The invention relates to method for applying a protective coating material to a structural layer to form a protective coating.

A method of manufacturing a layer of crystalline ytterbium doped zirconia on a substrate is disclosed. The method includes depositing a solution including precursor metal salts of the ytterbium doped zirconia onto a surface of the substrate, wherein the surface is a metallic or a ceramic surface. The solution is dried to form a film of the precursor metal salts on the surface. The film of the precursor metal salts is heated to decompose it to form an ytterbium doped zirconia. The previous steps may optionally be repeated. The film(s) are fired in order to form the layer of crystalline ytterbium doped zirconia. The ytterbium doped zirconia has a formula:

([Yb.sub.xM.sub.1−x].sub.2O.sub.3).sub.z(ZrO.sub.2).sub.1−z

wherein M is a metallic dopant ion; z is in the range of 0.03 to 0.13; and x is in the range of 0.05 to 1.

In some embodiments, a semiconductor fabrication tool is provided. The semiconductor fabrication tool includes a first processing zone having a first ambient environment and a second processing zone having a second ambient environment disposed at different location inside a processing chamber. A first exhaust port and a second exhaust port are disposed in the first and second processing zones, respectively. A first exhaust pipe couples the first exhaust port to a first individual exhaust output. A second exhaust pipe couples the second exhaust port to a second individual exhaust output, where the second exhaust pipe is separate from the first exhaust pipe. A first adjustable fluid control element controls the first ambient environment. A second adjustable fluid control element controls the second ambient environment, where the first adjustable fluid control element and the second adjustable fluid control element are independently adjustable.

Forming a lithium lanthanum zirconate thin film includes disposing zirconium oxide on a substrate to yield a zirconium oxide coating, contacting the zirconium oxide coating with a solution including a lithium salt and a lanthanum salt, heating the substrate to yield a dried salt coating on the zirconium oxide coating, melting the dried salt coating to yield a molten salt mixture, reacting the molten salt mixture with the zirconium oxide coating to yield lithium lanthanum zirconate, and cooling the lithium lanthanum zirconate to yield a lithium lanthanum zirconate coating on the substrate. In some cases, the zirconium oxide coating is contacted with an aqueous molten salt mixture including a lithium salt and a lanthanum salt, the molten salt mixture is reacted with the zirconium oxide coating to yield lithium lanthanum zirconate, and the lithium lanthanum zirconate is cooled to yield a lithium lanthanum zirconate coating on the substrate.

A method for coating a composite substrate characterized includes a—preparing a sol-gel composition by mixing in an aqueous medium: 1—of at least one metal alkoxide of formula (I) M(OR.sup.1), 2—in the presence of at least one organo alkoxysilane of formula (II) R.sup.3mSi(OR.sup.2).sub.4-m, 3—and in the presence of optional oxide or metal particles, 4—by mixing the composition in order to allow condensation of the organic-inorganic hybrid networks, b—depositing at least one underlayer of the sol-gel composition obtained in step a) on the composite substrate; c—depositing at least one subsequent coating layer on the coated composite substrate obtained in step b).

A grain-oriented electrical steel sheet includes: a base steel sheet; an intermediate layer arranged in contact with the base steel sheet; and an insulation coating arranged in contact with the intermediate layer to be an outermost surface, in which the intermediate layer has a local oxidized area when viewing a cross section whose cutting direction is parallel to a thickness direction, and a thickness of the intermediate layer in an area where the local oxidized area is included is 50 nm or more, and a thickness of the intermediate layer in an area where the local oxidized area is not included is less than 50 nm.

An insulation film composition for a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes 10-50 parts by weight of metal silicate or organic silicate, 20-70 parts by weight of inorganic nanoparticles and 0.1-20 parts by weight of cobalt hydroxide. The insulation film composition can further include 10-50 parts by weight of metal phosphate, and/or 5-30 parts by weight of inorganic nanoparticles having a particle diameter of 1 nm to less than 10 nm, and/or inorganic nanoparticles having a particle diameter of 10 to 100 nm and/or 0.1-20 parts by weight of chromium oxide.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a microfluidic device, in particular, a sol-gel method for producing a microfluidic device in hybrid silica glass. The invention also relates to a microfluidic device obtainable by the method as described above and to microfluidic device in hybrid silica glass comprising at least one microchannel having a depth of at least 1 μm, preferably between 1 μm and 1 mm, and more preferably between 10 and 100 μm.

A method of forming a diffusion barrier layer on a dielectric or semiconductor substrate by a wet process. The method includes the steps of treating the dielectric or semiconductor substrate with an aqueous pretreatment solution comprising one or more adsorption promoting ingredients capable of preparing the substrate for deposition of the diffusion barrier layer thereon; and contacting the treated dielectric or semiconductor substrate with a deposition solution comprising manganese compounds and an inorganic pH buffer (optionally, with one or more doping metals) to the diffusion barrier layer thereon, wherein the diffusion barrier layer comprises manganese oxide. Also included is a two-part kit for treating a dielectric or semiconductor substrate to form a diffusion barrier layer thereon.

The present application provides a heat exchanger and a manufacturing method of a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger includes a metal substrate, the metal substrate has a fluid channel for circulating a heat exchange medium; and the heat exchanger further includes a coating, the coating includes resin, silica and titanium dioxide, and the coating is arranged to cover at least part of a surface of the metal substrate. Silica particles and titanium dioxide particles are conducive to the formation of a complex micro-nano structure, and leveling and stability of hydrophilic resin contribute to long-term maintenance of the micro-nano structure. The coating of the heat exchanger according to the present application has excellent hydrophilic durability.