This study investigated the interactions of hydrogen plasmas with ultralow-k porous SiCOH (pSiCOH) films and their dependency on the values of the original dielectric constant, porogen used for the preparation of films, and substrate temperature during the plasma treatment. pSiCOH films of similar dielectric constants have been prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition using an identical SiCOH skeleton precursor, but with two different organic porogens. The films exposed to the hydrogen plasmas have been characterized by optical techniques, shrinkage characterization, and electrical measurements. It was found that the hydrogen plasma modifies the structure of pSiCOH’s oxide skeleton and reduces the concentration of the Si–(CH3)1 bonds, resulting in an increase of the dielectric constant. The degree of modification, for films prepared from the same precursors, is larger for films with lower dielectric constants (k) and is affected by the porogen used to prepare films with similar k values.
Nitrogen functionalization of graphene enables it to be used for catalysis and targeted adsorption of biomolecules in both the solid state and in suspension. Thus, we sought to characterize the functional groups and suspension charge behavior of nitrogen-doped graphene (NDG) prepared in the absence of hydrazine, a highly toxic reagent. The hydrothermal reaction of graphite oxide (GO) with ammonia was shown to effectively remove oxygen and to restore the graphitic framework within the resulting NDG sheets. The enhanced graphitic character of the NDG materials was verified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetic analysis, and electrical conductivity measurements. With six hours of reaction time (sample NDG-6), up to 9.6 wt % (7.1 atomic %) of nitrogen could be introduced into the graphene. All the NDG materials exhibited excellent dispersibility in water allowing their surface charge to be probed by measuring zeta potential (ζ) as a function of suspension pH. The NDG-6 material could hold surface charge ranging from ζ = −50 mV to ζ = +20 mV, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the widest range of surface charges measured on a colloidal graphene material.
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