Method for pore sealing a porous substrate, comprising: forming a continuous monolayer of a polyimide precursor on a liquid surface, transferring said polyimide precursor monolayer onto the porous substrate with the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, and imidization of the transferred polyimide precursor monolayers, thereby forming a polyimide sealing layer on the porous substrate. Porous substrate having at least one surface on which a sealing layer is provided to seal pores of the substrate, wherein the sealing layer is a polyimide having a thickness of a few monolayers and wherein there is no penetration of the polyimide into the pores.

Method for pore sealing a porous substrate, comprising: forming a continuous monolayer of a polyimide precursor on a liquid surface, transferring said polyimide precursor monolayer onto the porous substrate with the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, and imidization of the transferred polyimide precursor monolayers, thereby forming a polyimide sealing layer on the porous substrate. Porous substrate having at least one surface on which a sealing layer is provided to seal pores of the substrate, wherein the sealing layer is a polyimide having a thickness of a few monolayers and wherein there is no penetration of the polyimide into the pores.

The present invention regards nano surfaces and particularly a gradient based nano surface. According to embodiments of the invention a surface bound gradient is created by distributed nanoparticles along a plane surface. This procedure greatly reduces the number of prepared surfaces needed, as well as the methodological error of analysis of adsorption and adhesion phenomena.

A method and an apparatus for forming a particle layer are provided. The layering method includes injecting particles in an injection zone defined at a gas-liquid interface between a carrier liquid and an ambient gas, and controlling a flow of the carrier liquid along the gas-liquid interface to carry the particles downstream along a particle flow path from the injection zone to a layer formation zone. The method also includes accumulating the particles in the layer formation zone to gradually form the particle layer on the gas-liquid interface, and withdrawing the particle layer from the layer formation zone. The particle layer formed by the layering method and apparatus can be used to fabricate a three-dimensional object by additive manufacturing.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing tank, a holder, an organic solvent supply, a drainage port, a gas supply, and an exhaust port. The processing tank stores an aqueous layer. The holder holds a substrate. The organic solvent supply supplies an organic solvent onto the aqueous layer to form a liquid layer of the organic solvent. The drainage port discharges the aqueous layer from a bottom wall of the processing tank and causes the liquid layer of the organic solvent to descend from above the substrate to below the substrate. The gas supply supplies a gas of a water repellent agent to the liquid layer from above the processing tank while the liquid layer descends. The exhaust port is exposed on a side wall of the processing tank by the descending of the liquid layer and discharges the gas of the water repellent gas.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing tank, a holder, an organic solvent supply, a drainage port, a gas supply, and an exhaust port. The processing tank stores an aqueous layer. The holder holds a substrate. The organic solvent supply supplies an organic solvent onto the aqueous layer to form a liquid layer of the organic solvent. The drainage port discharges the aqueous layer from a bottom wall of the processing tank and causes the liquid layer of the organic solvent to descend from above the substrate to below the substrate. The gas supply supplies a gas of a water repellent agent to the liquid layer from above the processing tank while the liquid layer descends. The exhaust port is exposed on a side wall of the processing tank by the descending of the liquid layer and discharges the gas of the water repellent gas.

The present disclosure is directed to methods for preparing nanoparticle monolayers on a sub-phase by controlling the spreading rate of the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are first prepared in a nanoparticle solution at a predetermined concentration with a solvent. The sub-phase solution is prepared to have a density and viscosity compatible with the desired spreading rate. Additives, such as glycerol, are used to alter the density of the sub-phase solution. A volume of nanoparticle solution is deposited on the surface of the sub-phase solution and allowed to spread in a controlled manner on the unconstrained surface, forming a uniform nanoparticle monolayer. A substrate is then placed in contact with the nanoparticle monolayer to form a uniform nanoparticle coating on the surface of the substrate.

A device for coating semiconductor/semiconductor precursor particles on a flexible substrate and a preparation method of a semiconducting thin film, wherein the device includes: a container for a first and second solvent substantially immiscible; injection means for injecting a predetermined dispersion volume of at least one layered semiconductor particle material or its precursor(s), occurring at a liquid-liquid interface formed within the container and between the first and second solvent, and creating a particle film at the liquid-liquid interface; a first support means; substrate extracting means; substrate supply means; compression means, reducing a distance between particles and push the film onto the substrate, wherein the compression means includes several pushing means mounted on a drive device, wherein at least two of the several pushing means are at least partially submerged in the second solvent during drive device rotation, and moved through the second solvent toward the first support means.

Disclosed herein are inventive methods of making thin films, inventive thin films, and inventive articles and systems comprising thin films. Certain embodiments are related to methods of making thin films in which reagents are arranged within a first phase and a second phase such that at least one reagent reacts to form a thin film proximate to the interface between the first phase and the second phase. Thin films (including two-dimensional materials) disclosed herein can have one or more of a variety of beneficial properties including large lateral dimension(s), lateral continuity, high mechanical strength, consistent spatial composition, and/or consistent thickness. In accordance with certain embodiments, thin films disclosed herein can be combined to form a variety of inventive multi-layer articles, including multi-layer articles comprising a combination of thin films having different compositions that interact with each other via van der Waals forces.

Disclosed herein are inventive methods of making thin films, inventive thin films, and inventive articles and systems comprising thin films. Certain embodiments are related to methods of making thin films in which reagents are arranged within a first phase and a second phase such that at least one reagent reacts to form a thin film proximate to the interface between the first phase and the second phase. Thin films (including two-dimensional materials) disclosed herein can have one or more of a variety of beneficial properties including large lateral dimension(s), lateral continuity, high mechanical strength, consistent spatial composition, and/or consistent thickness. In accordance with certain embodiments, thin films disclosed herein can be combined to form a variety of inventive multi-layer articles, including multi-layer articles comprising a combination of thin films having different compositions that interact with each other via van der Waals forces.