Handling Nanoparticle Content in Nanocomposite Thin Films Deposited by Misty Plasma Processes through Controlled Flash Boiling Atomization.

Misty plasma processes based on colloidal solutions sprayed into low-pressure plasmas have recently shown great potential for multifunctional thin film deposition. In such processes, nanoparticle accumulation in ring-shaped structures remains the main obstacle to the synthesis of high-quality coatings containing abundant, small-scale, and evenly dispersed nanoparticles. These local buildups appear after a colloidal droplet evaporates from a substrate.

Anatase TiO deposited at low temperature by pulsing an electron cyclotron wave resonance plasma source.

Photocatalytic surfaces have the potentiality to respond to many of nowadays societal concerns such as clean H generation, CO conversion, organic pollutant removal or virus inactivation. Despite its numerous superior properties, the wide development of TiO photocatalytic surfaces suffers from important drawbacks. Hence, the high temperature usually required (> 450 °C) for the synthesis of anatase TiO is still a challenge to outreach.

Scaling properties of force networks for compressed particulate systems.

We consider, computationally and experimentally, the scaling properties of force networks in the systems of circular particles exposed to compression in two spatial dimensions. The simulations consider polydisperse and monodisperse particles, both frictional and frictionless, and in experiments we use monodisperse and bidisperse frictional particles. While for some of the considered systems we observe consistent scaling exponents describing the behavior of the force networks, we find that this behavior is not universal.

Percolation and jamming transitions in particulate systems with and without cohesion.

We consider percolation and jamming transitions for particulate systems exposed to compression. For the systems built of particles interacting by purely repulsive forces in addition to friction and viscous damping, it is found that these transitions are influenced by a number of effects, and in particular by the compression rate. In a quasistatic limit, we find that for the considered type of interaction between the particles, percolation and jamming transitions coincide.

Evolution of force networks in dense particulate media.

We discuss sets of measures with the goal of describing dynamical properties of force networks in dense particulate systems. The presented approach is based on persistent homology and allows for extracting precise, quantitative measures that describe the evolution of geometric features of the interparticle forces, without necessarily considering the details related to individual contacts between particles. The networks considered emerge from discrete element simulations of two-dimensional particulate systems consisting of compressible frictional circular disks.