• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.19-23
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• 2019

The PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate)/clay nanocomposites were synthesized by in situ radical polymerizations with different clay contents (3 and 7 wt%) using microwave heating. The nanostructure, optical, and thermal properties of the synthesized PMMA/clay nanocomposites were measured by XRD, TEM, AFM, UV-vis, and TGA. It was found that the intercalated- or exfoliated structure of PMMA/clay nanocomposites was strongly dependent on the content of clay. Thus, the imposition of microwave-assisted polymerization facilitated a delamination process of layered silicates to achieve exfoliation state of interlayer distance. The PMMA/3 wt% C10A nanocomposite with well-dispersed and exfoliated clay nano-layers showed the good optical transparency similar to pure PMMA in this study. The thermal decomposition rates of the PMMA/clay nanocomposites become to be lower compared to that of the pure PMMA, indicating the intercalated- or exfoliated inorganic silicate has high thermal stability. A possible reason is that the thermally segmental motion of PMMA polymer into inorganic silicate interlayer spacing has increased the thermal stability of the PMMA/clay nanocomposites.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 2013

Well defined 1-dimentional (1-D) photonic crystals of polystyrene replicas have been successfully obtained by removing the porous silicon from the free-standing rugate porous silicon/phenylmethylpolysiloxane composite film. Rugate porous silicon was prepared by an electrochemical etching of silicon wafer in HF/ethanol mixture solution. Exfoliated rugate porous silicon was obtained by an electropolishing condition. A composite of rugate porous silicon/phenylmethylpolysiloxane composite film was prepared by casting a toluene solution of phenylmethylpolysiloxane onto the top of rugate porous silicon film. After the removal of the template by chemical dissolution, the phenylmethylpolysiloxane castings replicate the photonic features and the nanostructure of the master. The photonic phenylmethylpolysiloxane replicas are robust and flexible in ambient condition and exhibit an excellent reflectivity in their reflective spectra. The photonic band gaps of replicas are narrower than that of typical semiconductor quantum dots.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.68-71
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• 2012

The electrospinning technique is a revolutionary template-catalyst-free method that can generate 1D nanostructure with the tunability and the potential for the mass production. This approach received a great deal of attention due to its ability to give direct pathways for electrical current and has been utilized in various electronic applications. However, the delamination of inorganic electrospun film has prevented the intense utilization due to the thermal expansion/contraction during the calcination. In this study, we propose an electrical grounding method for transparent conducting oxide and electrospun nanowires to enhance the adhesion after the calcination. Then, we examined the potential of the technique on ZnO based dye-sensitized solar cells.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.15-37
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• 2015

Ongoing efforts for improved fracture toughness of engineered cementitious materials address the inherent brittleness of the binding matrix at several different levels of the material's geometric scale through the addition of various types of reinforcing fibers. Crack control is required for crack widths that cover the entire range of the grain size spectrum of the material, and this dictates the requirement of hybrid mixes combining fibers of different size (nano, micro, macro). Use of Carbon Nano-Tubes (CNT) and Carbon Nano-Fibers (CNFs) as additives is meant to extend the crack-control function down to the nanoscale where cracking is believed to initiate. In this paper the implications of enhanced toughness thus attained at the material nanostructure are explored, with reference to the global smeared constitutive properties of the material, through consistent interpretation of the reported experimental evidence regarding the behavior of engineered cementitious products to direct and indirect tension.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.264-268
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• 2021

In this study, we propose a method for fabricating hydrophobic coatings/films with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructured organic/inorganic composite surfaces. An epoxy-based, large-area 3D ordered nanoporous template is first prepared through an advanced photolithography technique called Proximity-field nanoPatterning (PnP). Then, a hierarchically structured surface is generated by densely impregnating the template with silica nanoparticles with an average diameter of 22 nm through dip coating. Due to the coexisting micro- and nano-scale roughness on the surface, the fabricated composite film exhibits a higher contact angle (>137 degrees) for water droplets compared to the reference samples. Therefore, it is expected that the materials and processes developed through this study can be used in various ways in the traditional coating/film field.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.1315-1318
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• 2004

Nano-scale fabrication of silicon substrate in an aqueous solution based on the use of atomic force microscopy was demonstrated. A specially designed cantilever with diamond tip, allowing the formation of damaged layer on silicon substrate easily by a simple scratching process (Tribo-Nanolithography, TNL), has been applied instead of conventional silicon cantilever for scanning. A slant nanostructure can be fabricated by a process in which a thin damaged layer rapidly forms in the substrate at the diamond tip-sample junction along scanning path of the tip and simultaneously the area uncovered with the damaged layer is being etched. This study demonstrates how the TNL parameters can affect the formation of damaged layer and the shape of 3-D structure, hence introducing a new process of proximal nanolithography in aqueous solution.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.194-201
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• 2005

Nanoscale fabrication of silicon substrate in an aqueous solution based on the use of atomic force microscopy was demonstrated. A specially designed cantilever with diamond tip, allowing the formation of damaged layer on silicon substrate easily by a simple scratching process (Tribo-Nanolithography, TNL), has been applied instead of conventional silicon cantilever for scanning. A slant nanostructure can be fabricated by a process in which a thin damaged layer rapidly forms in the substrate at the diamond tip-sample junction along scanning path of the tip and simultaneously the area uncovered with the damaged layer is being etched. This study demonstrates how the TNL parameters can affect the formation of damaged layer and the shape of 3-D structure, hence introducing a new process of AFM-based nanolithography in aqueous solution.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.8-13
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• 2006

Nanoscale fabrication of silicon substrate in an aqueous solution based on the use of atomic force microscopy was demonstrated. A specially designed cantilever with a diamond tip, allowing the formation of a mask layer on the silicon substrate by a simple scratching process (Tribo-Nanolithography, TNL), has been applied instead of the conventional silicon cantilever for scanning. A slant nanostructure can be fabricated by a process in which a thin mask layer rapidly forms on the substrate at the diamond tip-sample junction along scanning path of the tip, and simultaneously, the area uncovered with the mask layer is etched. This study demonstrates how the TNL parameters can affect the formation of the mask layer and the shape of 3-D structure, hence introducing a new process of AFM-based nanolithography in aqueous solution.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.60-68
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• 2018

The design and fabrication of photoelectrochemical (PEC) electrodes for efficient water splitting is important for developing a sustainable hydrogen evolution system. Among various development approaches for PEC electrodes, the chemical vapor deposition method of atomic layer deposition (ALD), based on self-limiting surface reactions, has attracted attention because it allows precise thickness and composition control as well as conformal coating on various substrates. In this study, recent research progress in improving PEC performance using ALD coating methods is discussed, including 3D and heterojunction-structured PEC electrodes, ALD coatings of noble metals, and the use of sulfide materials as co-catalysts. The enhanced long-term stability of PEC cells by ALD-deposited protecting layers is also reviewed. ALD provides multiple routes to develop improved hydrogen evolution PEC cells.

• Ceramist
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2020

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) have attracted much attention due to clean, efficient and environmental-friendly generation of electricity for next-generation energy conversion devices. Recently, many studies have been reported on improving the performance of SOFC electrodes and electrolytes by applying atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, which has advantages of excellent film quality and conformality, and precise control of film thickness by utilizing its unique self-limiting surface reaction. ALD process with these advantages has been shown to provide functional ceramic interfaces for SOFC electrodes and electrolytes. In this article, recent examples of successful functionalization and stabilization on SOFC electrodes and electrolytes by the application of ALD process for realizing high performance SOFC cells are reported.