Surface modification

Surface engineering is the sub-discipline of materials science which deals with the surface of solid matter. It has applications to chemistry, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering (particularly in relation to semiconductor manufacturing).

Solids are composed of a bulk material covered by a surface. The surface which bounds the bulk material is called the Surface phase. It acts as an interface to the surrounding environment. The bulk material in a solid is called the Bulk phase.

The surface phase of a solid interacts with the surrounding environment. This interaction can degrade the surface phase over time. Environmental degradation of the surface phase over time can be caused by wear, corrosion, fatigue and creep.

Surface engineering involves altering the properties of the Surface Phase in order to reduce the degradation over time. This is accomplished by making the surface robust to the environment in which it will be used.

Surface engineering techniques are being used in the automotive, aerospace, missile, power, electronic, biomedical, textile, petroleum, petrochemical, chemical, steel, power, cement, machine tools, construction industries. Surface engineering techniques can be used to develop a wide range of functional properties, including physical, chemical, electrical, electronic, magnetic, mechanical, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties at the required substrate surfaces. Almost all types of materials, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites can be coated on similar or dissimilar materials. It is also possible to form coatings of newer materials (e.g., met glass. beta-C₃N₄), graded deposits, multi-component deposits etc.

In 1995, surface engineering was a £10 billion market in the United Kingdom. Coatings, to make surface life robust from wear and corrosion, was approximately half the market.{{cite book |author1=Mahmood Aliofkhazraei |author2=Nasar Ali |author3=Mircea Chipara |author4=Nadhira Bensaada Laidani |author5=Jeff Th.M. De Hosson |title=Handbook of Modern Coating Technologies: Advanced Characterization Methods Volume 2 |date=2021 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-444-63239-5}}

Functionalization of Antimicrobial Surfaces is a unique technology that can be used for sterilization in health industry, self-cleaning surfaces and protection from bio films.

In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in surface engineering from age-old electroplating to processes such as vapor phase deposition,{{cite journal|last=He|first=Zhenping|author2=Ilona Kretzschmar |title=Template-Assisted GLAD: Approach to Single and Multipatch Patchy Particles with Controlled Patch Shape|journal=Langmuir|date=6 December 2013|volume=29|issue=51|pages=15755–15761|doi=10.1021/la404592z|pmid=24313824|url=https://figshare.com/articles/Template_Assisted_GLAD_Approach_to_Single_and_Multipatch_Patchy_Particles_with_Controlled_Patch_Shape/2338651}}{{cite journal|last=He|first=Zhenping|author2=Kretzschmar, Ilona |title=Template-Assisted Fabrication of Patchy Particles with Uniform Patches|journal=Langmuir|date=3 June 2012|volume=28|issue=26|pages=9915–9919|doi=10.1021/la3017563|pmid=22708736}} diffusion, thermal spray & welding using advanced heat sources like plasma, laser,{{cite journal | last1=Nejati | first1=Sina | last2=Mirbagheri | first2=Seyed Ahmad | last3=Waimin | first3=Jose | last4=Grubb | first4=Marisa E. | last5=Peana | first5=Samuel | last6=Warsinger | first6=David M. | last7=Rahimi | first7=Rahim | title=Laser Functionalization of Carbon Membranes for Effective Immobilization of Antimicrobial Silver Nanoparticles | journal=Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering | publisher=Elsevier BV | year=2020 | volume=8 | issue=5 | issn=2213-3437 | doi=10.1016/j.jece.2020.104109 | page=104109| s2cid=219769929 | url=https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1038&context=mepubs }} ion, electron, microwave, solar beams, synchrotron radiation, pulsed arc, pulsed combustion, spark, friction and induction.

It's estimated that loss due to wear and corrosion in the US is approximately $500 billion. In the US, there are around 9524 establishments (including automotive, aircraft, power and construction industries) who depend on engineered surfaces with support from 23,466 industries.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}

Surface functionalization introduces chemical functional groups to a surface. This way, materials with functional groups on their surfaces can be designed from substrates with standard bulk material properties. Prominent examples can be found in semiconductor industry and biomaterial research.

Plasma processing technologies are successfully employed for polymers surface functionalization.

• Surface finishing
• Surface science
• Tribology
• Surface metrology
• Surface modification of biomaterials with proteins
• Flame treatment

{{Reflist}}

• R.Chattopadhyay, ’Advanced Thermally Assisted Surface Engineering Processes’ Kluwer Academic Publishers, MA, USA (now Springer, NY), 2004, {{ISBN|1-4020-7696-7}}, E-{{ISBN|1-4020-7764-5}}.
• R Chattopadhyay, ’Surface Wear- Analysis, Treatment, & Prevention’, ASM-International, Materials Park, OH, USA, 2001, {{ISBN|0-87170-702-0}}.
• S Konda, Flame‐based synthesis and in situ functionalization of palladium alloy nanoparticles, AIChE Journal, 2018, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aic.16368

• [https://www.uni-ulm.de/aok Institute of Surface Chemistry and Catalysis Ulm University]

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Category:Engineering disciplines

Category:Materials science