For many processes in vacuum, the presence of water is both undesirable and unavoidable. This review offers a qualitative look at a broad spectrum of water related issues and their solutions in vacuum technology. First, a systematic overview outlines the most important technical innovations and publications from the last decades. Relevant properties of surfaces, materials and other contributors of water molecules are also discussed. Second, the review offers practical advice for a multitude of applications ranging from compact lab ultrahigh vacuum devices, production machines like coaters and etchers, to large-scale facilities for space simulation and extreme ultraviolet lithography. The goal of this article is to provide a comprehensive tutorial on effective water handling for users, designers and process engineers in basic research and industry.

Magnetism of “two-dimensional (2D)-graphene” offers the opportunities for the applications of spintronics. The 2D-graphene material is intrinsically nonmagnetic because the outer-electrons are hexatonic rings and perfectly paired that form s- and p-bonds. To make 2D-graphene as magnetic materials needs to break the symmetric bonds to release the unpaired electrons and generate net spins. The periodic spins in the graphene plane are close enough to interact with each other and form magnetic clusters. Magnetic moments in 2D-graphene can also be induced effectively through functionalization, doping, defects, etc. in their native structure. In this present review work, it is described how the pristine mono-, bi-, and few-layer graphene (atomically flat carbon) behaves as magnetic materials along with graphene functionalized with H, N, and Si atoms that makes them ferromagnetic and have different magnetic applications. We expect that this review work will provide a new insight into the further development and practical magnetic applications of graphene, H-graphene (graphone), graphene-N, and Si-graphene (siliphene), and will encourage the upcoming young researchers to work in this field of research work. It would also be helpful to capture qualitatively the experiences and perspectives of research partners.

The activation and deterioration mechanisms of the Ti-Zr-V non-evaporable getter (NEG) coating have been investigated. Operando analysis of the surface chemical composition change of the Ti-Zr-V coating was performed by the synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy (SRPES) during the process of heating the sample to 250°C, corresponding to the activation process of NEG coating. The surface oxidation process was also characterized by the SRPES during the injection of O₂ gas into the chamber while keeping the sample at 250°C, corresponding to the deterioration process of NEG coating. The depth profile of the oxidized sample was measured with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimental results suggested that the surface Zr gets the oxygen from the oxides of Ti and V at the first stage of the activation process, resulting in the metallic Ti and V on the surface. Then, the oxygen of the Zr-oxide diffuses to the interior of the coating, resulting in the metallic Zr on the surface. It is further suggested that in the deteriorated Ti-Zr-V NEG coating, the Zr, then Ti, is oxidized deep into the coating, resulting in the restriction of oxygen migration from the surface and consequently the lack of surface metallization.

Various catalysts are used in processes for the conversion CO₂. Photocatalysts with higher concentrations of surface oxygen vacancies have been reported to exhibit excellent CO₂ photoreduction activity. This study systematically investigates monoclinic ZrO₂(001) and tetragonal ZrO₂(101) surfaces using experimental and theoretical approaches. Results of photocatalytic CO₂ conversion experiments under ultraviolet visible light irradiation showed formation rates of ¹³CO on the surfaces of monoclinic phase-major ZrO₂(001) and tetragonal-phase ZrO₂(101) of 0.65 and 0.041 µmol h⁻¹ g_cat⁻¹, respectively. Dissociation of CO₂ was observed at the oxygen vacancy sites on both surfaces. Results of our calculations indicate that the second lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO+1) of CO₂ adsorbed on the site of the oxygen vacancy is located within the conduction band of monoclinic ZrO₂(001) and facilitates the photodissociation of CO₂. Furthermore, oxygen vacancy sites were re-formed by H₂O desorption through the addition of hydrogen to monoclinic ZrO₂(001). On the contrary, the desorption of H₂O at the oxygen vacancy sites are less likely to occur in tetragonal ZrO₂(101), and this reduces the amounts of CO₂-to-CO conversion products.

Recent advances in detector and sample preparation techniques have led to significant enhancements in the ability to perform X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements on thin molecular films. These improvements have prompted the development of a novel method for calculating the intensity of photoelectrons emitted from such films. Our group has adopted a scattering state based on multiple scattering theory as the final state in calculations of the photoelectron intensity. Furthermore, we utilized molecular orbitals obtained from density functional theory calculations as the initial state to improve the accuracy of these calculations. We present photoelectron momentum maps for the 1s orbital of C atoms obtained by these calculations, in which the scattering by intramolecular and substrate potentials was considered.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the interface condition between graphene and a Si-faced SiC substrate. We evaluated the interface condition by measuring the interface using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The detected intensities dependence on depth changed depending on the type of carbon molecular ion, indicating that this evaluation method was highly sensitive to interface conditions. We observed differences in the detection intensity of C₆H molecular ions between normal graphene and graphene treated with hydrogen intercalation (H₂-IC). Furthermore, we discovered an increase in hydrogen atoms not only at the interface but also between graphene layers when subjected to H₂-IC treatment. The application of H₂-IC to a graphene transistor resulted in an improved cutoff frequency from 8.2 to 10.3 GHz µm.

In this study, by performing simultaneous low-temperature heating of the dry residue of a droplet of an HAuCl₄ solution on a quartz glass substrate and an indium tin oxide (ITO) thin film on a borosilicate glass substrate placed opposite to the dry residue in air or in a low vacuum, gold nanoparticles were produced on ITO thin films. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) analysis of gold nanoparticles produced in air and in a low vacuum were performed in order to compare the gold nanoparticles produced under the different pressure conditions. The results of the SEM observation and TXRF analysis showed that the production of gold nanoparticles in a low vacuum led to a reduction in the size of gold nanoparticles and an improvement in the purity of gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles produced in air and in a low vacuum were used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for the measurement of a droplet of a solution containing 0.1 g L⁻¹ of nicotinamide. Although the production in air reduced the purity of gold nanoparticles, the use of the gold nanoparticles produced in air enhanced the intensity of a Raman peak originating from nicotinamide compared with the use of the gold nanoparticles produced in a low vacuum when a droplet of the nicotinamide solution on gold nanoparticles was irradiated with the laser beam with a wavelength of 785 nm.

This study explored the fabrication of chitosan-polyethylene glycol-beeswax (CS-PEG-BW) as hydrogel dressings. Different formulation settings with varying BW concentrations were prepared to determine the influence of BW into the hydrophilicity, swellability, antibacterial, and hemocompatibility of the CS-PEG-BW network. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis of the samples confirmed the interactions brought by the positively charged CS and electronegative PEG. The emulsion of BW into the CS-PEG network made no significant changes on the hydrogel structure. In terms of the properties, the addition of BW showed improvements in the hydrophilicity, swellability, and antibacterial properties while the hemocompatibility property in terms of %Hemolysis remained almost equal to all the CS-PEG-BW hydrogels. The calculated surface free energy of the CS-PEG-BW showed increased polar groups of the hydrogel as BW concentration increased, leading to the improvement in the ionic sensitivity of the hydrogels during the swelling tests. Lastly, the presence of higher BW concentration showed better antibacterial activity against S. aureus. The resulting CS-PEG-BW hydrogels were found to be non-hemolytic substances that can hold moisture and inhibit bacterial growth. The study shows the potential of CS-PEG-BW hydrogel as wound dressings.

In the original article, there was a major mistake in the vertical scale of Figure 1, which has been fixed. The graph has also been improved with refined parameters in the simulation like mesh size.