Colorful Diamond‐Like Carbon Films from Different Micro/Nanostructures

Abstract

The coloration is one kind of interesting and important properties of diamond‐like carbon (DLC) films, but lack of in‐depth study. The micro/nanostructure composition of material determines its macroscopic properties. Here, the Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) color space, quantitative micro/nanostructure composition analysis, and ab initio molecular‐dynamics simulations are used to quantitatively analyze the generation mechanism for coloration of DLC films. It is found that as a typical amorphous thin film, the generation of DLC film coloration can be explained by the thin film interference and amorphous photonic crystal structural color theory, but the generation mechanisms of coloration for different types of DLC films are not the same. The micro/nanostructure in terms of hydrogen content and carbon atom state plays vital roles in the generation of DLC film structural colors and even determines whether the noniridescent structure color exists or not. These results demonstrate the possibility of utilizing the human eyes to directly distinguish different types of DLC films and accelerate the application of DLC film in energy saving, optical filter, sensor, color gradient coating, advanced luxury products, and bionics fields.

In Situ Chemical Lithiation Transforms Diamond‐Like Carbon into an Ultrastrong Ion Conductor for Dendrite‐Free Lithium‐Metal Anodes

“…In this study, we present an approach to satisfy the above requirements by transforming an ultrastrong diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating layer on the commercial polypropylene (DLC/PP) separator into a high-strength Li-ion conductor through in situ chemical lithiation. DLC film has excellent chemical corrosion resistance, an electrically insulating nature, and a high modulus (≈100 GPa), [12] which could effectively block the propagation of Li dendrites by its high modulus. As a typical amorphous material, [12a] DLC film has an isotropic structure which possesses great potential to homogenize Li-ions after they pass the PP separator if 3D ion-conducting channels of the DLC framework could be activated by lithiation.…”

Amorphous Carbon Nano-Interface-Modified Aluminum Anodes for High-Performance Dual-Ion Batteries

“…However, the typical peak of ACNI near 1380 cm –1 (D-band) and 1560 cm –1 (G-band) gradually appeared with the increasing ACNI deposition time from 10 to 60 min (Figures j and S4). ,− Besides, the deposited ACNI shows a photoluminescence background, indicating a certain amount of hydrogen. ,, According to the NEXAFS spectrum in the carbon k -edge (Figure k), the sp 3 /(sp 3 + sp 2 ) ratio of the deposited ACNI (deposited on the Si substrate for 60 min) is about 0.53, which belongs to the hydrogenated amorphous carbon. , The XRD patterns of both the coarsened Al and ACNI/Al-15 foil exhibit no other impurity phases (Figure S5).…”

“…The amorphous carbon film is one of the attractive carbon materials for their wide applications in mechanical, electrical, optical, and biological fields. − Generally, it is composed of the “diamond-like structure” of sp 3 hybrid carbons, “graphite-like structure” of sp hybrid carbons, and some of the hydrogen terminations. , The amorphous carbon film has excellent electrochemical corrosion resistance and high mechanical strength, which make it a promising modification material to improve the structural stability of Al anodes. , …”

“…In this study, we proposed a strategy of an amorphous carbon nanointerface (ACNI) (<10 nm) as the artificial SEI toward highly stable Al anodes to improve the performance of Al foil anode-based DIBs. After evaluating the optimizing capabilities of several functional nanofilms for Al foil anodes, we eventually chose ACNI as the artificial SEI layer since its high mechanical strength and excellent electrochemical stability can be realized via adjusting the ratio between the hybrid sp 3 (diamond) and sp 2 (graphite) carbon. − Besides, the ACNI can be deposited on several metallic substrates; consequently, it was achieved on the Al anode by a surface coarsening and non-equilibrium deposition method. The results indicated that the ACNI can effectively prevent the continuous growth of the formed SEI layer and act as an artificial SEI layer to improve the structural stability of the Al anode.…”

“…26−29 Generally, it is composed of the "diamond-like structure" of sp 3 hybrid carbons, "graphitelike structure" of sp 2 hybrid carbons, and some of the hydrogen terminations. 26,27 The amorphous carbon film has excellent electrochemical corrosion resistance and high mechanical strength, which make it a promising modification material to improve the structural stability of Al anodes. 28,29 In this study, we proposed a strategy of an amorphous carbon nanointerface (ACNI) (<10 nm) as the artificial SEI toward highly stable Al anodes to improve the performance of Al foil anode-based DIBs.…”