Project-based learning (PBL) has been widely applied to stimulate learning motivation, cultivate implementation capability, and improve learning effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to establish an assessment tool for the learning effectiveness of PBL in scientific and technological education. The methods include literature review, focus groups, and survey research. After the literature review, a draft of the scale was established, and the content validity of the scale was verified by 8 experts before being pre-tested. A total of 232 copies of valid official scales were issued and recovered. The research obtained produced subscales for “Flow experience perception”, “Self-efficacy”, “Product evaluation” and “Learning motivation”, which can be used to evaluate the learning effectiveness of the PBL in curricula of science and technology.

In this study, an organic-inorganic semiconductor gas sensor was fabricated to detect ammonia gas. An inorganic semiconductor was a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire array produced by atomic layer deposition (ALD) while an organic material was a p-type semiconductor, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). P3HT was suitable for the gas sensing application due to its high hole mobility, good stability, and good electrical conductivity. In this work, P3HT was coated on the zinc oxide nanowires by the spin coating to form an organic-inorganic heterogeneous interface of the gas sensor for detecting ammonia gas. The thicknesses of the P3HT were around 462 nm, 397 nm, and 277 nm when the speeds of the spin coating were 4000 rpm, 5000 rpm, and 6000 rpm, respectively. The electrical properties and sensing characteristics of the gas sensing device at room temperature were evaluated by Hall effect measurement and the sensitivity of detecting ammonia gas. The results of Hall effect measurement for the P3HT-ZnO nanowires semiconductor with 462 nm P3HT film showed that the carrier concentration and the mobility were 2.7 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³ and 24.7 cm²∙V⁻¹∙s⁻¹ respectively. The gas sensing device prepared by the P3HT-ZnO nanowires semiconductor had better sensitivity than the device composed of the ZnO film and P3HT film. Additionally, this gas sensing device could reach a maximum sensitivity around 11.58 per ppm.

This work determines the effect of compact TiO₂layers that are deposited onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), to improve the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). A series of compact TiO₂layers are prepared using radio frequency (rf) reactive magnetron sputtering. The films are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results show that when the Ar/O₂/N₂flow rates are 36 : 18 : 9, the photo-induced decomposition of methylene blue and photo-induced hydrophilicity are enhanced. After annealing at 450°C in an atmosphere ambient for 30 min, the compact TiO₂layers exhibit higher optical transmittance. The XRD patterns for the TiO₂films for FTO/glass show a good crystalline structure and anatase (101) diffraction peaks, which demonstrate a higher crystallinity than the ITO/glass films. As a result of this increase in the short circuit photocurrent density, the open-circuit photovoltage, and the fill factor, the DSSC with the FTO/glass and Pt counter electrode demonstrates a solar conversion efficiency of 7.65%.

In this investigation, anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) with arrayed and regularly arranged nanopores is used as a template in the high-vacuum die casting of molten zinc metal (Zn) into the nanopores. The proposed technique yields arrayed Zn nanowires with an aspect ratio of over 600. After annealing, arrayed zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires are obtained. Varying the anodizing time yields AAO templates with thicknesses of approximately 50 μm, 60 μm, and 70 μm that can be used in the fabrication of nanowires of three lengths with high aspect ratios. Experimental results reveal that a longer nanowire generates a greater measured piezoelectric current. The ZnO nanowires that are fabricated using an alumina template are anodized for 7 h and produce higher piezoelectric current of up to 69 pA.

The effects of ceramic coatings (TiN, CrN and TiAlN films) on the fatigue behaviour of 2024 aluminium alloy (AA2024) and medium carbon steel (MCS) specimens under cyclic loading have been investigated in this study. These ceramic thin films of about 2 μm thickness were deposited on the substrates using radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering, with metallic Ti, Cr and Al targets in an Ar/N₂ gas environment. The (111), (200) and (220) and (311) peaks of a face centre cubic (fcc) structure in CrN films, and the (111), (200) and (220) peaks in TiN/TiAlN films were observed using X-ray diffraction method, respectively. Fatigue tests were performed using rotational bending conditions at a speed of 3000 rpm with five stress levels (115, 173, 231, 288 and 346 MPa for AA2024; 288, 346, 404, 462 and 519 MPa for MCS) in air. Scanning electron microscopy was used for the analysis of surface morphologies and initial failure stage. The results show that the fatigue life of coated specimens is significantly increased under lower cyclic loading, for example, from 42% at 288 MPa, to 98% at 230 MPa and up to 434% at 173 MPa, for AA2024 with TiN coatings. The improvements of mean fatigue life for MCS coated with TiN films are 88% at 519 MPa, 197% at 462 MPa and up to 597% at 404 MPa, respectively. The experimental results also depict that the coated specimens with higher surface hardness (TiAlN) tended to increase in fatigue strength and fatigue life over uncoated and TiN/CrN specimens.