Surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of titania (TiO₂) films, spin-coated on silicon wafers, were tuned by introducing surface mesopores with various morphologies using a triblock copolymer F38 as the template agent of different weight ratios via a sol-gel method. It is found that both the porosity (2.92 ∼ 33.03%) and the surface roughness (0.22 ∼ 0.43 nm for arithmetic mean roughness and 0.28 ∼ 0.58 nm for root mean square roughness) of the films increase monotonically as increasing F38 ratio from 5 to 25 wt%, accompanied by distinct changes of pore morphology from isolated mesopores with pore sizes of 5 ∼ 7 nm to longer worm-like pores (30 ∼ 100 nm in length). The apparent static contact angle (θ*) of the films with isolated mesopores is enhanced from ca. 90.6° to 100.1° as indicated by an increase of the roughness factor with incresing F38 from 5 to 15 wt%, which is in qualitative agreement with the Wenzel’s equation. Interestingly, the films with interconnected worm-like pores show obvious hydrophilicity (θ* = 80.7°) with further increasing F38 ratio higher than 20 wt%. The reversed surface wettability show that not only surface roughness but also pore morphology could significantly affect the wettability of the mesoporous TiO₂ films.

We investigate return-to-zero (RZ) to non-return-to-zero (NRZ) format conversion by means of the linear time-invariant system theory. It is shown that the problem of converting random RZ stream to NRZ stream can be reduced to constructing an appropriate transfer function for the linear filter. This approach is then used to propose novel optimally-designed single fiber Bragg grating (FBG) filter scheme for RZ-OOK/DPSK/DQPSK to NRZ-OOK/DPSK/DQPSK format conversion. The spectral response of the FBG is designed according to the optical spectra of the algebraic difference between isolated NRZ and RZ pulses, and the filter order is optimized for the maximum Q-factor of the output NRZ signals. Experimental results as well as simulations show that such an optimally-designed FBG can successfully perform RZ-OOK/DPSK/DQPSK to NRZ-OOK/DPSK/DQPSK format conversion.

Gas barrier property and microstructure of reduced graphene oxide/polyethyleneimine multilayer films created via recast and layer-by-layer deposition processes.

The microstructure and chemical properties of the corona discharge process could provide an effective method for predicting the performance of high-voltage cable insulation materials. In this work, the depth profile of the microstructure and chemical characteristics of corona discharge-treated PE were extensively investigated using Doppler broadening of position annihilation spectroscopy accompanied with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectra, Raman spectra and contact angle measurement. By increasing corona discharge duration, the oxygen-containing polar groups, including hydroxyl, carbonyl and ester groups, strongly contribute to the deterioration of hydrophobicity and the enhancement of hydrophilicity. And the mean free volume size, with a broadening distribution, decreases slightly. The line shape S parameter decreases because of the decrease in free volume elements and the appearance of oxygen-containing groups. Also, the thickness of the degradation layer, determined from the S parameter with positron injection depth, increases and diffuses into the PE matrix. A linear S-W plot within the degradation layer of different corona treatment duration samples indicates the defect type does not change. The S parameter decreases and the W parameter increases with an increasing corona duration. Using a slow positron beam, the nondestructive probe can be used to profile the microstructure and chemical environment across the corona discharge damage depth, which is beneficial for investigating the surface and interfacial insulation materials.