Driven by the trends towards miniaturization in lead free electronic products, researchers are putting immense efforts to improve the properties and reliabilities of Sn based solders. Recently, much interest has been shown on low silver (Ag) content solder SAC105 (Sn-1.0Ag-0.5Cu) because of economic reasons and improvement of impact resistance as compared to SAC305 (Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu. The present work investigates the effect of minor aluminum (Al) addition (0.1-0.5 wt.%) to SAC105 on the interfacial structure between solder and copper substrate during reflow. The addition of minor Al promoted formation of small, equiaxed Cu-Al particle, which are identified as Cu₃Al₂. Cu₃Al₂ resided at the near surface/edges of the solder and exhibited higher hardness and modulus. Results show that the minor addition of Al does not alter the morphology of the interfacial intermetallic compounds, but they substantially suppress the growth of the interfacial Cu₆Sn₅ intermetallic compound (IMC) after reflow. During isothermal aging, minor alloying Al has reduced the thickness of interfacial Cu₆Sn₅ IMC but has no significant effect on the thickness of Cu₃Sn. It is suggested that of atoms of Al exert their influence by hindering the flow of reacting species at the interface.
Organ repair, regeneration, and transplantation are constantly in demand due to various acute, chronic, congenital, and infectious diseases. Apart from traditional remedies, tissue engineering (TE) is among the most effective methods for the repair of damaged tissues via merging the cells, growth factors, and scaffolds. With regards to TE scaffold fabrication technology, polyurethane (PU), a high-performance medical grade synthetic polymer and bioactive material has gained significant attention. PU possesses exclusive biocompatibility, biodegradability, and modifiable chemical, mechanical and thermal properties, owing to its unique structure-properties relationship. During the past few decades, PU TE scaffold bioactive properties have been incorporated or enhanced with biodegradable, electroactive, surface-functionalised, ayurvedic products, ceramics, glass, growth factors, metals, and natural polymers, resulting in the formation of modified polyurethanes (MPUs). This review focuses on the recent advances of PU/MPU scaffolds, especially on the biomedical applications in soft and hard tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The scientific issues with regards to the PU/MPU scaffolds, such as biodegradation, electroactivity, surface functionalisation, and incorporation of active moieties are also highlighted along with some suggestions for future work.
In this research work, nanowires were grown on brass (Cu - 37.2 wt% Zn) substrate by thermal oxidation process. The substrate was oxidized at temperature ranging from 350-600 °C in the presence of varying concentrations of O2 in N2 (1-100%) flown at a rate of 200 sccm. The oxidized brass surface was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscope and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Four different types of morphological variations such as thin, thick with branches, circular-flake and flat-cone shape were observed during oxidation at different conditions. However, the prevalence of thin, thick morphology with branches was more prominent and found in all growth conditions. The length and diameter of the nanowires were varied from 1-30 µm and 50-500 nm, respectively whereas the length of the branches varied from 1-3 µm. The composition of the nanowires was ZnO possessing of hexagonal wurtzite structure. The selected area diffraction confirms that the nanowires grew along <1 1 0> directions. Based on the results, a stress induced based mechanism is proposed for the growth of ZnO nanowires on Cu - 37.2 wt% Zn substrate.
Miniaturization of electronic devices has led to the development of 3D IC packages which require ultra-small-scale interconnections. Such small interconnects can be completely converted into Cu-Sn based intermetallic compounds (IMCs) after reflow. In an effort to improve IMC based interconnects, an attempt is made to add Ni to Cu-Sn-based IMCs. Multilayer interconnects consisting of stacks of Cu/Sn/Cu/Sn/Cu or Cu/Ni/Sn/Ni/Sn/Cu/Ni/Sn/Ni/Cu with Ni = 35 nm, 70 nm, and 150 nm were electrodeposited sequentially using copper pyrophosphate, tin methanesulfonic, and nickel Watts baths, respectively. These multilayer interconnects were investigated under room temperature aging conditions and for solid-liquid reactions, where the samples were subjected to 250 °C reflow for 60 s and also 300 °C for 3600 s. The progress of the reaction in the multilayers was monitored by using X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope, and Energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. FIB-milled samples were also prepared for investigation under room temperature aging conditions. Results show that by inserting a 70 nanometres thick Ni layer between copper and tin, premature reaction between Cu and Sn at room temperature can be avoided. During short reflow, the addition of Ni suppresses formation of Cu₃Sn IMC. With increasing Ni thickness, Cu consumption is decreased and Ni starts acting as a barrier layer. On the other hand, during long reflow, two types of IMC were found in the Cu/Ni/Sn samples which are the (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ and (Cu,Ni)₃Sn, respectively. Details of the reaction sequence and mechanisms are discussed.
The miniaturization of electronic devices and the consequent decrease in the distance between conductive lines have increased the risk of short circuit failure due to electrochemical migration (ECM). The presence of ionic contaminants affects the ECM process. This work systematically investigates the ECM of tin (Sn) in the presence of bromide ions (Br-) in the range of 10-6 M to 1.0 M. Water drop test (WDT) was conducted in the two-probe semiconductor characterization system under an optical microscope as an in-situ observation. Polarization test was carried out to study the correlation between the corrosion properties of Sn and its ECM behaviour. The products of ECM were characterized by scanning electron microscope coupled with an energy dispersive X-rays spectrometer (SEM/EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). The results confirm that the rate of anodic dissolution of Sn monotonously increases with the Br- concentration. However, the probability of ECM failure follows a normal distribution initially, but later increases with the Br- concentration. The main products of the ECM reactions are identified as Sn dendrites and tin hydroxide precipitates. The mechanisms of the ECM process of Sn in the presence of Br- are also suggested.
Different Ti substrates, such as particles (as-received and ball milled), plate and TEM grid were oxidized for the growth of one dimensional (1D) TiO2nanostructures. The Ti substrates were oxidized for 4 h at temperatures of 700 °C-750 °C in humid and dry Ar containing 5 ppm of O2. The effects of residual stress on the growth of 1D TiO2nanostructures were investigated. The residual stress inside the Ti particles was measured by XRD-sin2ψtechnique. The oxidized Ti substrates were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscope, transmission electron microscope, x-ray diffractometer and x-ray photoelectron spectroscope. Results revealed that humid environment enhances the growth of 1D TiO2nanostructures. Four different types of 1D morphologies obtained during humid oxidation, e.g. stacked, ribbon, plateau and lamp-post shaped nanostructures. The presence of residual stress significantly enhances the density and coverage of 1D nanostructures. The as-grown TiO2nanostructures possess tetragonal rutile structure having length up to 10μm along the 〈1 0 1〉 directions. During initial stage of oxidation, a TiO2layer is formed on Ti substrate. Lower valence oxides (Ti3O5, Ti2O3and TiO) then form underneath the TiO2layer and induce stress at the interface of oxide layers. The induced stress plays significant role on the growth of 1D TiO2nanostructures. The induced stress is relaxed by creating new surfaces in the form of 1D TiO2nanostructures. A diffusion based model is proposed to explain the mechanism of 1D TiO2growth during humid oxidation of Ti. The 1D TiO2nanostructures and TiO2layer is formed by the interstitial diffusion of Ti4+ions to the surface and reacts with the surface adsorbed hydroxide ions (OH-). Lower valence oxides are formed at the metal-oxide interface by the reaction between diffused oxygen ions and Ti ions.
An ethanol gas sensor with enhanced sensor response was fabricated using Ni-doped SnO2 nanorods, synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method. It was found that the response (R = R 0/R g) of a 5.0 mol% Ni-doped SnO2 (5.0Ni:SnO2) nanorod sensor was 1.4 × 104 for 1000 ppm C2H5OH gas, which is about 13 times higher than that of pure SnO2 nanorods, (1.1 × 103) at the operating temperature of 450 °C. Moreover, for 50 ppm C2H5OH gas, the 5.0Ni:SnO2 nanorod sensor still recorded a significant response reading, namely 2.0 × 103 with a response time of 30 s and recovery time of 10 min. To investigate the effect of Ni dopant (0.5-5.0 mol%) on SnO2 nanorods, structural characterizations were demonstrated using field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer. XRD results confirmed that all the samples consisted of tetragonal-shaped rutile SnO2 nanorods. It was found that the average diameter and length of the nanorods formed in 5.0Ni:SnO2 were four times smaller (∼6 and ∼35 nm, respectively) than those of the nanorods formed in pure SnO2 (∼25 and 150 nm). Interestingly, both samples had the same aspect ratio, ∼6. It is proposed that the high response of the 5.0Ni:SnO2 nanorod sensor can be attributed to the particle size, which causes an increase in the thickness of the charge depletion layer, and the presence of oxygen vacancies within the matrix of SnO2 nanorods.
Ternary nanocomposites synergistically combine the material characteristics of three materials, altering the desired charge storage properties such as electrical conductivity, redox states, and surface area. Therefore, to improve the energy synergistic of SnO2, TiO2, and three-dimensional graphene, herein, we report a facile hydrothermal technique to synthesize a ternary nanocomposite of three-dimensional graphene-tin oxide-titanium dioxide (3DG-SnO2-TiO2). The synthesized ternary nanocomposite was characterized using material characterization techniques such as XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, FESEM, and EDXS. The surface area and porosity of the material were studied using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) studies. XRD studies showed the crystalline nature of the characteristic peaks of the individual materials, and FESEM studies revealed the deposition of SnO2-TiO2 on 3DG. The BET results show that incorporating 3DG into the SnO2-TiO2 binary nanocomposite increased its surface area compared to the binary composite. A three-electrode system compared the electrochemical performances of both the binary and ternary composites as a battery-type supercapacitor electrode in different molar KOH (1, 3, and 6 M) electrolytes. It was determined that the ternary nanocomposite electrode in 6 M KOH delivered a maximum specific capacitance of 232.7 C g-1 at 1 A g-1. An asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) was fabricated based on 3DG-SnO2-TiO2 as a positive electrode and commercial activated carbon as a negative electrode (3DG-SnO2-TiO2//AC). The ASC delivered a maximum energy density of 28.6 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 367.7 W kg-1. Furthermore, the device delivered a superior cycling stability of ∼97% after 5000 cycles, showing its prospects as a commercial ASC electrode.
Tin (IV) oxide (SnO2) nanostructures are regarded as one of the most popular materials for conventional gas sensors, due to their high surface area and fast response in regard to most reducing and oxidizing gases. However, their high operating temperature (>200 °C) leads to high power consumption and limits their applications. Here, a new nanocomposite fiber materials, consisting of undoped and doped (nickel and palladium) SnO2 nanorods, polyaniline (PANI), and polyhydroxy-3-butyrate (P3HB) are synthesized via the hydrothermal method,followed by an in situ polymerization and electrospinning technique. The as-synthesized nanocomposites are tested using ethanol gas at different operating temperatures: 25 °C (room temperature), 60 °C, and 80 °C. The results reveal that all samples began to show a response at 80 °C. Pd:SnO2/PANI/P3HB nanocomposite fiber sensors demonstrate a relatively higher response than that of SnO2/PANI/P3HB and Ni:SnO2/PANI/P3HB nanocomposite sensors. At 80 °C , the Pd:SnO2/PANI/P3HB nanocomposite sensor records a response (R0/Rg ) of 1610, with a response time (Tres) of 90 s and a recovery time (Trec ) of 9 min in relation to 1000 ppm ethanol gas in N2. The sensor also displays a good level of response (R0/Rg = 200) at a low concentration level (50 ppm) of ethanol gas. Structural and chemical characterizations indicate that the ethanol gas sensing performance of Pd:SnO2/PANI/P3HB nanocomposite fibers can mainly be attributed to the p-n heterojunction, fiber geometry, and one-dimensional structure of SnO2 and to the presence of the Pd catalyst. This bio-nanocomposite fiber has the potential to be a breakthrough material in biodegradable low temperature ethanol sensing applications.