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The modified near-field electrospinning (NFES) and the conventional NFES have been compared to demonstrate the viability of direct-writing micro/nano structures from PVDF solution systems. The modified NFES shows good capability in writing various orderly micro/nano patterns, such as straight and continuous lines, parallel lines, arc lines, and beads-on-string structures, whereas the conventional NFES is difficult to give a continuous writing process. Besides, the modified NFES also allows a lower electric field due to the jet initiated in a mechanical way. By finely tuning the key parameters during the modified NFES process, such as the solution property, speed of the movable collector, and the distance between the spinneret and the collector, it is likely to construct complex patterns as required on rigid or flexible substrates for a myriad of applications.

Single-crystal sapphire (α-Al 2 O 3) is a hard and brittle material. Due to its highly crystalline nature, the fracture behavior of sapphire is strongly related to its crystal structure, and understanding the effects of crystal structure on the crack propagation of sapphire is essential for the successful application of this important material (e.g., as wafers in the electronics industry). In the present work, crack propagation that is induced by sequential indentation was investigated on the A-plane and C-plane of sapphire using a Vickers indenter on a micrometer scale. It was found that increasing indentation depth obviously increases the rate of crack propagation on the A-plane, but this effect is not so obvious on the C-plane because of the different slip systems induced by indentation on the different crystal planes of sapphire. Moreover, some parallel linear traces along the A-plane, which fracture with increasing indentation depth, are observed from the residual indentation on the A-plane. The fracture toughness of both A-plane and C-plane sapphire is smaller after indentation testing than that obtained using conventional testing methods. The subsurface damage was detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

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