The amorphous hydrogenated carbon coatings (a-C:H) deposited by plasmaassisted chemical vapour deposition (PACVD), and tetrahedral amorphous carbon coatings (ta-C) deposited by pulsed vacuum arc discharge were evaluated by scratch adhesion testing, load-carrying capacity testing and tribological testing in unlubricated and lubricated sliding conditions. The wear surfaces of the coatings and cou...

The mixture of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and poly(ethylene vinyl acetate) (PEVA) forms a homogeneous liquid in an organic solvent such as tetrahydrofuran, and a phase-separated PLGA/PEVA composite can be prepared from it by evaporating the organic solvent. Exploiting this phenomenon, we designed a novel method of preparing a drug-loaded PLGA/PEVA composite and used it for coating drug-e...

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were easily and efficiently decorated with Pd nanoparticles through a vapor-phase impregnation-decomposition method starting from palladium acetylacetonates. The sensor device consisted on a film of sensitive material (MWCNTs-Pd) deposited by drop coating on platinum interdigitated electrodes on a SiO₂ substrate. The sensor exhibited a resistance change to oz...

Thin films in the Ti-Pt-C system were deposited by non-reactive, DC-magnetron sputtering. Samples were characterised using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. A previously not reported metastable solid solution carbide, (Ti1xPtx)Cy with a Pt/Ti ratio of up to 0.43 was observed. This solid solution phase was present both as single phase in p...

The problem emerging from particle coating is how to manufacture particles with just enough material deposited to achive the desired result [1]. Especially in case of functional coatings, the uniformity of coating thickness over the entire particle surface plays an important role. In our study the performance of two bottom spray coaters and the effect of the particle motion on the coating unifo...

A protocol is described to assess self-healing of crack damage in a polymer coating deposited on a substrate containing a microvascular network. The bio-inspired coating/substrate design delivers healing agent to cracks in the coating via a three-dimensional microvascular network embedded in the substrate. Through capillary action, monomer flows from the network channels into the crack plane wh...

Nanocrystalline Zn-substituted hydroxyapatite coatings were deposited by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering on the surface of ultrafine-grained titanium substrates. Cross-section transmission electron microscopy provided information about the morphology and texture of the thin film while in-column energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed the presence of Zn in the coating. The Zn-substituted ...

This work presents a novel coating technique to manufacture ceramic superhydrophobic coatings rapidly and economically. A rare earth oxide (REO) was selected as the coating material due to its hydrophobic nature, chemical inertness, high temperature stability, and good mechanical properties, and deposited on stainless steel substrates by solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS). The effects of va...

TiO₂-SiO₂ binary coatings were deposited by a sol-gel dip-coating method using tetrabutyl titanate and tetraethyl orthosilicate as precursors. The structure and chemical composition of the coatings annealed at different temperatures were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The refractive indices of the coatings were calculated from the measured tra...