Kratos axis ultra

XPS (Kratos Axis Ultra, Kratos Analytical, Manchester UK) was conducted with survey scans at a pass energy of 160 eV, and high-resolution scans at a pass energy of 40 eV. Nano-layer adhesion to silica surface was imaged with SEM after rinsing silica bead (diameter ϕ=100 nm) dispersion (10 mg ml⁻¹ in deionized water), spread on a silicon wafer coated with Z-Cat-C10, thoroughly with deionized water.

Field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was operated with a JSM-7100F microscope (JEOL Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) at 10.0 kV. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning TEM (STEM) were operated at 100 kV by HT7700 (Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD, D8 Advance, Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA) was used to study crystal structures of materials with Cu–Kα radiation at 40 kV and 40 mA. The elemental composition and the electric structure were investigated by Kratos Axis Ultra photoelectron spectrometer (Kratos Analytical Inc., Manchester, UK) using mono Al Kα (1486.6 eV) X-rays. N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms were measured by Quadrasorb SI (Quantachrome Instrument, Boynton Beach, FL, USA). The specific surface area and pore size distribution were obtained by using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method and the non-localized density functional theory (NLDFT) method, respectively.

Room-temperature X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to examine the surface composition of catheters following 3 (n = 3) and 30 (n = 1) consecutive days of reuse. All experiments were performed at the nanoFAB Centre of the University of Alberta using an XPS imaging spectrometer (Kratos Axis Ultra, Kratos Analytical Ltd., Manchester, UK). A detailed summary of XPS procedures is provided in Supplemental Appendix SC.

Samples of size 5 mm × 5 mm × 1 mm (longitudinal × width × thickness) were prepared. XPS measurements were performed on an XPS spectrometer (Kratos Axis Ultra, Kratos Analytical, Manchester, UK). Spectral fitting and component analysis were performed using high-resolution spectra, and the number of components and their binding energy positions were obtained from previous studies [24 (link),25 (link)]. The XPS data were collected using a K-alpha XPS system with an aluminum Kα X-ray source. The base pressure in the analytical chamber was less than 5 × 10⁻⁷ Pa, and the survey scans’ spanning binding energies from 1200 to 0 eV were collected using a constant pass energy of 30 eV and a step interval of 0.050 eV.

For material characterization, nitrogen sorption measurements were carried out using BELSORP-mini II-VS (MicrotracBEL Corp. Osaka, Japan). Before the measurement, samples were pre-treated at 200 °C under vacuum for 2 h. The specific surface area was calculated by a BET method using the adsorption area. The Barrett Joyner Hallenda (BJH) method was also applied to estimate the pore size distribution.
Thermogravimetric (TG) analyses were conducted using Thermo Plus Evo2 (Rigaku, Tokyo, Japan). Measurements were carried out in the air from room temperature to 400 °C via raising the temperature by 4 °C/min.
SEM observations were performed using S-5200 (Hitachi High-Tech, Tokyo, Japan), with the accelerating voltage of 30 kV. Studies with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were also conducted using Kratos Axis Ultra (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) and RINT-UltimaIII/PSA (Rigaku), respectively.

Crystalline phase analysis of the electrodeposited films was performed by a PANalytical Empyrean X-ray diffractometer (XRD) with Cu Kα radiation (1.5406 Å). The XRD patterns were analysed using the general structure analysis system (GSAS) to evaluate the structural features and phase composition of the films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the films was carried out on a Shimadzu Kratos AXIS-ULTRA delay-line detector high-performance XPS system with monochromated Al Kα radiation. The shift of the binding energy scale due to charging was corrected by setting the C 1s peak at 284.5 eV. The core-level XPS spectra were deconvoluted using XPSPEAK software (version 4.1). Morphology of the films was examined by a Fei Inspect F50 field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). Optical property was determined by measuring reflectance using a Perkin Elmer LAMBDA 1050 UV–Visible spectrophotometer (UV–Vis) equipped with a diffuse reflectance sphere (DRS).