Diamond-like Nanocomposites (DLN) is a newly member in amorphous carbon (a:C) family. It consists of two or more interpenetrated atomic scale network structures. The amorphous silicon oxide (a:SiO) is incorporated within diamond-like carbon (DLC) matrix i.e. a:CH and both the network is interpenetrated by Si-C bond. Hence, the internal stress of deposited DLN film decreases remarkably compare to DLC. The diamond-like properties have come due to deform tetrahedral carbon with sp³ configuration and high ratio of sp³ to sp² bond. The DLN has excellent mechanical, electrical, optical and tribological properties. Those properties of DLN could be varied over a wide range by changing deposition parameters, precursor and even post deposition treatment also. The range of properties are: Resistivity 10^-4 to 10¹⁴ Ωcm, hardness 10–22 GPa, coefficient of friction 0.03-0.2, wear factor 0.2-0.4 10^-7mm³/Nm, transmission Vis-far IR, modulus of elasticity 150-200 GPa, residual stress 200-300 Mpa, dielectric constant 3-9 and maximum operating temperature 600^°C in oxygen environment and 1200^°C in O₂ free air. Generally, the PECVD method is used to synthesize the DLN film. The most common procedures used for investigation of structure and composition of DLN films are Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), HRTEM, FESEM and X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS). Interest in the coating technology has been expressed by nearly every industrial segment including automotive, aerospace, chemical processing, marine, energy, personal care, office equipment, electronics, biomedical and tool and die or in a single line from data to beer in all segment of life. In this review paper, characterization of diamond-like nanocomposites is discussed and subsequently different application areas are also elaborated.

In this paper, a classification of low-dimensional nanomaterials is given, and new type of these nanomaterials — subnanophase coatings are proposed. Experimental results on the formation of a wetting layer of a transition metal on a silicon substrate by physical deposition in vacuum and results of this layer identification by the EELS method are given. Based on these results, a new approach to the formation of subnanophase coatings has been proposed by creation of an interface stresses structuring WL. The possible properties and application prospects of subnanophase coatings are considered.

In this study, optical and microwave satellite observations are integrated to estimate soil moisture at the same spatial resolution as the optical sensors (5km here) and applied for drought analysis in the continental United States. A new refined model is proposed to include auxiliary data like soil texture, topography, surface types, accumulated precipitation, in addition to Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) used in the traditional universal triangle method. It is found the new proposed soil moisture model using accumulated precipitation demonstrated close agreements with the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) spatial patterns. Currently, the USDM is providing a weekly map. Recently, “flash” drought concept appears. To obtain drought map on daily basis, LST is derived from microwave observations and downscaled to the same resolution as the thermal infrared LST product and used to fill the gaps due to clouds in optical LST data. With the integrated daily LST available under nearly all weather conditions, daily soil moisture can be estimated at relatively higher spatial resolution than those traditionally derived from passive microwave sensors, thus drought maps based on soil moisture anomalies can be obtained on daily basis and made the flash drought analysis and monitoring become possible.

Magnesium hydroxide/melamine phosphate borate (nano MH/MPB), a novel nano-composition intumescent flame retardant, was synthesized with the in-situ reaction method from MgCl₂·6H₂O sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and melamine phosphate borate (MPB) in the absence of H₂O. The structure of the product was confirmed by EDAX IR and XRD. The effects of reaction temperature and time on the dimension of magnesium hydroxide were observed. The effects of mass ratio of magnesium hydroxide to MPB on the flame retardancy of nano-MH/MPB/EP were examined with the limiting oxygen test. The results show that the optimal condition of synthesis of MH/MPB is m_MH/m_MPB = 0.25, reacting under 75 ℃ for 30 minutes. Finally, the mechanism for flame retardancy of nano-MH/MPB/EP was pilot studied by means of IR of char layer and TG of MH/MPB.

We reviewed the research on super-hydrophobic materials. Firstly, we introduced the basic principles of super-hydrophobic materials, including the Young equation, Wenzel model, and Cassie model. Then, we summarized the main preparation methods and research results of super-hydrophobic materials, such as the template method, soft etching method, electrospinning method, and sol-gel method. Among them, the electrospinning method that has developed in recent years is a new technology for preparing micro/nanofibers. Finally, the applications of super-hydrophobic materials in the field of coatings, fabric and filter material, anti-fogging, and antibacterial were introduced, and the problems existing in the preparation of super-hydrophobic materials were pointed out, such as unavailable industrialized production, high cost, and poor durability of the materials. Therefore, it is necessary to make a further study on the application of the materials in the selection, preparation, and post-treatment.

Land use or land cover (LU/LC) mapping serves as a kind of basic information for land resource study. Detecting and analyzing the quantitative changes along the earth’s surface has become necessary and advantageous because it can result in proper planning, which would ultimately result in improvement in infrastructure development, economic and industrial growth. The LU/LC pattern in Madurai City, Tamil Nadu, has undergone a significant change over the past two decades due to accelerated urbanization. In this study, LU/LC change dynamics were investigated by the combined use of satellite remote sensing and geographical information system. To understand the LU/LC change in Madurai City, different land use categories and their spatial as well as temporal variability have been studied over a period of seven years (1999-2006), by analyzing Landsat images for the years 1999 and 2006 respectively with the help of ArcGIS 9.3 and ERDAS Imagine 9.1 software. This results show that geospatial technology is able to effectively capture the spatio-temporal trend of the landscape patterns associated with urbanization in this region.