The invention relates to a process for coating metallic surfaces with a composition containing at least one of a silane, silanol, siloxane or polysiloxane that is capable of condensation, water and optionally an organic solvent. The composition also contains compound containing Ti, Hf, Zr, Al or B; and at least one type of cation or an organic compound d) selected from monomers, oligomers, polymers, copolymers and block copolymers. The coating freshly applied with this composition is rinsed with a fluid and is not dried thoroughly before this rinsing step so that the compound capable of condensation does not condense substantially before the rinsing step.

The present invention relates to a method for preparing an optical metal oxide layer, to a formulation for preparing an optical metal oxide layer and to an optical device comprising an optical metal oxide layer. The optical metal oxide layers are particularly suitable for optical applications and may be used in optical devices such as, for example, in diffractive gratings for augmented reality (AR) and/or virtual reality (VR) devices.

A method for applying a metallic coating to a surface of a substrate, in particular for producing conductor tracks includes applying ink to a location to be coated of the surface, the ink including at least one metal salt of an organic acid or a mixture of such salts, and decomposing the ink by supplying energy to the ink, thereby generating the metallic coating from the metal salt or the metal salts, the metallic coating adhering to the surface at the location to be coated.

A print head comprising nested chambers for in-situ reactant formation is disclosed. The print head comprises a first chamber nested within a second chamber. The first chamber comprises a first nozzle, the second chamber comprises a second nozzle. The first nozzle is substantially coaxial with the second nozzle. A susceptor to convert electromagnetic energy to heat is within the first chamber. The susceptor comprises one or more openings extending between the upper portion and the lower portion. The susceptor may be heated by induction heating or by optical heating to vaporize a precursor substance within the first chamber. The vapor may react with a reactive gas flowing through the first chamber or expand through a nozzle into a second chamber where the vapor may react with the reactive gas, forming nanoparticles. Patterned films may be written onto a two-dimensional or three-dimensional surfaces.

Provided are a method of soldering a functionalized metal oxide, and an electronic device manufactured thereby, and more particularly, a method of soldering a functionalized metal oxide which is capable of growing a solder structure by a hydrothermal synthesis method using a pulsed laser, and is usable in a UV sensor, and an electronic device manufactured thereby. According to the present invention, thermal diffusion generated from a laser is limited due to the use of a pulsed laser, and thus, nanosolder having high density and a shape to be precisely adjustable may be prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis method by the pulsed laser, thereby facilitating the joining of the nanostructure, and further, the nanosolder is formed between the nanostructures, thereby being usable as a metal oxide structure having functionality.

A method for producing an electrically conductive thin film on a substrate is disclosed. Initially, a reducible metal compound and a reducing agent are dispersed in a liquid. The dispersion is then deposited on a substrate as a thin film. The thin film along with the substrate is subsequently exposed to a pulsed electromagnetic emission to chemically react with the reducible metal compound and the reducing agent such that the thin film becomes electrically conductive.

A photochemical process for decorating hydrophobic surfaces with nanoparticles includes the steps of providing a metal precursor having hydrophobic parts adapted to interact with assistance of a photosensitizer; and forming a reactive adduct photosensitizer/precursor-metal/surface, preparing the surface to grow metal nanoparticles in situ having sizes and shapes governed by the morphology of the surface. The formed nanoparticles are sufficiently isolated, not aggregated and not interconnected, and do not create a film but maintain the chemical properties of substrate and metal. Surfaces so selectively decorated have hydrophobic properties even with hydrophilic substrates. Substrates with multiple chemical functionalities are thereby obtained, which can selectively bind different molecules or biomolecules onto the substrate and the surface of the metal nanoparticles surface. A process according to the invention also allows decorating surfaces with two or more metallic species. Decorated substrates obtained with a process according to the invention are also disclosed.

By using a coating method, which is a simple method of manufacturing a transparent conductive film at low cost, a transparent conductive film formed with heating at a low temperature, in particular, lower than 300 C. with both of excellent transparency and conductivity and also with excellent film strength and a method of manufacturing this transparent conductive film are provided.

Provided are methods and systems for forming piezoelectric coatings on power line cables using sol-gel materials. A cable may be fed through a container with a sol-gel material having a piezoelectric material to form an uncured layer on the surface of the cable. The layer is then cured using, for example, infrared, ultraviolet, and/or other types of radiation. The cable may be suspended in a coating system such that the uncured layer does not touch any components of the system until the layer is adequately cured. Piezoelectric characteristics of the cured layer may be tested in the system to provide a control feedback. The cured layer, which may be referred to as a piezoelectric coating, causes resistive heating at the outer surface of the cable during vibration of the cable due transmission of alternating currents and environmental factors.

A nanoscale calcinated silicate film fabricated on a gold substrate for highly effective, matrix-free laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) analysis of biomolecules. The calcinated film is prepared by a layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition/calcination process wherein the thickness of the silicate layer and its surface properties are precisely controlled. The film exhibits outstanding efficiency in LDI-MS with extremely low background noise in the low-mass region, allowing for effective analysis of low mass weight samples and detection of large biomolecules including amino acids, peptides and proteins. Additional advantages for the calcinated film include ease of preparation and modification, high reproducibility, low cost and excellent reusability. Experimental parameters that influence LDI on calcinated films have been systemically investigated. Presence of citric acid in the sample significantly enhances LDI performance by facilitating protonation of the analyte and reducing fragmentation. The wetting property and surface roughness appear to be important factors that manipulate LDI performance of the analytes. This new substrate presents a marked advance in the development of matrix-free mass spectrometric methods and is uniquely suited for analysis of biomolecules over a broad mass range with high sensitivity.