RESUMEN

This study investigates the impact of the Electrical Breakdown in Liquid-phase (EBL) process on alkaloid transformation in Mitragyna speciose (Kratom) leaves, focusing on the conversion of mitragynine (MG) to 7-hydroxy mitragynine (7-OH-MG) by using advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). A novel reactor has been developed to enhance plasma exposure to Kratom leaf powdered solutions during the EBL process. Two distinct electrical voltage characteristics, half-positive and negative half-waves, have been utilized for the EBL, with an output voltage of 4.57 kVpeak at a no-load condition and a frequency of 50 Hz. The experimental findings demonstrate a time-dependent enhancement in the transformation process. The highest yield of 7-OH-MG, reaching 2,485 ± 134 µg/g of dried Kratom leaves weight, has been attained with the EBL processing generated by positive half-wave voltage after 20 min of EBL exposure. Notably, the EBL processing generated by positive half-wave voltage has outperformed the one generated by negative half-wave voltage by a significant factor of 2.01.

RESUMEN

Recently, polarity-dependent shock failures were reported in implantable cardioverter-defibrillators caused by structural failure in the high-voltage feedthrough. Short circuits may occur when the right ventricular coil is cathodal for phase 1 of biphasic shocks (cathodal shock). This viewpoint proposes a mechanism for observed polarity dependence and considers whether the same mechanism may apply in other shock-induced, short circuits. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator connections to the lead traverse feedthroughs into the hermetically sealed housing ("Can"). The feedthrough comprises 2 concentric, conducting metal cylinders, the inner pin-conductor to the right ventricular coil and outer Can, separated by impermeable insulation. Shock failure depends on 3 conditions: 1) development of a fluid layer in the feedthrough, creating a conduction path in parallel with the shock pathway; 2) the radial gradient of the electric field in the fluid, so resistive heating during a shock vaporizes water to form a high-resistance gas bubble around the pin; and 3) field emission of electrons at the cathode, with rate and energy dependent on the field's strength and the cathode's potential-energy barrier to emission. For cathodal shocks, electrons emitted at the metal pin may initiate an ionization avalanche in the gas until it "breaks down" into a low-resistance plasma, resulting in a short circuit. For anodal shocks, the effective cathode is the liquid-gas interface, where the field is weaker than at the pin. Additionally, solvated electrons in aqueous solution must overcome a higher potential-energy barrier to be emitted. This permits the high-resistance gas bubble to stabilize so that the shock is completed.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

We directly measure the three-dimensional movement of intrinsic point defects driven by applied electric fields inside ZnO nano- and micro-wire metal-semiconductor-metal device structures. Using depth- and spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy (CLS) in situ to map the spatial distributions of local defect densities with increasing applied bias, we drive the reversible conversion of metal-ZnO contacts from rectifying to Ohmic and back. These results demonstrate how defect movements systematically determine Ohmic and Schottky barriers to ZnO nano- and microwires and how they can account for the widely reported instability in nanowire transport. Exceeding a characteristic threshold voltage, in situ CLS reveals a current-induced thermal runaway that drives the radial diffusion of defects toward the nanowire free surface, causing VO defects to accumulate at the metal-semiconductor interfaces. In situ post- vs pre-breakdown CLS reveal micrometer-scale wire asperities, which X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) finds to have highly oxygen-deficient surface layers that can be attributed to the migration of preexisting VO species. These findings show the importance of in-operando intrinsic point-defect migration during nanoscale electric field measurements in general. This work also demonstrates a novel method for ZnO nanowire refinement and processing.

RESUMEN

Ultralow-k materials used in high voltage devices require mechanical resilience and electrical and dielectric stability even when subjected to mechanical loads. Existing devices with organic polymers suffer from low thermal and mechanical stability while those with inorganic porous structures struggle with poor mechanical integrity. Recently, 3D hollow-beam nanolattices have emerged as promising candidates that satisfy these requirements. However, their properties are maintained for only five stress cycles at strains below 25%. Here, we demonstrate that alumina nanolattices with different relative density distributions across their height elicit a deterministic mechanical response concomitant with a 1.5-3.3 times higher electrical breakdown strength than nanolattices with uniform density. These density-variant nanolattices exhibit an ultralow-k of ≈1.2, accompanied by complete electric and dielectric stability and mechanical recoverability over 100 cyclic compressions to 62.5% strain. We explain the enhanced insulation and long-term cyclical stability by the bi-phase deformation where the lower-density region protects the higher-density region as it is compressed before the higher-density region, allowing to simultaneously possess high strength and ductility like composites. This study highlights the superior electrical performance of the bi-phase nanolattice with a single interface in providing stable conduction and maximum breakdown strength.

RESUMEN

Electrical breakdown is an important physical phenomenon in power equipment and electronic devices. Recently, the mechanism of AC and DC breakdown has been preliminarily revealed as electrode-dielectric interface breakdown and bulk breakdown, respectively, based on space charge dynamics through numerical calculations. However, the AC breakdown mechanism still lacks enough direct experimental support, which restricts further understanding and the design and development of electrical structures. Here, in this study, LDPE films with various thicknesses ranging from 33 µm to 230 µm were surface modified with ozone for different durations to experimentally investigate DC and AC breakdown mechanism. The results indicate that carbonyl groups (C=O) were introduced onto the film surface, forming shallow surface traps and leading to a decreased average trap depth and an increased trap density. Such a surface oxidation modulated trap distribution led to enhanced space charge injection and bulk electrical field distortion, which decreased DC breakdown strength as the oxidation duration went longer, in all film thicknesses. However, such decreases in breakdown strength occurred only in films below 55 µm under AC stresses, as the enhanced electrical field distortion at the electrode-dielectric interface was more obvious and dominating in thin films. These experimental results further confirm the proposed electrode-dielectric interface breakdown of dielectric films and provide new understandings of space charge modulated electrical breakdown, which fulfills dielectric breakdown theory and benefits the miniaturization of power equipment and electronic devices.

RESUMEN

Investigating the energy dissipation in micro- and nanoscale is fundamental to improve the performance and reliability of two-dimensional (2D) electronics. Recently, 2D platinum selenide (PtSe2) has drawn extensive attention in developing next-generation functional devices due to its distinctive fusion of versatile properties. Toward practical applications of PtSe2 devices, it is essential to understand the interfacial thermal properties between PtSe2 and its substrate. Among them, the thermal boundary conductance (TBC) has played a critical role for out-of-plane heat dissipation of PtSe2 devices. Here, we identify the energy dissipation behavior of multilayer PtSe2 devices and extract the actual TBC value of the PtSe2/SiO2 interface by Raman thermometry with electrical bias. The obtained TBC value is about 8.6 MW m-2 K-1, and it belongs to the low end of as-known solid-solid interfaces, suggesting possible applications regarding thermoelectric devices or others reliant on a large temperature gradient. Furthermore, the maximum current density of the PtSe2 device determines its threshold power, which is crucial for improving device design and guiding future applications. Therefore, we explore the electrical breakdown profile of the multilayer PtSe2 device, revealing the breakdown current density of 17.7 MA cm-2 and threshold power density of 0.2 MW cm-2, which are larger than typical values for commonly used aluminum and copper. These results provide key insights into the energy dissipation of PtSe2 devices and make PtSe2 an excellent candidate for thermal confinement applications and nanometer-thin interconnects, which will benefit the development of energy-efficient functional 2D devices.

RESUMEN

An extensive study has been conducted on a series of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) samples using metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy, to investigate the influence of growth modes for GaN buffer layers on device performance. The unintentional doping concentration and screw dislocation density are significantly lower in the samples grown with our special two-dimensional (2D) growth approach, compared to a widely-used two-step method combining the 2D and 3D growth. The GaN buffer layers grown by the 2D growth approach have achieved an unintentional doping density of 2 × 1014 cm-3, two orders lower than 1016 cm-3 of the GaN samples grown using a conventional two-step method. High-frequency capacitance measurements show that the samples with lower unintentional doping densities have lower buffer leakage and higher breakdown limits. This series of samples have attained sub-nA/mm leakages, a high breakdown limit of 2.5 MV/cm, and a saturation current density of about 1.1 A/mm. It indicates that our special 2D growth approach can effectively lessen the unintentional doping in GaN buffer layers, leading to low buffer leakage and high breakdown limits of GaN/AlGaN HEMTs.

RESUMEN

Recently, there have been numerous studies on utilizing surface treatments or photosensitizing layers to improve photodetectors based on 2D materials. Meanwhile, avalanche breakdown phenomenon has provided an ultimate high-gain route toward photodetection in the form of single-photon detectors. Here, the authors report ultrasensitive avalanche phototransistors based on monolayer MoS2 synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. A lower critical field for the electrical breakdown under illumination shows strong evidence for avalanche breakdown initiated by photogenerated carriers in MoS2 channel. By utilizing the photo-initiated carrier multiplication, their avalanche photodetectors exhibit the maximum responsivity of ≈3.4 × 107 A W-1 and the detectivity of ≈4.3 × 1016 Jones under a low dark current, which are a few orders of magnitudes higher than the highest values reported previously, despite the absence of any additional chemical treatments or photosensitizing layers. The realization of both the ultrahigh photoresponsivity and detectivity is attributed to the interplay between the carrier multiplication by avalanche breakdown and carrier injection across a Schottky barrier between the channel and metal electrodes. This work presents a simple and powerful method to enhance the performance of photodetectors based on carrier multiplication phenomena in 2D materials and provides the underlying physics of atomically thin avalanche photodetectors.

RESUMEN

Electrical breakdown is a critical problem in electronics. In molecular electronics, it becomes more problematic because ultrathin molecular monolayers have delicate and defective structures and exhibit intrinsically low breakdown voltages, which limit device performances. Here, we show that interstitially mixed self-assembled monolayers (imSAMs) remarkably enhance electrical stability of molecular-scale electronic devices without deteriorating function and reliability. The SAM of the sterically bulky matrix (SC11BIPY rectifier) molecule is diluted with a skinny reinforcement (SCn) molecule via the new approach, so-called repeated surface exchange of molecules (ReSEM). Combined experiments and simulations reveal that the ReSEM yields imSAMs wherein interstices between the matrix molecules are filled with the reinforcement molecules and leads to significantly enhanced breakdown voltage inaccessible by traditional pure or mixed SAMs. Thanks to this, bias-driven disappearance and inversion of rectification is unprecedentedly observed. Our work may help to overcome the shortcoming of SAM's instability and expand the functionalities.

RESUMEN

Through years of development, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been demonstrated as a burgeoning efficient energy harvester. Plenty of efforts have been devoted to further improving the electric output performance through material/surface optimization, ion implantation or the external electric circuit. However, all these methods cannot break through the fundamental limitation brought by the inevitable electrical breakdown effect, and thus the output energy density is restricted. Here, a method for enhancing the threshold output energy density of TENGs is proposed by suppressing the breakdown effects in the high-pressure gas environment. With that, the output energy density of the contact-separation mode TENG can be increased by over 25 times in 10 atm than that in the atmosphere, and that of the freestanding sliding TENG can also achieve over 5 times increase in 6 atm. This research demonstrates the excellent suppression effect of the electric breakdown brought by the high-pressure gas environment, which may provide a practical and effective technological route to promote the output performance of TENGs.

RESUMEN

Carbon-based piezoresistive nanomaterials are widely used for the fabrication of flexible sensors. Although our previous work demonstrated that an electrical breakdown (EBD) process can endow a graphene/polyimide (G/PI) composite with piezoresistivity, the formation of EBD-induced electrical traces with high consistency in bulk nanocomposites remains a technical challenge. With the aim of developing highly sensitive flexible strain sensors using a batch fabrication process, we introduce herein a microscale EBD (µEBD) method to form localized piezoresistors with diverse shapes in a G/PI thin film. The results of scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and electromechanical tests indicate that high piezoresistivity is derived from the high porosity of the carbonized conductive traces generated by the µEBD process. The gauge factor of the µEBD-treated G/PI strain sensor is over 20 times greater than that of the as-prepared G/PI film, and the sensitivities of the strain sensors can be tuned by varying the applied current in the µEBD process. We also demonstrate the potential applications of µEBD-treated G/PI strain sensors in the fields of finger gesture detection, sound pressure measurement, and airflow sensing.

RESUMEN

The dimensions of amorphized regions in phase-change memory cells are critical parameters to design devices for different applications. However, these dimensions are difficult to be determined by direct imaging. In this work, the length of amorphized regions in multiple identical Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) line cells was extracted from electrical measurements. After each cell was programmed to an amorphous state, a sequence of increasing-amplitude post-reset voltage pulses separated by low-amplitude read DC sweeps was applied. When a post-reset voltage pulse with sufficient amplitude was applied to a given cell, the measured current and the post-pulse resistance increased drastically, indicating that the cell re-amorphized after threshold switching, melting, and quenching. The amorphized length was calculated using the measured voltage at which the threshold switching occurred and the expected drifted threshold field at that time. The measured threshold voltage values and, hence, the extracted amorphized length, generally increase linearly with the programmed resistance levels. However, significant variability arises from the intrinsically unique crystallization and amorphization processes in these devices. For example, cells programmed to an amorphous resistance of approx. 50 MΩ show threshold voltage values of 5.5-7.5 V, corresponding to amorphized length values of 290-395 nm. This unpredictable programming feature in phase-change memory devices can be utilized in hardware security applications.

RESUMEN

Polymers are widely used as dielectric components and electrical insulations in modern electronic devices and power systems in the industrial sector, transportation, and large appliances, among others, where electrical damage of the materials is one of the major factors threatening the reliability and service lifetime. Self-healing dielectric polymers, an emerging category of materials capable of recovering dielectric and insulating properties after electrical damage, are of promise to address this issue. This paper aims at summarizing the recent progress in the design and synthesis of self-healing dielectric polymers. The current understanding to the process of electrical degradation and damage in dielectric polymers is first introduced and the critical requirements in the self-healing of electrical damage are proposed. Then the feasibility of using self-healing strategies designed for repairing mechanical damage in the healing of electrical damage is evaluated, based on which the challenges and bottleneck issues are pointed out. The emerging self-healing methods specifically designed for healing electrical damage are highlighted and some useful mechanisms for developing novel self-healing dielectric polymers are proposed. It is concluded by providing a brief outlook and some potential directions in the future development toward practical applications in electronics and the electric power industry.

RESUMEN

Mechanical strength, thermal conductivity and electrical breakdown of polypropylene/lignin/kenaf core fiber (PP/L/KCF) composite were studied. PP/L, PP/KCF and PP/L/KCF composites with different fiber and lignin loading was prepared using a compounding process. Pure PP was served as control. The results revealed that tensile and flexural properties of the PP/L/KCF was retained after addition of lignin and kenaf core fibers. Thermal stability of the PP composites improved compared to pure PP polymer. As for thermal conductivity, no significant difference was observed between PP composites and pure PP. However, PP/L/KCF composite has higher thermal diffusivity. All the PP composites produced are good insulating materials that are suitable for building. All PP composites passed withstand voltage test in air and oil state as stipulated in IEC 60641-3 except PP/L in oil state. SEM micrograph showed that better interaction and adhesion between polymer matrix, lignin and kenaf core fibers was observed and reflected on the better tensile strength recorded in PP/L/KCF composite. This study has successfully filled the gap of knowledge on using lignin and kenaf fibers as PP insulator composite materials. Therefore, it can be concluded that PP/Lignin/KCF has high potential as an insulating material.

RESUMEN

Semiconducting frameworks possessing porous structure are promising platforms for the detection of hazardous gas molecules. In this study, we propose a facile route to fabricate millimeter-scale, three-dimensional semiconducting SWCNT (s-SWCNT) aerogels and demonstrate deactivation of the co-existing metallic SWCNT (m-SWCNT) network via electrical breakdown process. In particular, the on-off ratio of the modulated semiconducting aerogel after the electrical breakdown process was 205, which is an increase of 18.9 times over that before the process. The modulated semiconducting SWCNT aerogels with a large specific surface area (∼1270 m2 g-1) demonstrated their applicability for highly sensitive ppb-level ozone detection. The modulated semiconducting networks led to a 1310 % increase in the magnitude of response to 30-ppb ozone gas injection compared with that of pristine SWCNT aerogels. Furthermore, the prepared aerogels could detect 3 ppb of ozone within 40 s and retain stable reversible ozone detection for 200 cyclic operations over 100 h. Thus, the proposed semiconducting SWCNT aerogels are a promising candidate for highly sensitive environmental gas sensors.

RESUMEN

The dielectric reliability of low-k materials during mechanical deformation attracts tremendous attention, owing to the increasing demand for thin electronics to meet the ever-shrinking form factor of consumer products. However, the strong coupling between dielectric/electric and mechanical properties limits the use of low-k dielectrics in industrial applications. We report the leakage current and dielectric properties of a nanolattice capacitor during compressive stress cycling. Electrical breakdown measurements during the stress cycling, combined with a theoretical model and in situ mechanical experiments, provide insights to key breakdown mechanisms. Electrical breakdown occurs at nearly 50% strain, featuring a switch-like binary character, correlated with a transition from beam bending and buckling to collapse. Breakdown strength appears to recover after each cycle, concomitant with nanolattice's shape recovery. The compressive displacement at breakdown decreases with cycling due to permanently buckled beams, transforming the conduction mechanism from Schottky to Poole-Frankel emission. Remarkably, our capacitor with 99% porosity, k ∼ 1.09, is operative up to 200 V, whereas devices with 17% porous alumina films breakdown upon biasing based on a percolation model. Similarly with electrical breakdown, the dielectric constant of the capacitor is recoverable with five strain cycles and is stable under 25% compression. These outstanding capabilities of the nanolattice are essential for revolutionizing future flexible electronics.

RESUMEN

The electromechanical properties of a thermoplastic styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) dielectric elastomer was intrinsically tuned by chemical grafting with polar organic groups. Methyl thioglycolate (MG) reacted with the butadiene block via a one-step thiol-ene "click" reaction under UV at 25 °C. The MG grafting ratio reached 98.5 mol % (with respect to the butadiene alkenes present) within 20 min and increased the relative permittivity to 11.4 at 103 Hz, with a low tan δ. The actuation strain of the MG-grafted SBS dielectric elastomer actuator was 10 times larger than the SBS-based actuator, and the actuation force was 4 times greater than SBS. The MG-grafted SBS demonstrated an ability to achieve both mechanical and electrical self-healing. The electrical breakdown strength recovered to 15% of its original value, and the strength and elongation at break recovered by 25 and 21%, respectively, after 3 days. The self-healing behavior was explained by the introduction of polar MG groups that reduce viscous loss and strain relaxation. The weak CH/π bonds through the partially charged (δ+) groups adjacent to the ester of MG and the δ- center of styrene enable polymer chains to reunite and recover properties. Intrinsic tuning can therefore enhance the electromechanical properties of dielectric elastomers and provides new actuator materials with self-healing mechanical and dielectric properties.

RESUMEN

As two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides electronic devices are scaled down to the sub-micrometer regime, the active layers of these materials are exposed to high lateral electric fields, resulting in electrical breakdown. In this regard, understanding the intrinsic nature in layer-stacked 2D semiconducting materials under high lateral electric fields is necessary for the reliable applications of their field-effect transistors. Here, we explore the electrical breakdown phenomena originating from avalanche multiplication in MoS2 field-effect transistors with different layer thicknesses and channel lengths. Modulating the band structure and bandgap energy in MoS2 allows the avalanche multiplication to be controlled by adjusting the number of stacking layers. This phenomenon could be observed in transition metal dichalcogenide semiconducting systems due to its quantum confinement effect on the band structure. The relationship between the critical electric field for avalanche breakdown and bandgap energy is well fitted to a power law curve in both monolayer and multilayer MoS2.

RESUMEN

Polyimide has excellent electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties and is widely used as a dielectric material in electrical equipment and electronic devices. However, the influencing mechanism of sample thickness on electrical breakdown of polyimide has not been very clear until now. The direct current (DC) electrical breakdown properties of polyimide as a function of thickness were investigated by experiments and simulations of space charge modulated electrical breakdown (SCEB) model and charge transport and molecular displacement modulated (CTMD) model. The experimental results show that the electrical breakdown field decreases with an increase in the sample thickness in the form of an inverse power function, and the inverse power index is 0.324. Trap properties and carrier mobility were also measured for the simulations. Both the simulation results obtained by the SCEB model and the CTMD model have the inverse power forms of breakdown field as a function of thickness with the power indexes of 0.030 and 0.339. The outputs of the CTMD model were closer to the experiments. This indicates that the displacement of a molecular chain with occupied deep traps enlarging the free volume might be a main factor causing the DC electrical breakdown field of polyimide varying with sample thickness.

RESUMEN

Dielectric energy storage capacitors have advantages such as ultra-high power density, extremely fast charge and discharge speed, long service lifespan and are significant for pulsed power system, smart power grid, and power electronics. Polypropylene (PP) is one of the most widely used dielectric materials for dielectric energy storage capacitors. It is of interest to investigate how to improve its electrical breakdown strength by nanodoping and the influencing mechanism of nanodoping on the electrical breakdown properties of polymer nanocomposites. PP/Al2O3 nanocomposite dielectric materials with various weight fraction of nanoparticles are fabricated by melt-blending and hot-pressing methods. Thermally stimulated current, surface potential decay, and dc electrical breakdown experiments show that deep trap properties and associated molecular chain motion are changed by incorporating nanofillers into polymer matrix, resulting in the variations in conductivity and dc electrical breakdown field of nanocomposite dielectrics. Then, a charge transport and molecular displacement modulated electrical breakdown model is utilized to simulate the dc electrical breakdown behavior. It is found that isolated interfacial regions formed in nanocomposite dielectrics at relatively low loadings reduce the effective carrier mobility and strengthen the interaction between molecular chains, hindering the transport of charges and the displacement of molecular chains with occupied deep traps. Accordingly, the electrical breakdown strength is enhanced at relatively low loadings. Interfacial regions may overlap in nanocomposite dielectrics at relatively high loadings so that the effective carrier mobility decreases and the interaction between molecular chains may be weakened. Consequently, the molecular motion is accelerated by electric force, leading to the decrease in electrical breakdown strength. The experiments and simulations reveals that the influence of nanodoping on dc electrical breakdown properties may origin from the changes in the charge transport and molecular displacement characteristics caused by interfacial regions in nanocomposite dielectrics.