Development of sol-gel icephobic coatings: effect of surface roughness and surface energy.

Sol-gel coatings with different roughness and surface energy were prepared on glass substrates. Methyl triethoxysilane (MTEOS), 3-Glycidyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GLYMO) and fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) were used to obtain a mechanically robust icephobic coating. Different amount of hydrophobic silica nano particles was added as fillers to introduce different roughness and surface energy to the coatings.

Transition metal-doped BiFeO3 nanofibers: forecasting the conductivity limit.

We investigate the limiting electrical conductivity of BiFeO3 (BFO) nanofibers via first-principles modelling and experiments. Based on a semi-empirical approach, all transition metals are first screened for their suitability to form an acceptor in BFO. The resultant candidates (e.