• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2021

Recently, there has been increasing demand for advancing photocatalytic techniques that are capable of the efficient removal of organic pollutants in water. TiO₂, a representative photocatalytic material, has been commonly used as an effective photocatalyst, but it is rather expensive and an alternative is required that will fulfill the requirements of both high performing photocatalytic activities and cost-effectiveness. In this work, ZnO, which is more cost effective than TiO₂, was synthesized by using a microreactor-assisted nanomaterials (MAN) process. The process enabled a continuous production of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with a flower-like structure with high uniformity. In order to resolve the limited light absorption of ZnO arising from its large band gap, Ag NPs were uniformly decorated on the flower-like ZnO surface by using the MAN process. The plasmonic effect of Ag NPs led to a broadening of the absorption range toward visible wavelengths. Ag NPs also helped inhibit the electron-hole recombination by drawing electrons generated from the light absorption of the flower-like ZnO NPs. As a result, the Ag-ZnO nanocomposites showed improved photocatalytic activities compared with the flower-like ZnO NPs. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the successful synthesis of Ag-ZnO nanocomposites with high uniformity. Ag-ZnO nanocomposites synthesized via the MAN process offer the potential for cost-effective and scalable production of next-generation photocatalytic materials.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2022

Adsorption tower systems based on activated carbon adsorption towers have mainly been employed to reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major cause of air pollution. However, the activated carbon currently used in these systems has a short lifespan and thus requires frequent replacement. An approach to overcome this shortcoming could be to develop metal oxide photocatalysis-activated carbon composites capable of degrading VOCs by simultaneously utilizing photocatalytic activation and powerful adsorption by activated carbon. TiO₂ has primarily been used as a metal oxide photocatalyst, but it has low economic efficiency due to its high cost. In this study, ZnO particles were synthesized as a photocatalyst due to their relatively low cost. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were deposited on the ZnO surface to compensate for the photocatalytic deactivation that arises from the wide band gap of ZnO. A microfluidic process was used to synthesize ZnO particles and Ag NPs in separate reactors and the solutions were continuously supplied with a pack bed reactor loaded with activated carbon powder. This microfluidic-assisted pack bed reactor efficiently prepared a Ag-ZnO-activated carbon composite for VOC removal. Analysis confirmed that Ag-ZnO photocatalytic particles were successfully deposited on the surface of the activated carbon. Conducting a toluene gasbag test and adsorption breakpoint test demonstrated that the composite had a more efficient removal performance than pure activated carbon. The process proposed in this study efficiently produces photocatalysis-activated carbon composites and may offer the potential for scalable production of VOC removal composites.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.426-426
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• 2011

최근 들어 금속물질을 나노미터 단위로 구성할 수 있는 기술이 진보하면서, 금속 나노입자에 의해 발생되는 표면 플라즈몬에 대해서도 다양한 분야의 관심이 집중되고 있다. 유전체 물질을 기지상으로 하는 금속:유전체 나노복합체에서 금속 나노입자는 자유전자들의 집단 진동인 국소표면 플라즈몬 공진(Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance, LSPR)현상에 의해 국부전기장을 증대 시키고, 가시광 및 적외선 영역에서 특성 광흡수 거동을 보인다. 이와 같은 광학적 특성은 금속 나노입자들의 크기, 형태, 그리고 나노입자들의 주변을 구성하는 기지상 물질의 종류에 의해 조절된다. 금속:유전체 나노복합체에 나타나는 이러한 특성은 단순장식코팅 뿐만 아니라 광의 효율적 운용과 광을 매개로 한 기능발현을 필요로 하는 디스플레이, 광학 스위칭 소재 및 태양전지의 효율 향상을 위한 광흡수층 등 매우 다양한 응용이 가능하다. 본 연구에서는 다양한 굴절률을 갖는 재료들 중, 저굴절률을 갖는 SiO2와 고굴절률을 갖는 ZnS-SiO2를 기지상 재료로 선택하여 교번증착 스퍼터링법으로 Ag와 Au입자를 형성시켰다. Ag를 금속나노입자로 갖고, SiO2와 ZnS-SiO2를 기지상으로 하는 금속:유전체 나노복합체에서는 금속나노입자 형성에 따른 뚜렷한 표면 플라즈몬 공진 광흡수 피크가 관찰된 반면 Au나노입자는 기지상에 따라 각기 다른 광흡수 특성을 나타냈는데, SiO2기지상에서 명확한 광흡수 피크를 형성했던 경우와는 달리 ZnS-SiO2기지상에서는 특정파장에서의 흡수피크로 규정되기 어려운 넓은 파장범위에 걸친 완만한 광흡수 피크를 나타냈다. TEM 분석을 통해, ZnS-SiO2 기지상 내의 Au입자는 각각 독립되어 있는 Island형태가 아닌 유전체 기지상과 대칭적으로 혼합된 네트워크 형태의 Bruggeman 기하구조를 구성하고 있음을 확인하였고, 이는 Au입자가 형성되고 성장할 때 Au와 S의 높은 결합에너지로 인해 상당한 젖음 특성을 갖고 성장하였기 때문으로 판단됐다. 따라서 나노복합체를 구성하는 물질간의 광학적 특성뿐만 아니라 기지상 내에서의 금속입자의 성장거동에 대한 연구가 수반되었을 때, 금속:유전체 나노복합체의 표면 플라즈몬 공진 광흡수 특성을 보다 정확하게 제어할 수 있다.