Emile Haye

• PhD, Post-doctoral position at UNamur
• PostDoc Position at University of Namur

While most of the works devoted to the synthesis of transition metal nitride coating by magnetron sputtering use N2 as reactive gas, an alternative method is proposed, namely using ammonia (NH3) as reactive gas. The magnetron sputtering of chromium in Ar/NH3 atmosphere is studied and compared to Ar/N2 atmosphere, with in situ (hysteresis curve, tar...

Silicon nanowire (SiNWs) arrays were coated with chromium nitride (CrN) for use as super-capacitor electrodes. The CrN layer with different thicknesses were deposited on SiNWs using bipolar magnetron sputtering method. The areal capacitance of the SiNWs-CrN, measured in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte, was as high as 180 mF.cm-2 at a scan rate of 5 mV.s-1...

The present work reports on the low-pressure RF plasma driven synthesis of ε-Fe3N type nanoparticles homogeneously deposited on high surface area porous carbon support, with tuneable magnetic properties, directly depending on the plasma treatment conditions. Iron nanoparticles are formed from the degradation of a solid organometallic precursor mixe...

A strategy to reduce critical raw metals in nanocatalysts is to synthesize nanocomposites based on defective or bimetallic nanoparticles deposition on carbon nanomaterials. Conventional solution‐based methods suffer from the extensive use of solvents and difficult scalability. In this study, defective Pt–Ni nanoparticles are formed on graphene nano...

Lead–Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) will serve as a liquid metal coolant in accelerator-driven systems, posing a corrosive threat to exposed materials. To address this challenge, TixAl1-xN coatings (0.38 ≤ x ≤ 0.58) were applied onto AISI 316 L austenitic stainless steel using the reactive bipolar magnetron sputtering technique. These coated samples underw...

The development of coatings with tunable performances is critical to meet a wide range of technological applications each one with different requirements. Using the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, scientists can create hydrogenated amorphous carbon coatings doped with metal (a-C:H:Me) with a broad range of mechanical prop...

Numerous studies have been published in the past showing the presence of vein-like or columnar fracture shapes in thin film metallic glasses (TFMGs), while the reason behind the different features remains poorly understood. This study uncovers the reason behind this phenomenon in Cu-Zr TFMGs’ by considering experimental evidence and analysis. Oxida...

Rare-earth nickelates (RNiO3) are an interesting oxide family because of their remarkable and reversible properties related to their structural changes. However, until recently, nickelates were difficult to synthesize without severe or sophisticated conditions. Consequently, a deep understanding of the nucleation and growth process for these versat...

Herein, we present, for the first time, a chemoresistive-type gas sensor composed of two-dimensional WSe2, fabricated by a simple selenization of tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanowires at atmospheric pressure. The morphological, structural, and chemical composition investigation shows the growth of vertically oriented three-dimensional (3D) assemblies o...

Magnetic particles have been recently considered as appealing functional fillers in composite membranes used for versatile purposes, for instance for the pervaporative dehydration of ethanol. The application of superparamagnetic or ferromagnetic materials with soft magnetic properties has been confirmed as a promising strategy to improve separation...

MgSnN2 thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron co-sputtering on fused silica and silicon substrates. The properties of the films were determined as a function of the deposition temperature. Although the films exhibited a strong preferred orientation along the [002] direction, cumulative X-ray diffractograms at various χ angles evidenced tha...

In this study, the tuning of the KOH electrolyte composition is proposed as a strategy to drastically limit the capacitance fade of vanadium nitride (VN) electrode. We demonstrate that the use of a V5+ (as VO43- vanadates anions) containing KOH electrolyte enhances the cycling stability of VN thin film electrode : a loss of 59% of the capacitance i...

The review starts with introducing lead‑bismuth-eutectic (LBE) and challenges faced by immersed mechanical components. The bulk of the review is about methods to mitigate LBE corrosion and wear. Several solutions have been introduced where some can only mitigate LBE corrosion, while others provide good protection against corrosion and wear. The rev...

Although TixAl1-xN has been thoroughly studied, it is still unclear how TixAl1-xN coatings annealed for extended duration behave from a structural point of view, and if these structural changes are linked with oxidation mechanisms. This work aims to fill this gap by studying the chemical, structural and mechanical behaviour of TixAl1-xN coatings (0...

The thermally activated diffusion of germanium atoms implanted in the middle of SiO2 layers has been studied by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), µ-Raman spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), with and without the presence of co-implanted ¹⁶O⁻ ions. The important role of implantation-induced de...

Hospital-acquired infections are responsible for a significant part of morbidity and mortality. Among the possible modes of transmission, this study focuses on environmental surfaces by developing innovative antibacterial coatings that can be applied on interior fittings in hospitals. This work aims to optimize a coating made of an amorphous carbon...

Laminated metal dichalcogenides are candidates for different potential applications ranging from catalysis to nanoelectronics. However, efforts are still needed to optimize synthesis methods aiming to control the number of layers, morphology, and crystallinity, parameters that govern the properties of the synthesized materials. Another important pa...

Al-doped ZnO is well known as an alternative Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) to Indium Tin Oxide (ITO). Recently, co-doped ZnO with Ti & Al (TAZO) have been explored to improve the conductivity while maintaining moisture durability and opto-electronic properties. In this context, the structural, morphological, and optical properties of TAZO film...

The development of environment-friendly, low-cost and efficient catalyst preparation processes has always been a major issue in the field of catalysis. Wet chemistry methods are often used but these techniques are not sustainable, as post waste solution treatment remains an important drawback. Here an innovative dry low-pressure plasma process for...

To improve the process of ethanol dehydration via pervaporation, molecular magnet [Fe4(acac)6(Br-mp)2] was synthesized and applied as a filler for hybrid alginate membranes, and compared with membranes loaded with magnetite and Prussian blue. Synthesized powders and membranes were comprehensively characterized by means of FTIR, contact angle, degre...

In this paper, a previously established 3D multi-scale simulation chain of plasma deposition process, based on a combination of a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (gas phase) algorithm and a kinetic Monte Carlo (film growth) code, is improved by the addition of a Particle-in-Cell Monte Carlo Collision algorithm in order to take into account and clarif...

A new and original method is presented to synthesize Pt, Cu, and PtxCuy nanoparticles (NPs) anchored onto an inorganic nanopowder substrate (TiO2), based on the plasma degradation, within an Ar/NH3 radiofrequency plasma discharge, of solid organometallics (Cu and Pt acetylacetonate), mixed with TiO2. Both chemical and crystallographic characterizat...

Among the different coatings developed for proton exchange membrane fuel cell steel bipolar plate, nitride-based coatings present several advantages compared to gold or polymeric coating: high chemical stability, low interfacial contact resistance and reasonable cost. In this work, 50 nm thick chromium nitride coatings are deposited by reactive mag...

ZnO is known to be photocatalytic, but with limited performances due to the strong electron-hole recombination after irradiation. The integration of ZnO nanomaterials on a conductive and high surface area carbon substrate is thus a potential alternative to obtain a significant improvement of the photocatalytic performance. Moreover, the carbon func...

Here, we report on the synthesis of tungsten diselenide (WSe2) nanosheets using an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition technique via the rapid selenization of thin tungsten films. The morphology and the structure, as well as the optical properties, of the so-produced material have been studied using electron microscopies, X-ray photoelec...

Multifunctional nanohybrid materials such as gold (Au) nanoparticles attached to the carbon nanostructures can be incorporated into devices for in-vivo/in-vitro detection of various analytes, catalysis and imaging purposes. In this work, vertically aligned carbon nanosheets (CNS) were grown over silicon substrate, followed by direct-current (DC) pl...

An innovative plasma-based process has been developed for the synthesis of new metal-based nanoparticles. The process consists in the degradation of a solid organometallic (metal acetylacetonate) precursor in a radio frequency inductively coupled (ICP-RF) plasma, using an inert (Ar) or a reactive (N2, O2, NH3) atmosphere. This process offers a high...

Glancing Angle Deposition (GLAD) is a PVD technics producing tilted columns in the coatings, by tilting the substrates respective to the particles flux. It results in a strong microstructural anisotropy and specific properties, finding applications in various domains (gas sensing, optical guides, photonic crystals…). The coating rowth is governed b...

The CrN thin film synthesis is a textbook case to study the mechanisms of the different magnetron processes (DC, HiPIMS, bipolar …) as well as the influence on the final properties. To improve the quality and the mechanical properties of nitride films, a high ionization level (from target materials or gas phase) is generally desired, and achieved b...

The synthesis of chromium nitride is a textbook case to study the magnetron sputtering process, its characteristics (DC, HiPIMS, bipolar …) and the influence on the final properties of the film. The improvement of the mechanical properties is often targeted, and achieved by an increase of the ionization level (from target materials or gas phase). T...

The specific capacitance of electrochemical capacitors (ECs) directly depends on the porous morphology of the active area. The control of the surface area is thus a key parameter to control the electrolyte accessibility to the surface of the active material, in order to increase the charge storage. In this view, we demonstrate that the glancing ang...

LaVO3 is a promising material for tuning and improving solar cell performances when modifying the La/V stoichiometry. However, the production of LaVO3 thin films still requires a complex process (MBE, PLD), and the growth window of LaVO3 structure in terms of La/V ratio, already defined in the literature using hybrid-MBE is not determined for elabo...

Transition metal nitrides are suitable materials for electrochemical capacitors (ECs), exhibiting good electrochemical performance and good cycling life stability; moreover, they are easy to synthesize, especially by magnetron sputtering. However, the dense nature of the coating deposited by sputtering is one of the limiting factors to achieve high...

The growth of single-layer graphene (SLG) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper surfaces is very popular because of the self-limiting effect that, in principle, prevents the growth of few-layer graphene (FLG). However, the reproducibility of the CVD growth of homogeneous SLG remains a major challenge, especially if one wants to avoid heavy s...

Catalysts materials are used to promote all sorts of chemical reactions and are in particular a key element in proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells to lower the energy barrier and speed up the oxidation of H2 molecules at the anode and the reduction of O2 to form water molecules at the cathode (ORR reaction). For this particular electrochem...

An original plasma-based process has been developed for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles on a carbon powder substrate (xerogel, graphene, carbon nanotubes or carbon black). The process consists in the mixing of the carbon substrate and a solid organometallic precursor and its exposition to a RF-ICP plasma treatment. This process, which does no...

The growth of single-layer graphene (SLG) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper surfaces is very popular because of the self-limiting effect that prevents the growth of few-layer graphene (FLG). However, the reproducibility of the CVD growth of homogeneous SLG remains a major challenge, especially if one wants to avoid heavy surface treatmen...

Zinc tin nitride (ZnSnN2) thin films have been deposited on glass and silicon substrates using a reactive co-sputtering process. Although the deposition temperature was limited to the room temperature, the films show a highly crystallization level and a strong preferred orientation in the [001] direction. The film composition, measured using energy...

Low-pressure plasma has been implemented few years ago as a new eco-friendly and highly-versatile tool for the synthesis of rare noble metal-based catalysts on carbon substrate (as Pt/C) used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).[1] The plasma-based processing combines the advantages of reducing (1) the use of solvents and (2) the produc...

The aim of this work is to investigate the consequences of lattice distortion on the vibrational features of rare earth perovskites. To this end, a series of REMO3 compounds has been synthesized with different rare earths (RE = La, Pr, Nd, Sm) and different transition metals (M=Fe, Co) in order to evaluate their respective role on lattice distortio...

Chromium nitride is a reference material for the study of sputtering mechanism in new sputtering processes such as reactive-HiPIMS, bipolar sputtering or deep oscillation magnetron sputtering [1]. The published works mainly focused on the effect of the negative bias on the substrate [1–3] or of reactive nitrogen [3–5]. Some study reported the effec...

Usually crystallized lanthanum vanadate LaVO3 thin films are deposited by atomic layer deposition, molecular beam epitaxy [or obtained as ceramics by powder reactions between lanthanum and vanadium oxides. After studying the conditions of lanthanum-vanadium-oxygen magnetron co-sputtering (metallic and poisoned regimes) we propose a two-step method...

A novel method using a solid organometallic precursor (platinum acetylacetonate) treated by low-pressure radio frequency plasma has been developed to deposit Pt nanoparticles on different carbon substrates (xerogels, carbon black, graphene, carbon nanotubes) [1,2]. This original process - which does not require the use of solvents - offers a high f...

LaFeOxNy thin films have been deposited by magnetron sputtering in Ar/O2/N2 gas mixture at 800°C. Such oxynitride perovskites present a specific infrared vibration mode at 2040cm-1, due to the presence of nitrogen, which disappears during heating in air. The loss of the vibration mode with temperature has been monitored allowing the determination o...

Recently, a novel method using platinum or nickel acetylacetonate solid precursors treated by low pressure plasma has been reported to deposit nanoparticles on different carbon supports (xerogel, carbon black, graphene, CNTs), for fuel cells catalyst applications[1,2]. The method consists on treating simultaneously a solid organometallic precursor...

Nowadays, there is an urgent need in developing highly-efficient devices for energy supply having a low environmental impact. Fuel cells and more specifically Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) have the potential to meet this requirement, as their operation is associated by zero greenhouse gas emission. However, important issues related t...

This paper reports on the first study of the chemical, optical, and structural properties of lanthanum ferrite oxynitride thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The thin films were deposited in an Ar/O2/N2 mixture as reactive plasma, from two elemental La and Fe targets, at a room and high temperature (25 and 800 °C). The films depo...

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The work done trough this PhD deals with cationic and anionic substitution of LaFeO3 thin films deposted by reactive magnetron sputtering (co-sputtering of two targets in Ar+O2 mixture). The first part of the work is devoted to substitution of lanthanum by smaller rare earth, Praseodymium, Neodymium and Samarium. The four perovskites LaFeO3, PrFeO3...

Due to their tunability, oxynitride perovskites are mainly studied for new applications as smart devices. The miniaturization of such component has led to thin film synthesis and reactive magnetron sputtering from metallic targets is an efficient way for such objective. However, co-sputtering in two reactive gases involves complex mechanisms, and s...

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The present document reports the work which has been carried out through the master thesis entitled “Industrial Solutions for Inductive Heating of Steels”, done at Swerea MEFOS (Luleå) during spring semester 2013. This master thesis has been supervised by Esa Vuorinen from Luleå University of Technology and Jan-Olov Perä from MEFOS. The work takes...