There is provided a technique that includes (a) supplying a first-element-containing gas to the substrate; (b) supplying a first reducing gas to the substrate; (c) supplying a second reducing gas, which is different from the first reducing gas, to the substrate; (d) supplying a third reducing gas, which is different from both the first reducing gas and the second reducing gas, to the substrate; (e) after a start of (a), performing (b) in parallel with (a); (f) in (e), performing (d) in parallel with (b); and (g) forming a first-element-containing film on the substrate by alternately performing (e) and (c) a predetermined number of times.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to carbon materials for battery electrodes and methods for preparing such carbon materials. More specifically, embodiments relate to methods for coating a carbon film onto nano-ordered carbon particles to produce carbon-coated particles which can be used as an anode material within a battery, such as a lithium-ion battery, a sodium-ion battery, other types of batteries. In one or more embodiments, a method for producing carbon-coated particles is provided and includes positioning nano-ordered carbon particles within a processing region of a processing chamber, purging the processing region containing the nano-ordered carbon particles with an inert gas, heating the nano-ordered carbon particles to a temperature of about 700° C. or greater during an annealing process, and depositing a carbon film on the nano-ordered carbon particles to produce carbon-coated particles during a vapor deposition process.

Aqueous solutions of halogenides (oxyhalides) of zirconium and hafnium (M) with values of α=X/M near one, for X=Cl, Br and I form amorphous solids or glasses, designated as M,X, in contrast to important crystalline oxyhalide end members with α=2 (designated as MOX). The present disclosure describes methods for producing amorphous thin films comprising halogenides upon evaporation, and provides some measured physical properties, with attention to compositions for α<2. The value of a below which only glasses are formed is about one for oxychlorides and oxybromides of both Zr and Hf. The chemical formulas for all the halogenide thin films prepared as noted above can be written as a function of the single parameter α, according to M(OH).sub.4-αX.sub.α.(4α-1)H.sub.2O. This is valid for e.g., crystalline zirconium oxychloride octahydrate, and for the glassy solids found for α<2 and down to the onset of hydrolysis, α≈0.5. Thin films made by the disclosed methods are highly dense (90% of theoretical crystal density), extremely smooth (rms<0.4 nm), and highly transparent in the visible spectrum, >90%. Such thin films are useful as alkali diffusion barriers.

Copper-boron-ferrite (Cu—B—Fe) composites may be prepared and immobilized on graphite electrodes in a silica-based sol-gel, e.g., from rice husks. Different bimetallic loading ratios can produce fast in-situ electrogeneration of reactive oxygen species, H.sub.2O.sub.2 and .Math.OH, e.g., via droplet flow-assisted heterogeneous electro-Fenton reactor system. Loading ratios of, e.g., 10 to 30 wt. % Fe.sup.3+ and 5 to 15% wt. Cu.sup.2+, can improve the catalytic activities towards pharmaceutical beta blockers (atenolol and propranolol) degradation in water. Degradation efficiencies of at least 99.9% for both propranolol and atenolol in hospital wastewater were demonstrated. Radicals of .Math.OH in degradation indicate a surface mechanism at inventive cathodes with correlated contributions of iron and copper. Copper and iron can be embedded in porous graphite electrode surface and catalyze the conversion of H.sub.2O.sub.2 to .Math.OH to enhance the degradation. Inventive cathodes can be stable catalytically after 20 or more cycles under neutral and acidic conditions.

A process comprising: (i) coating particles of silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide or boron nitride with a metal alloy or metal layer; (ii) agglomerating the particles of step (i); thermally spraying the agglomerated metal or metal alloy coated particles onto a substrate to provide a coating thereon.

An ultra-fast charging, high-capacity composite material for use with anodes in lithium-ion batteries including a phosphorene layer on a carbon-based negative electrode material. The carbon-based negative electrode material may be activated carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes, or combinations thereof. The phosphorene layer includes a base layer of black phosphorus upon which is deposited activated carbon having a disclosed range of particle size and surface area. In a second embodiment, the negative electrode material is a composite of activated carbon and black carbon and includes a negative electrode current collector of copper foil. A slurry is made from a carbon-based conductive agent and a binder, and applied to both sides of the copper foil, then heated and compacted with a rolling machine. The anodes thus produced are used in making lithium-ion batteries, capacitors, etc.

The current invention describes a method of manufacturing a porous dielectric material, the method comprising (a) providing a porous template, (b) coating the porous template with an inorganic dielectric material or a precursor of an inorganic dielectric material to form a coated porous template, (c) treating the coated porous template to remove the porous template and to form a porous structure of dielectric material from the coating of inorganic dielectric material or precursor of an inorganic dielectric material, and (d) combining the formed porous structure of dielectric material with a coating polymer to form the porous dielectric material. The invention also relates to RF components on a substrate material, with a conductive material deposited on a porous dielectric material.

The process comprises treating 90-190 g titanium (IV) chloride in 10-100 ml de-ionized water for preparing Titanium cation (Ti.sup.4+); treating 130-275 ml potassium persulfate in 10-100 ml double-distilled water and keeping at constant temperature to obtain sulphate/oxide; dipping substrates into titanium (IV) chloride solution and re-dipping in de-ionized water to remove loosely bonded ions, if could be any; dipping substrates into potassium persulfate solution and re-dipping in de-ionized water to remove loosely bonded ions, if could be any, and keeping at 50-90° C. for complete one cycle; treating obtained Titanium cation (Ti.sup.4+) with sulphate/oxide and obtaining whitish layer on the substrate surface by necked eyes after about 10-15 cycles, suggesting initiation of film formation, wherein the deposition thickness of TiO.sub.2 layer is increased from 0.3-2.0-micron on determined 5-50 deposition cycles; and rinsing deposited films with de-ionized water and air annealed at 400-600° C. temperature to obtain anatase TiO.sub.2.

The present disclosure provides methods for forming sol-gels, sol-gel films and substrates, such as vehicle components, having a sol-gel film disposed thereon. At least one method of forming a sol-gel includes mixing a metal alkoxide, an acid stabilizer, and an organic solvent to form a first mixture having about 10 wt % or less water content based on the total weight of the first mixture. The method includes mixing an organosilane with the first mixture to form a second mixture having about 10 wt % or less water content based on the total weight of the second mixture.

The present invention provides an apparatus for the deposition of thin films on a substrate, including large substrates, held preferably face-down, in a cartridge containing a liquid solution with at least a chemical precursor which, upon being subject to a uniform microwave field transmitted through a microwave-transparent window, leads to the formation of a thin film on the substrate. The present invention also provides a system for launching microwaves and controlling the process for film deposition on the substrate. The present invention also provides a process for obtaining a film of uniform thickness and characteristics on a substrate or for incorporating controlled non-uniformity. The present invention also provides an apparatus and method for film deposition on a series of substrates in a continuous batch process.