The paper examined Ti3C2Tx MXene (T—OH, Cl or F), which is prepared by etching a layered ternary carbide Ti3AlC2 (312 MAX-phase) precursor and deposited on a polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun membrane (MXene-PCL nanocomposite). X-ray Diffraction analysis (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) indicates that the obtained material is pure Ti3C2 MXene. SEM of the PCL-MXene composite demonstrate random Ti3C2 distribution over the nanoporous membrane. Results of capacitance, inductance, and phase shift angle studies of the MXene-PCL nanocomposite are presented. It was found that the frequency dependence of the capacitance exhibited a clear sharp minima in the frequency range of 50 Hz to over 104 Hz. The frequency dependence of the inductance shows sharp maxima, the position of which exactly coincides with the position of the minima for the capacitance, which indicates the occurrence of parallel resonances. Current conduction occurs by electron tunneling between nanoparticles. In the frequency range from about 104 Hz to about 105 Hz, there is a broad minimum on the inductance relationship. The position of this minimum coincides exactly with the position of the maximum of the phase shift angle—its amplitude is close to 90°. The real value of the inductance of the nanocomposite layer was determined to be about 1 H. It was found that the average value of the distance over which the electron tunnels was determined with some approximation to be about 5.7 nm and the expected value of the relaxation time to be τM ≈ 3 × 10−5 s.
This study investigates the phase composition, microstructure, and their influence on the properties of Mo-W-C nanocomposite films deposited by dual-source magnetron sputtering. The synthesised films consist of metal carbide nanograins embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix. It has been found that nanograins are composed of the hexagonal β-(Mo2 + W2)C phase at a low carbon source power. An increase in the power results in the change in the structure of the carbide nanoparticles from a single-phase to a mixture of the β-(Mo2 + W2)C and NaCl-type α-(Mo + W)C(0.65≤k≤1) solid-solution phases. The analysis of electrical properties demonstrates that the nanograin structure of the films favours the occurrence of hopping conductivity. The double-phase structure leads to a twofold increase in the relaxation time compared to the single-phase one. Films with both types of nanograin structures exhibit tunnelling conductance without the need for thermal activation. The average distance between the potential wells produced by the carbide nanograins in nanocomposite films is approximately 3.4 ± 0.2 nm. A study of tribomechanical properties showed that Mo-W-C films composed of a mixture of the β-(Mo2 + W2)C and α-(Mo + W)C(0.65≤k≤1) phases have the highest hardness (19–22 GPa) and the lowest friction coefficient (0.15–0.24) and wear volume (0.00302–0.00381 mm2). Such a combination of electrical and tribomechanical properties demonstrates the suitability of Mo-W-C nanocomposite films for various micromechanical devices and power electronics.
In this paper, the frequency-temperature dependence of the conductivity and dielectric permittivity of nc-TixZr1−xC+α-Cy (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) nanocomposites produced by dual-source magnetron sputtering was determined. The films produced are biphasic layers with an excess of amorphous carbon relative to the stoichiometric composition of TixZr1−xC. The matrix was amorphous carbon, and the dispersed phase was carbide nanoparticles. AC measurements were performed in the frequency range of 50 Hz–5 MHz at temperatures from 20 K to 373 K. It was found that both conductivity and permittivity relationships are determined by three tunneling mechanisms, differing in relaxation times. The maxima in the low- and high-frequency regions decrease with increasing temperature. The maximum in the mid-frequency region increases with increasing temperature. The low-frequency maximum is due to electron tunneling between the carbon films on the surface of the carbide nanoshells. The mid-frequency maximum is due to electron transitions between the nano size grains. The high-frequency maximum is associated with tunneling between the nano-grains and the carbon shells. It has been established that dipole relaxation occurs in the nanocomposites according to the Cole-Cole mechanism. The increase in static dielectric permittivity with increasing measurement temperature is indicative of a step polarisation mechanism. In the frequency region above 1 MHz, anomalous dispersion—an increase in permittivity with increasing frequency—was observed for all nanocomposite contents.
This paper presents the results of AC electrical measurements of Zn-SiO2/Si nanocomposites obtained by ion implantation. Implantation of Zn ions was carried out into thermally oxidized p-type silicon substrates with energy of 150 keV and fluence of 7.5 × 1016 ion·cm−2 at a temperature of 773 K, and is thus called implantation in “hot” conditions. The samples were annealed in ambient air for 60 min at 973 K. Electrical measurements of Zn-SiO2/Si nanocomposites were carried out before and after annealing. Measurements were performed in the temperature range from 20 K to 375 K. The measurement parameters were the resistance Rp, the capacitance Cp, the phase shift angle θ and the tangent of loss angle tanδ, as a function of the frequency in the range from 50 Hz to 5 MHz. Based on the characteristics σ(f) and the Jonscher power law before and after sample annealing, the values of the exponent s were calculated depending on the measurement temperature. Based on this, the conductivity models were matched. Additionally, the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric permittivity were determined, and on their basis, the polarization mechanisms in the tested material were also determined.