There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Generations Yi Ma,† Xiuli Wang,† Yushuai Jia,† Xiaobo Chen,‡ Hongxian Han,*,† and Can Li*,† †State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, China ‡Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, United States

Titanium dioxide-based nanomaterials for photocatalytic fuel generations.

■ CONTENTS General Information: Books, Reviews, and Conferences 640 Fundamentals 641 Interaction of Laser Beam with Matter 641 Factors Affecting Laser Ablation and LaserInduced Plasma Formation 642 Influence of Target on the Laser-Induced Plasmas 642 Influence of Laser Parameters on the LaserInduced Plasmas 643 Laser Wavelength (λ) 643 Laser Pulse Duration (τ) 643 Laser Pulse Energy (E) 645 Influence of Ambient Gas on the Laser-Induced Plasmas 645 LIBS Methods 647 Double Pulse LIBS 647 Femtosecond LIBS 651 Resonant LIBS 652 Ranging Approaches 652 Applications 654 Surface Inspection, Depth Profiling, and LIBS Imaging 654 Cultural Heritage 654 Industrial Analysis 655 Environmental Monitoring 656 Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Analysis 658 Security and Forensics 659 Analysis of Liquids and Submerged Solids 660 Space Exploration and Isotopic Analysis 662 Space Exploration 662 Isotopic Analysis 662 Conclusions and Future Outlook 663 Author Information 664 Corresponding Author 664 Notes 664 Biographies 664 Acknowledgments 664 References 664

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Laser-based additive manufacturing (LBAM) processes can be utilized to generate functional parts (or prototypes) from the ground-up via layer-wise cladding – providing an opportunity to generate complex-shaped, functionally graded or custom-tailored parts that can be utilized for a variety of engineering applications. Directed Energy Deposition (DED), utilizes a concentrated heat source, which may be a laser or electron beam, with in situ delivery of powder- or wire-shaped material for subsequent melting to accomplish layer-by-layer part fabrication or single-to-multi layer cladding/repair. Direct Laser Deposition (DLD), a form of DED, has been investigated heavily in the last several years as it provides the potential to (i) rapidly prototype metallic parts, (ii) produce complex and customized parts, (iii) clad/repair precious metallic components and (iv) manufacture/repair in remote or logistically weak locations. DLD and Powder Bed Fusion-Laser (PBF-L) are two common LBAM processes for additive metal part fabrication and are currently demonstrating their ability to revolutionize the manufacturing industry; breaking barriers imposed via traditional, ‘subtractive’ metalworking processes. This article provides an overview of the major advancements, challenges and physical attributes related to DLD, and is one of two Parts focused specifically on DLD. Part I (this article) focuses on describing the thermal/fluidic phenomena during the powder-fed DLD process, while Part II focuses on the mechanical properties and microstructure of parts manufactured via DLD. In this current article, a selection of recent research efforts – including methodology, models and experimental results – will be provided in order to educate the reader of the thermal/fluidic processes that occur during DLD, as well as providing important background information relevant to DLD as a whole. The thermal/fluid phenomena inherent to DLD directly influence the solidification heat transfer which thus impacts the part's microstructure and associated thermo-mechanical properties. A thorough understanding of the thermal/fluid aspects inherent to DLD is vital for optimizing the DLD process and ensuring consistent, high-quality parts.

An overview of Direct Laser Deposition for additive manufacturing; Part I: Transport phenomena, modeling and diagnostics

Hydrogen (H2) production via photocatalytic water splitting is one of the most promising technologies for clean solar energy conversion to emerge in recent decades. The achievement of energy production from water splitting would mean that we could use water as a fuel for future energy need. Among the various photocatalytic materials, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the dominant and most widely studied because of its exceptional physico-chemical characteristics. Surface decoration of metal/non-metal on TiO2 nanoparticles is an outstanding technique to revamp its electronic properties and enrich the H2 production efficiency. Metal dopants play a vital role in separation of electron-hole pairs on the TiO2 surface during UV/visible/simulated solar light irradiation. In this paper, the basic principles, photocatalytic-reactor design, kinetics, key findings, and the mechanism of metal-doped TiO2 are comprehensively reviewed. We found that Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model is commonly employed by the researchers to demonstrate the rate of H2 production. Copper (Cu), gold (Au) and platinum (Pt) are the most widely studied dopants for TiO2, owing to their superior work function. The metal dopants can amplify the H2 production efficiency of TiO2 through Schottky barrier formation, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), generation of gap states by interaction with TiO2 VB states. The recent advances and important consequences of 2D materials, perovskites, and other novel photocatalysts for H2 generation have also been reviewed.

Photocatalytic hydrogen production using metal doped TiO2: A review of recent advances

Ultra-low friction of TiC/a-C composite coatings

Titanium carbide (TiC) thin films were deposited on D9 steel substrates at room temperature (RT), 200°C and 400°C. A compound TiC target was sputtered to deposit films in a non-reactive argon atmosphere. As-deposited films were characterised for structural, chemical and mechanical properties. Nanoindentation and scratch tests were performed to evaluate the cohesive and adhesive strength of the films, respectively. Tribological properties of the films were investigated using a tribometer. An increase in nano-hardness from 7.2 to 10.5 GPa was observed as deposition temperature was increased. The films deposited at RT and 200 °C showed poor adhesion leading to the inferior tribological performance. In contrast, films deposited at 400 °C showed better adhesion which improved the wear resistance. Tribological behaviour of TiC thin films was correlated with contact deformation modes of coatings. These modes revealed significant role of adhesive and cohesive strength associated with the coatings.

Effect of adhesive and cohesive strength on the tribological behaviour of non‐reactively sputtered TiC thin films

Titanium nitride (TiN) thin films were deposited by reactive pulsed laser deposition (RPLD) technique. For the first time, the composition evaluated from proton elastic backscattering spectrometry, in a quantitative manner, revealed a dependence on the partial pressure of nitrogen from 1 to 10 Pa. Grazing incidence-XRD (GI-XRD) confirmed the formation of predominantly nanocrystalline TiN phase with a crystallite size of around 30 nm. The hardness showed maximum value of ~30 GPa when the composition is near stoichiometric and the friction coefficient was found to be as low as 0.3. In addition, a systematic optical response was observed as a function of deposition pressure from the surface of the TiN films using spectroscopic ellipsometry.

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Reactive Pulsed Laser Deposition of Titanium Nitride Thin Films: Effect of Reactive Gas Pressure on the Structure, Composition, and Properties

The evolution of friction and wear of nuclear-grade P91 steel is studied at constant load and sliding velocity. The objective of the present investigation was to establish the changes in wear damage and wear scar morphology resulting from sliding of a spherical steel ball. These studies were performed by keeping sliding distance as a variable. Adhesive failure at lower sliding distance to fatigue-induced fretting wear of oxide layer was observed with increasing sliding distance. This is attributed to the formation of a Fe 3 O 4 (magnetite) tribo-oxide layer on the surface. Deformation, spallation, and phase composition of this tribo-oxide layer were found to be the principal mechanisms that influenced the tribological properties of steel.

Sitaram Dash

Papers

Ultra-low friction of TiC/a-C composite coatings

Effect of adhesive and cohesive strength on the tribological behaviour of non‐reactively sputtered TiC thin films

Reactive Pulsed Laser Deposition of Titanium Nitride Thin Films: Effect of Reactive Gas Pressure on the Structure, Composition, and Properties

Evaluation of Tribological Properties of Nuclear-Grade Steel

Growth kinetics of ion beam sputtered Al-thin films by dynamic scaling theory