There is no doubt that the BRICS countries established in 2000-01, have already made their mark on the international stage. Increasing relations among BRICS countries with less developed nations through south-south cooperation, especially, China, India, and Russia and with least developed countries are of significant importance. BRICS has been the forerunner of cooperation, collaboration and reformation of the present international governance structure and to move towards multilateralism. Over the years, BRICS has become a platform of, and for the developing countries. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has created divisions in the world, impacting diplomatic relations that BRICS needs to address. The fact that Russia is the member of BRICS makes things complicated and new challenges has emerged for the bloc to take necessary actions and policy considerations. The article examines the challenges and opportunities for BRICS (as a bloc) amid Russia-Ukraine conflict in a post pandemic world.

This study assessed the influences of fluorine introduced into DLC films on the structural and mechanical properties of the sample. In addition, the effects of the fluorine incorporation on the compressive stress in DLC films were investigated. For this purpose, fluorinated diamond-like carbon (F-DLC) films were deposited on cobalt-chromium-molybdenum substrates using radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor. The coatings were examined by Raman scattering (RS), Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis (ATR-FTIR), and a combination of elastic recoil detection analysis and Rutherford backscattering (ERDA-RBS). Nano-indentation tests were performed to measure hardness. Also, the residual stress of the films was calculated by the Stony equation. The ATR-FTIR analysis revealed that F was present in the amorphous matrix mainly as C-F and C-F2 groups. Based on Raman spectroscopy results, it was determined that F made the DLC films more graphitic. Additionally, it was shown that adding F into the DLC coating resulted in weaker mechanical properties and the F-DLC coating exhibited lower stress than DLC films. These effects were attributed to the replacement of strong C = C by feebler C-F bonds in the F-DLC films. F-doping decreased the hardness of the DLC from 11.5 to 8.8 GPa. In addition, with F addition, the compressive stress of the DLC sample decreased from 1 to 0.7 GPa.