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Publications (45)
Laser-driven proton-boron (pB) fusion has been gaining significant interest for energetic alpha particles production because of its neutron-less nature. This approach requires the use of Band H-rich materials as targets, and common practice is the use of BN and conventional polymers. In this work, we chose plasma-assisted vapour phase deposition to...
The application of low-temperature plasma-based methods for the synthesis of functional nanomaterials has been growing for several decades and nanoparticles (NPs) play an increasing role in this effort. NPs have been considered for numerous applications such as optoelectronic energy conversion, electrocatalysis for fuel cells, novel plasmonic mater...
Nuclear fusion between protons and boron-11 nuclei has undergone a revival of interest thanks to the rapid progress in pulsed laser technology. Potential applications of such reaction range from controlled nuclear fusion to radiobiology and cancer therapy. A laser-driven fusion approach consists in the interaction of high-power, high-intensity puls...
Since the time of Faraday’s experiments, the optical response of plasmonic nanofluids has been tailored by the shape, size, concentration, and material of nanoparticles (NPs), or by mixing different types...
In a typical sputter-based gas aggregation cluster source (GAS), nanoparticles (NPs) are created from supersaturated vapours of the target material. The NPs then escape from the source with the expanding gas through an exit orifice. The carrier gas flow profile is one of the most critical parameters, which strongly affects the NP losses on the wall...
The dependence of nanoparticles' plasmonic properties on the medium's material surrounding them finds utilization in sensing applications. However, as the detection sensitivity exponentially decreases with distance from the nanoparticles, direct contact between the medium and the nanoparticles is required to obtain the highest signal. This study sh...
Highly porous structures consisting of niobium nanoparticles (Nb NPs) are prepared using magnetron sputtering and inert gas aggregation method. Alongside the thermally-driven evolution of nanoparticle morphology, the microstructural genesis is probed in-situ by x-ray diffraction for the temperature range up to 800 °C. The as-deposited Nb NPs are fo...
In this communication, a new gas aggregation cluster source is introduced equipped with post cylindrical magnetron. The rotation of magnetic circuit improves the usage of cylindrical copper target in terms of its homogenous consumption. Copper nanoparticles were successfully synthesized. Their deposition rate fluctuates at slow rotations of magneti...
Polystyrene/montmorillonite (PS/MMT) composite films with high adsorption activity were prepared via solution intercalation technique followed by treatment of composite films in low-pressure air plasma. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the impact of p...
Among strategies of fuel production, photoelectrochemical water splitting for hydrogen generation is garnering significant attention. The challenge for solar energy harvesting is material development with intense photocatalytic activity, efficient free-charge generation, separation, and transport. Tantalum nitride (Ta3N5) and oxynitrides (Ta3NyOx)...
Colloidal solutions of metal nanoparticles (NPs) are typically produced by multi-step methods using a variety of chemicals. Resultant nanofluids require extra purification steps to remove the reactions by-products and modification steps to introduce anticoagulants for the solution stabilization. Here, we suggest a single-step method to produce nano...
Plasma polymer films typically consist of very short fragments of the precursor molecules. That rather limits the applicability of most plasma polymerisation/plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) processes in cases where retention of longer molecular structures is desirable. Plasma-assisted vapour thermal deposition (PAVTD) circumvents...
The development of novel biocompatible and biodegradable materials for medical applications has been drawing significant interest in the scientific community for years. Particularly, chitosan loaded with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) has a strong antimicrobial potential and could be applied, for example, as wound dressing material. In this work, ch...
In certain medical interventions, temporally introduced bone implants are required to exhibit high biocompatibility, yet combined with low osseointegration, to allow for their easy removal afterwards. In this work, Ta2O5 surfaces are developed with good biocompatibility and with the osteoblast adhesion regulated by the nano-topography. The surfaces...
The self-organization of macromolecules on solid surfaces represents a topic of great current interest. Here, solvent-free interactions between polyolefins and silicon substrates are investigated upon their physical vapor deposition under vacuum. Molecular dynamics simulations show that polyolefins unfold upon adsorption and that two macromolecules...
Polymer nanoparticles (NPs) can be highly attractive in numerous applications, including biomedicine, where the use of inorganic matter may be detrimental for living tissues. In conventional wet chemistry, the polymerization and functionalization of NPs with specific chemical groups involves complex and often numerous reactions. Here, we report on...
The combination of an atmospheric pressure plasma afterglow operated in air with wet grafting was utilized for the immobilization of chitosan on the surface of polypropylene foil. The plasma treatment results in a local modification of polymer surface along the sample axis with a modified zone of width 2 cm. Moreover, plasma treatment initiates etc...
Carboxyl‐enriched nanoparticles are produced by the plasma polymerization of acrylic acid (ppAA NPs), whereas plasma‐assisted vapor‐phase deposition is used to prepare thin films of poly(ethylene oxide) (ppPEO). Sequential depositions generate phase‐separated coatings. The ppAA NPs are found to be in a glassy state, whereas thin films of ppPEO are...
Kinetic aspects of the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) by magnetron sputtering are studied by in situ and time‐resolved small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). Part of the NPs are found to become confined within a capture zone at 1–10 mm from the surface of the target and circumscribed by the plasma ring. Three regimes of the NP growth are identif...
Dispersions of metal nanoparticles were obtained at the gas discharge treatment of aqueous solutions of CuCl 2 , CuSO 4 and AgNO 3 . Direct current discharge was excited between a metal cathode located in the air and metal salt solution being used as an anode at a current of 5–25 mA. The average sizes of obtained nanoparticles were estimated using...
In this work, we investigated the effects of gas flow rate, processing time and distance from plasma region on the modification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films under conditions of afterglows of atmospheric pressure discharges in air and argon. Both original and plasma-modified surfaces were studied by FTIR, AFM, XPS and contact angle me...
Magnetron sputtering is a well-known technique that is commonly used for the deposition of thin compact films. However, as was shown in the 1990s, when sputtering is performed at pressures high enough to trigger volume nucleation/condensation of the supersaturated vapor generated by the magnetron, various kinds of nanoparticles may also be produced...
Low-temperature plasma treatment of wheat seeds was performed by a plasma jet and dielectric barrier discharge, both at atmospheric pressure. The influence of the plasma treatment on the growth parameters such as root and shoot dry weight and length as well as on the mean germination time was investigated. Stimulation of germination and an increase...
In‐situ UV–Vis spectroscopy was used for investigating the evolution of silver nanoparticles (NPs) inside the gas aggregation cluster source (GAS). The light beam probed the interior of the GAS at different distances from the magnetron. Plasmon resonance was detected at 365 nm, with the highest intensity found close to the magnetron due to the NP t...
Plasma-assisted vapor-phase deposition of (–CH2–)100 macromolecules is performed onto the surface of pre-deposited polyethylene oxide (PEO). It leads to the formation of two-dimensional 7 nm thick polyethylene (PE) islands of the ramified fractal or ordered dendrite shape. AFM-infrared nanospectroscopy confirms the phase separation whereas compleme...
Copper has strong bactericidal effect against multi-drug resistant pathogens and polyethers are known for their resistance to biofilm formation. Herein, we combined Cu nanoparticles (NPs) and a polyether plasma polymer in the form of nanocomposite thin films and studied whether both effects can be coupled. Cu NPs were produced by magnetron sputteri...
A novel technique that enables the production of a-C:H coatings decorated either by sub-micron concave or convex structures is presented. The technique is based on several steps that involve i) pre-seeding of substrates with C:H sub-micron particles produced by a gas aggregation cluster source, ii) overcoating of the C:H particles by thin a-C:H coa...
Magnetron discharge in a cold buffer gas represents a liquid-free approach to the synthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) with tailored structure, chemical composition and size. Despite a large number of metal NPs that were successfully produced by this method, the knowledge of the mechanisms of their nucleation and growth in the discharge is still...
In this work, we have applied, for the first time, solution plasma processing of cellulose-containing material to produce cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). The CNC samples produced in three different modes of solution plasma treatment were characterized using methods of dynamic light scattering, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy,...
Sub-micron polymer particles are highly important in various fields including astrophysics, thermonuclear fusion and nanomedicine. Plasma polymerization offers the possibility to produce particles with tailor-made size, crosslink density and chemical composition to meet the requirements of a particular application. However, the mechanism of nucleat...
Carboxyl-enriched and size-selected polymer nanoparticles (NPs) may prove to be very useful in biomedical applications for linker-free binding of biomolecules and their transport to cells. In this study, we report about the synthesis of such NPs by low-pressure low-temperature pulsed plasma polymerization of acrylic acid. Gas aggregation cluster so...
This contribution reviews plasma polymer nanoparticles produced by gas aggregation cluster sources either via plasma polymerization of volatile monomers or via radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering of conventional polymers. The formation of hydrocarbon, fluorocarbon, silicon- and nitrogen-containing plasma polymer nanoparticles as well as [emai...
A layer of 14 nm-sized Ag nanoparticles undergoes complex transformation when overcoated by thin films of a fluorocarbon plasma polymer. Two regimes of surface evolution are identified, both with invariable RMS roughness. In the early regime, the plasma polymer penetrates between and beneath the nanoparticles, raising them above the substrate and m...
Biomimetic nano-structured films are valuable materials in various applications. In this study we introduce a fully vacuum-based approach for fabrication of such films. The method combines deposition of nanoparticles (NPs) by gas aggregation source and deposition of overcoat thin film that fixes the nanoparticles on a surface. This leads to the for...
Immiscible polymer blends tend to undergo phase separation with the formation of nanoscale architecture which can be used in a variety of applications. Different wet-chemistry techniques already exist to fix the resultant polymeric structure in a predictable manner. In this work, an all-dry and plasma-based strategy is proposed to fabricate thin fi...
The jet of reactive effluents produced by surface dielectric barrier discharge was used to deposit PEO-like plasma polymers from di(ethylene) glycol vinyl ether. The jet was confined within the hollow space of either circular cross-section with substrate placed perpendicular to the jet, or rectangular cross-section with the walls used as substrates...
