The present invention provides stretchable, and optionally printable, semiconductors and electronic circuits capable of providing good performance when stretched, compressed, flexed or otherwise deformed. Stretchable semiconductors and electronic circuits of the present invention preferred for some applications are flexible, in addition to being stretchable, and thus are capable of significant elongation, flexing, bending or other deformation along one or more axes. Further, stretchable semiconductors and electronic circuits of the present invention may be adapted to a wide range of device configurations to provide fully flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/311/5758/208.full.pdf

Stretchable form of single crystal silicon for high performance electronics on rubber substrates

It is well known that urbanization and industrialization have resulted in the rapidly increasing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are a major contributor to the formation of secondary pollutants (e.g., tropospheric ozone, PAN (peroxyacetyl nitrate), and secondary organic aerosols) and photochemical smog. The emission of these pollutants has led to a large decline in air quality in numerous regions around the world, which has ultimately led to concerns regarding their impact on human health and general well-being. Catalytic oxidation is regarded as one of the most promising strategies for VOC removal from industrial waste streams. This Review systematically documents the progresses and developments made in the understanding and design of heterogeneous catalysts for VOC oxidation over the past two decades. It addresses in detail how catalytic performance is often drastically affected by the pollutant sources and reaction conditions. It also highlights the primary routes for catalyst deactivation and discusses protocols for their subsequent reactivation. Kinetic models and proposed oxidation mechanisms for representative VOCs are also provided. Typical catalytic reactors and oxidizers for industrial VOC destruction are further discussed. We believe that this Review will provide a great foundation and reference point for future design and development in this field.

/pdf/recent-advances-in-the-catalytic-oxidation-of-volatile-zw2c35dbg7.pdf

Recent Advances in the Catalytic Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds: A Review Based on Pollutant Sorts and Sources.

In this review we focus on recent developments in applications of bio-inspired special wettable surfaces. We highlight surface materials that in recent years have shown to be the most promising in their respective fields for use in future applications. The selected topics are divided into three groups, applications of superhydrophobic surfaces, surfaces of patterned wettability and integrated multifunctional surfaces and devices. We will present how the bio-inspired wettability has been integrated into traditional materials or devices to improve their performances and to extend their practical applications by developing new functionalities.

Applications of Bio‐Inspired Special Wettable Surfaces

A recent increase in the use of ecofriendly, natural fibers as reinforcement for the fabrication of lightweight, low cost polymer composites can be seen globally. One such material of interest currently being extensively used is basalt fiber, which is cost-effective and offers exceptional properties over glass fibers. The prominent advantages of these composites include high specific mechano-physico-chemical properties, biodegradability, and non-abrasive qualities to name a few. This article presents a short review on basalt fibers used as a reinforcement material for composites and discusses them as an alternative to the use of glass fibers. The paper also discusses the basics of basalt chemistry and its classification. Apart from this, an attempt to showcase the increasing trend in research publications and activity in the area of basalt fibers is also covered. Further sections discuss the improvement in mechanical, thermal and chemical resistant properties achieved for applications in specific industries.

A short review on basalt fiber reinforced polymer composites

Non-thermal plasmas for non-catalytic and catalytic VOC abatement.

This article attempts to give an overview of the literature on the treatment of textiles with non-thermal plasmas. Because of the enormous amount of potential uses of non-thermal plasmas for the modification of textile products, categorizing the applications is difficult, and therefore a review is given on plasma treatment effects or results rather than on the textile applications that benefit from the treatment.

Non-thermal plasma treatment of textiles

Plasma treatment is often used to modify the surface properties of polymer films, since it offers numerous advantages over the conventional surface modification techniques. In this paper, a polypropylene (PP) film is plasma-treated using a dielec. barrier discharge (DBD) operating in air at medium pressure (5.0 kPa). The modified polymer films are characterized using contact angle measurements, XPS-anal. and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform IR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Results show that plasma treatment leads to a remarkable decrease in contact angle owing to the implantation of oxygen-contg. functional groups. Using XPS and ATR-FTIR, these oxygen-contg. groups can be identified as C-O, C=O and O-C=O. In this paper, it is also shown that XPS is well-suited to provide quant. chem. anal. of the PP films, while ATR-FTIR can only give qual. information. To perform quant. ATR-FTIR measurements, chem. derivatization will be explored in the near future

Comparison between XPS- and FTIR-analysis of plasma-treated polypropylene film surfaces

In this paper, polyester (PET) and polypropylene (PP) films are modified by a dielectric barrier discharge in air, helium and argon at medium pressure (5.0 kPa). The plasma-modified surfaces are characterized by contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as a function of energy density. The polymer films, modified in air, helium and argon, show a remarkable increase in hydrophilicity due to the implantation of oxygen-containing groups, such as C–O, O–C O and C O. Atomic oxygen, OH radicals, UV photons and ions, present in the discharge, create radicals at the polymer surfaces, which are able to react with oxygen species, resulting in the formation of oxygen-containing functionalities on the polymer surfaces. It is shown that an air plasma is more efficient in implanting oxygen functionalities than an argon plasma, which is more efficient than a helium plasma. In an air plasma, most of the created radicals at the polymer surface will quickly react with an oxygen particle, resulting in an efficient implantation of oxygen functionalities. However, in an argon and helium plasma, the created radicals can react with an oxygen particle, but can also recombine with each other resulting in the formation of an oxidized cross-linked structure. This cross-linking process will inhibit the implantation of oxygen, resulting in a lower efficiency. In argon plasma, more ions are present to create radicals, therefore, more radicals are able to react with oxygen species. This can explain the higher efficiency of an argon plasma compared to a helium plasma.

Treatment of polymer films with a dielectric barrier discharge in air, helium and argon at medium pressure

Copper manganese oxides were prepared either by a co-precipitation method using metal nitrates as precursors, tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) as precipitant or by a redox-precipitation method using manganese acetate and copper nitrate as precursors, permanganate of potassium as oxidant. Copper manganese oxides synthesized by the redox method and calcined at 300 °C were also doped with Pt and Pd (0.5 wt%). The materials were characterized by ICP-OES, X-ray powder diffraction, N2 adsorption/desorption analysis, temperature-programmed reduction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry. The catalyst properties were assessed in total oxidation of toluene and compared with those of the corresponding single oxides and of a commercial Hopcalite catalyst. Copper manganese oxides were proved to be more active than the single oxides whatever the method of preparation used. CuMnOx prepared via redox method were more active than the catalyst prepared by co-precipitation and compared favorably with the commercial Hopcalite. The overall characterization results revealed that the redox method can ensure a good dispersion of copper in close interaction with manganese preserving more active sites at the outermost layers of the catalyst in comparison with the catalyst obtained via co-precipitation. However all the catalysts deactivate to some extent at the earlier stages of the reaction before to reach a steady-state. For redox catalysts calcined at 300 °C, although the dispersion of trace amount of noble metals does not ensure a better activity, adding Pt allows to get a better resistance to deactivation. Additionally it is to be noticeable that the catalyst using redox-precipitation method calcined at 200 °C outperforms the commercial hopcalite overtime on stream.

Influence of the preparation method on the activity of copper-manganese oxides for toluene total oxidation

Plasma treatment of polymers is gaining more and more popularity as a surface modification technique, since it offers numerous advantages over the conventional chemical processes. Plasma surface treatment is an environmentally benign, fast and versatile technology. However, it has one major disadvantage: the induced modification of the surface is not permanent, since the surface tends to recover to the untreated state. This ageing effect is due to the reorientation of induced polar chemical groups into the bulk of the material. In this paper, the ageing of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films, treated with a dielectric barrier discharge operating at medium pressure (5.0 kPa) in air, helium and argon, is studied. This study is performed using contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results show that the working gas used during plasma treatment has a significant influence on the ageing behaviour of both PP and PET films. The air-, helium- and argon-plasma treated PP films have a loss in treatment efficiency of 47%, 35% and 25% respectively, while the air-, helium- and argon-plasma treated PET films have a loss in treatment efficiency of 39%, 34% and 29% respectively. These results can be explained by the different cross-linking degrees of the polymer films after plasma treatment. Increasing the cross-linking degree will hinder the movement of the polymer chains and reduce the ageing effect.

N. De Geyter

Papers

Non-thermal plasma treatment of textiles

Comparison between XPS- and FTIR-analysis of plasma-treated polypropylene film surfaces

Treatment of polymer films with a dielectric barrier discharge in air, helium and argon at medium pressure

Influence of the preparation method on the activity of copper-manganese oxides for toluene total oxidation

Study of the ageing behaviour of polymer films treated with a dielectric barrier discharge in air, helium and argon at medium pressure