A compound structure and a forming method thereof are provided. The method of forming a compound structure according to embodiments of the present invention comprises loading a metal precursor on a substrate, providing a chalcogen precursor to the substrate, and reacting the chalcogen precursor with the metal precursor. The compound structure according to embodiments of the present invention is formed by the method and has a 2-dimensional structure.

A process for producing a structured surface, in which a composition comprising nanowires is applied to a surface and structured, especially by partial displacement of the composition. When the solvent is removed, the nanowires aggregate to form structures. These may be transparent and also conductive.

A method is provided of forming a coating within an internal pathway. The method comprises: providing a body having an inlet and an outlet and an internal surface which defines an internal pathway extending within the body between the inlet and the outlet; streaming a mixture of a gas and a fluid along at least a part of a length of the internal pathway, the fluid comprising one or more substances for forming a solid coating on the internal surface, the fluid being a liquid solution of said one or more substances in a solvent or being a dispersion with at least one of said one or more substances being solid particles dispersed in a liquid continuous phase; during said streaming of the mixture, applying localised heat progressively along said at least a part of the length of the internal pathway. The progressive application of localised heat causes, within said at least a part of the length of the internal pathway, formation from the one or more substances of a solid coating on the internal surface.

The invention relates to the use of a coating of a layer including an inorganic, glass-like matrix of an alkali silicate and/or alkaline earth silicate or a layer including an inorganic-organic hybrid matrix or of a double layer of a base layer including an inorganic, glass-like matrix of an alkali silicate and/or alkaline earth silicate or a base layer including an inorganic-organic hybrid matrix and an alkali silicate-free and alkaline earth silicate-free top layer including a matrix of an oxidated silicon compound as the anti-limescale coating on at least one metal surface or inorganic surface of an object or material. The anti-limescale coating can be used for storage or transport devices for water or media containing water. The anti-limescale coating is suitable for pipelines, sand control systems or safety valves in the conveyance of oil or gas or the storage of oil or gas.

A process for producing a structured surface, in which a composition comprising nanowires is applied to a surface and structured, especially by partial displacement of the composition. When the solvent is removed, the nanowires aggregate to form structures. These may be transparent and also conductive.

Systems and methods for forming conductive materials. The conductive materials can be applied using a printer in single or multiple passes onto a substrate. The conductive materials are composed of electrical conductors such as carbon nanotubes (including functionalized carbon nanotubes and metal-coated carbon nanotubes), grapheme, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (e.g. pentacene and bisperipentacene), metal nanoparticles, an inherently conductive polymer (ICP), and combinations thereof. Once the conductive materials are applied, the materials are dried and sintered to form adherent conductive materials on the substrate. The adherent conductive materials can be used in applications such as damage detection, particle removal, and smart coating systems.

A method of forming a graphene oxide based layer includes preparing a dispersion of graphene oxide and nanostructures, and spin coating the dispersion on a surface of a substrate to form a spin coated film thereon; and thermally annealing the spin coated film to form the graphene oxide based layer, where the mass ratio of the graphene oxide and the nanostructures in the graphene oxide based layer is in a range of about 1:0.01 w/w to 1:0.8 w/w. The nanostructures are functionalized with carboxylic acid. The nanostructures include carbon nanotubes, or nanofibers. The carbon nanotubes include single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs).

A method and apparatus for treating graphene raw material by plasma, and an application thereof are provided. After treated by the plasma, the graphene raw material will have a special structure and characteristic.

A reflective conductive film includes (i) a reflective polymeric substrate having a polymeric base layer and a polymeric binding layer, wherein the polymeric material of the base layer has a softening temperature T.sub.S-B, and the polymeric material of the binding layer has a softening temperature T.sub.S-HS; and (ii) a conductive layer that includes a plurality of nanowires, wherein the nanowires are bound by the polymeric matrix of the binding layer such that the nanowires are dispersed at least partially in the polymeric matrix of the binding layer, wherein the polymeric substrate is a biaxially oriented substrate, and wherein the polymeric binding layer is a copolyester.

A process for the manufacture of a reflective conductive film comprising: (i) a reflective polymeric substrate comprising a polymeric base layer and a polymeric binding layer, wherein the polymeric material of the base layer has a softening temperature T.sub.S-B, and the polymeric material of the binding layer has a softening temperature T.sub.S-HS; and (ii) a conductive layer comprising a plurality of nanowires, wherein said nanowires are bound by the polymeric matrix of the binding layer such that the nanowires are dispersed at least partially in the polymeric matrix of the binding layer, said process comprising the steps of providing a reflective polymeric substrate comprising a polymeric base layer and a polymeric binding layer; disposing said nanowires on the exposed surface of the binding layer; and heating the composite film to a temperature T.sub.1 wherein T.sub.1 is equal to or greater than TSHS, and T.sub.1 is at least about 5 C. below T.sub.S-B.