assunto, descrevendo, inicialmente, o comportamento de bases de concreto frente à ação da água e os fatores que a influenciam: grau de hidratação, condições de equilíbrio e fluxo de umidade. É mostrado como ocorre a secagem do concreto e a influencia do tempo de cura, relação água/cimento do concreto e condições ambientes sobre o tempo necessário para que a umidade do concreto atinja o nível ideal para o início do revestimento do piso. São descritos os testes utilizados para a medição do nível de umidade do concreto, enfatizando os de caráter quantitativo, baseados na medição do teor de umidade, taxa de emissão de vapor de água e umidade relativa interna do concreto. Valores dos níveis ideais de umidade, em conformidade com o tipo de teste aplicado e materiais empregados, estabelecidos por entidades representativas de fabricantes de revestimentos para pisos de concreto, são apresentados como referências. O texto é finalizado com a apresentação das recomendações que visam facilitar a secagem do concreto e aspectos a serem observados quando da realização da medição do nível de umidade. / On the floor are developed all the activities the building is destined to. Faults in its execution, such as warping, loose plates, bubbles and stains, bring about from the personal discomfort of walking on an irregular surface, to the risk of workplace accidents, contamination of product due to dust, misalignment of equipment or even the interference in the production process, which may cause a partial or total stalling of the company productive activity. Such problems often derive from excess moisture in the concrete substrate, when the lining is applied, for not having been dried long enough, so as to attain the ideal moisture level. The excess residual water deriving from substrate moisture is one of the main causes generating pathologies on concrete floors when linings susceptible to the presence of water are used. The moisture behavior of concrete derives from a complex action between the amount of physical and chemically related water, during the hydration of the cement and the water transport capacity of the concrete pore system. In thisn context, the present work aims to contribute in systematizing the knowledge on the matter, initially describing the behavior of the concrete bases concerning the action of water and the factors influencing this: degree of hydration, balance conditions and humidity. The work shows how the drying of concrete occurs and the influence of the curing time flux, concrete water/cement ratio and ambient conditions on the time required for the concrete moisture to attain the ideal level to start the floor lining. The tests used to measure the concrete moisture level are described, emphasizing those of quantitative character, based on the measurement of the moisture content, water vapor emission rate and the concrete relative internal humidity. Values of the ideal levels of moisture, in accordance with the type of test applied and materials employed, established by representative manufacturer entities for concrete floors linings, are presented as references. The text concludes with the presentation of recommendations that aim to make the drying of concrete easier and aspects to be observed when the measurement of the moisture level is performed.

Conventional physical vapour deposition (PVD) techniques usually result in films of lower quality than the corresponding bulk material. A major problem with PVD films is the presence of columns and voids throughout the thickness of the film. The films may have a low packing density, low micro-hardness and in many cases poor adhesion to the substrate. Many of these problems are a direct consequence of the low energy of the depositing atoms arriving at the substrate during film growth. The resulting film porosity gives rise to a reduction in mechanical strength, and in the case of dielectric optical films, a reduction in the refractive index. The properties of deposited films are greatly improved when the substrate or the growing film is bombarded with more energetic particles. An ideal deposition process requires a high flux of film atoms with an energy of approximately 5-50 eV in order to achieve sufficient surface mobility at the substrate to overcome columnar growth.

The object of this research is to produce and characterise some coated powers for use in the powder metallurgy and related industries. The study introduces very briefly general powder metallurgy techniques and raw materials. A review of coating techniques is given, followed by a discussion of techniques for handling particulate substrates in chemical reaction systems. A discussion of the fluidised bed chemical reactor and electrode, and mechanically stirred vessels is presented.