Combination of conformability and transparency is crucial for realizing the full capabilities of printed magnetoresistive sensors in cutting-edge technologies designed to blend into their surroundings and applications. However, achieving this poses a critical challenge due to conflicting requirements: magnetic nanowires optimized for deformability exhibit a tendency to cluster, thus compromising transparency. To balance this trade-off, we leverage magnetic fields to manipulate nanowires, simultaneously initiating alignment and pinning effects. These together ensure a uniform and anisotropic distribution across extensive areas, enhancing the sensor transparency (about 85%). Further, we harness the clustering tendency, repurposing it to create local entanglements that enhance mechanical durability against both bending (with a curvature radius of about 110 μm) and stretching (with 80% tensile strain) and result in stable performance during 10,000 magnetization cycles. With the anisotropic design, the printed sensors achieve high out-of-plane sensitivity, distinguishing them from traditional film-based counterparts with a predominant in-plane response. These sensors do not require physical contact during operation, fostering hygienic and safer interaction. Their robust performance under environmental interference (e.g., dust, liquid, and moisture) makes them versatile for real-world use. The above innovations position our sensor as an important driver across numerous emerging applications, e.g., touchless interactive transparent displays and integrated multifunctional windows.

In this paper, new aeromaterials are proposed on the basis of titania thin films deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) on a sacrificial network of ZnO microtetrapods. The technology consists of two technological steps applied after ALD, namely, thermal treatment at different temperatures and etching of the sacrificial template. Two procedures are applied for etching, one of which is wet etching in a citric acid aqua solution, while the other one is etching in a hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) system with HCl and hydrogen chemicals. The morphology, composition, and crystal structure of the produced aeromaterials are investigated depending on the temperature of annealing and the sequence of the technological steps. The performed photoluminescence analysis suggests that the developed aeromaterials are potential candidates for photocatalytic applications.

We developed a water-free atomic layer deposition (ALD) process to homogeneously deposit SbO_x using SbCl₅ and Sb-Ethoxide as precursors, and report it here for the first time. The coating is applied on Bi₂Te₃ particles synthesized via the solvothermal route to enhance the thermoelectric properties (i.e., Seebeck coefficient, thermal and electrical conductivity) via interface engineering. The amorphous character of the coating was shown by the missing reflexes on the X-ray diffractograms (XRD). A shift from the oxidation state +III to +V of the Sb species was observed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), indicating increased thickness of the SbO_x coating layer. Additionally, a peak shift of the Sb 3d_5/2 + O 1s peak indicated increased n-type doping of the material. Electrical measurements of spark plasma-sintered bulk samples confirmed the doping effect on the basis of decreased specific resistivity with increasing SbO_x layer thickness. The Seebeck coefficient was improved for the coated sample with 500 cycles of SbO_x, while the total thermal conductivity was reduced, resulting in enhancement of the zT. The results distinctly show that surface engineering via powder ALD is an effective tool for improving key properties of thermoelectric materials like electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient.

Transparent conductive electrodes are essential in the application of flexible electronics. In this work, we successfully demonstrated a novel strategy for improving mechanical/electrical properties of indium tin oxide (ITO)-free flexible silver nanowire (Ag NW) thin films. To reduce the contact resistance of Ag NWs, an ethanol-mist was used to weld the cross junction of wires at room temperature. The nano-welded Ag NWs (W-Ag NWs) were then coated with an aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) solution, which significantly reduce the roughness of the Ag NW thin film. Finally, an ultrathin SbO_x thin film of 2 nm was deposited on the film surface using a water-free low-temperature atomic layer deposition technique to protect the W-Ag NW/AZO layer from water or oxygen degradation. The treated Ag NWs have a high transmittance of 87% and a low sheet resistance of about 15 Ω/sq, which is comparable with the ITO electrode's property. After 1000 cycles of bending testing, the W-Ag NW/AZO/SbO_x film practically retains its initial conductivity. Furthermore, the samples were immersed in a solution with pH values ranging from 3 to 13 for 5 min. When compared to untreated Ag NWs or those coated with AlO_x thin films, W-Ag NW/AZO/SbO_x had superior electrical stability. The W-Ag NW/AZO/SbO_xlayer was integrated as a gate electrode on low-power operating flexible Ti-ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs). The 5% Ti-ZnO TFT has a field-effect mobility of 19.7 cm² V s⁻¹, an I_on/I_off ratio of 10⁷, and a subthreshold swing of 147 mV decade⁻¹.

GaAs nanowire arrays have been prepared by anodization of GaAs substrates. The nanowires produced on (111)B GaAs substrates were found to be oriented predominantly perpendicular to the substrate surface. The prepared nanowire arrays have been coated with thin ZnO or TiO₂ layers by means of thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD), thus coaxial core–shell hybrid structures are being fabricated. The hybrid structures have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the morphology investigations, by Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis for the composition and crystal structure assessment, and by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy for obtaining an insight on emission polarization related to different recombination channels in the prepared core–shell structures.