• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2008

An atmospheric plasma pre-treatment method was applied to polyurethane foam (density: 0.27) and rubber (butadiene rubber) to improve its contact angle and adhesion using atmospheric plate type reactor. In order to investigate the optimum reaction condition of plasma treatment, type of treatment gas (nitrogen, argon, oxygen, air), rate of gas flow ($30{\sim}100\;mL/min$), and treated time ($0{\sim}30\;s$) were examined in a plate plasma reactor. The result of the surface modification with respect to the treatment procedure was characterized by using SEM and ATR-FTIR. Due to a decrease of the contact angle of various materials, the greatest adhesion strength was achieved at optimum condition such as flow rate of 100 mL/min, reaction time of polyurethane foam 10 s and rubber 3 s for an atmosphere nitrogen gas. Consequently, the atmospheric plasma treatment reduced the wettability of the polyurethane foam and rubber also resulted in the improvement of the adhesion.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.68-75
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• 2002

It is observed the characteristic of the microwave air plasma in the wide range of the operating pressure, 1 mTorr ~ 760 Torr. The microwave air plasma was generated by an AC-type microwave source manufactured with a magnetron taken from a commertial microwave oven and the input power was fixed at 370 W. Characteristics of the plasmas were observed by an injection Langmuir probe and an OES(Optical Emission Spectroscopy). The breakdown electric field is drastically changed at 500 mTorr. For < 500 mTorr, the ratio of the breakdown electric field and the pressure decreased inversely to the pressure, $5.7\times10^4$V/m-Torr.However, the ratio increased linearly as 43 V/m-Torr for the operating pressure, > 500 mTorr. The minimum breakdown electric field was observed about 12. kV/m at 500 mTorr. It corresponds that the input frequency equals to the collision frequency. The effective collision cross section of the air at this pressure was calculated as $9.23\times10^{-l6}\textrm{cm}^2$.The results of the OES measurement revealed that the main ions were composed of the oxygen, argon, and nitrogen for > 500 mTorr. In contrast, only oxygen and argon ions were dominated for < 500 mTorr. ion temperature of oxygen (O(II)) in the air was decreased from about 1.2 eV to 0.5 eV as the pressure increased. Langmuir probe data shows that the plasma density for < 500 mTorr was higher that for > 500 mTorr.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.371-377
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• 2008

This paper deals with the phase analysis of $MgB_2$ bulk using spark plasma sintering process after ball milling. Mg and amorphous B powders were used as raw materials, and milled by planetary-mill for 9 hours at argon atmosphere. In order to confirm formation of $MgB_2$ phase, DTA and XRD were used. The milled powders were fabricated to $MgB_2$ bulk at the various temperatures by Spark Plasma Sintering. The fabricated $MgB_2$ bulk was evaluated with XRD, EDS, FE-SEM and PPMS. In the DTA result, reaction on formation of $MgB_2$ phase started at $340^{\circ}C$. This means that ball milling process improves reactivity on formation of $MgB_2$ phase. The $MgB_2$ MgO and FeB phases were characterized from XRD result. MgO and FeB were undesirable phases which affect formation of $MgB_2$ phase, and it's distribution could be confirmed from EDS mapping result. Spark Plasma Sintered sample for 5 min at $700^{\circ}C$ was relatively densified and it's density and transition temperature showing super conducting property were $1.87\;g/cm^3$ and 21K.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.14-14
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• 2001

Nitride films such as TiN, CrN etc. deposited on glass by PVD processes have been developed for many industrial applications. These nitride films deposited on glass were widely used for not only decorative and optical coatings but also wear and corrosion resistance coatings employed as dies and molds made of glass for the example of lens forming molds. However, the major problem of nitride coatings on glass by PVD process is non-uniform film owing to pin-hole and micro crack. It is estimated that nonuniform coating is influenced by a different surface energy between metal nitrides and glass due to binding states. In this work, therefore, for the evaluation of nucleation and growth mechanism of nitride films on glass TiN and CrN film were synthesized on glass with various nitrogen partial pressure by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. Prior to deposition, for the examination of relationship between surface energy and film microstructure plasma pre-treatment process was carried out with various argon to hydrogen flow rate and substrate bias voltage, duty cycle and frequency by using pulsed DC power supply. Surface energy owing to the different plasma pre-treatment was calculated by the measurement of wetting angle and surface conditions of glass were investigated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS) and Atomic Force Microscope(AFM). The microstructure change of nitride films on glass with increase of film thickness were analyzed by X-Ray Diffraction(XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM).

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.283-288
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• 2015

Two sintering methods of a pressureless sintering and a spark-plasma sintering are tested to densify the Fe-TiC composite powders which are fabricated by high-energy ball-milling. A powder mixture of Fe and TiC is prepared in a planetary ball mill at a rotation speed of 500 rpm for 1h. Pressureless sintering is performed at 1100, 1200 and $1300^{\circ}C$ for 1-3 hours in a tube furnace under flowing argon gas atmosphere. Spark-plasma sintering is carried out under the following condition: sintering temperature of $1050^{\circ}C$, soaking time of 10 min, sintering pressure of 50 MPa, heating rate of $50^{\circ}C$, and in a vacuum of 0.1 Pa. The curves of shrinkage and its derivative (shrinkage rate) are obtained from the data stored automatically during sintering process. The densification behaviors are investigated from the observation of fracture surface and cross-section of the sintered compacts. The pressureless-sintered powder compacts show incomplete densification with a relative denstiy of 86.1% after sintering at $1300^{\circ}C$ for 3h. Spark-plasma sintering at $1050^{\circ}C$ for 10 min exhibits nearly complete densification of 98.6% relative density under the sintering pressure of 50 MPa.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.15 no.1 s.45
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• pp.52-59
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• 2006

This paper examined the conversion of methane to hydrogen and other higher hydrocarbons using dielectric barrier discharge with AC pulse power. Two metal electrodes of a coaxial-type plasma reactor were separated by gas gap and an alumina tube. The inner electrode was located inside the alumina tube. The alumina tube was located inside the stainless steel tube, which was used as the outer electrode. Effect of feed gas composition (methane, oxygen, argon, water and helium), flow rate, applied frequency, input volt-age on methane conversion and product distribution were studied. The major products of plasma chemical reactions were ethylene, ethane, propane, buthane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The increment of applied voltage and the usage of inert gas as the background (helium and argon) enhanced the selectivity of hydrocarbons and methane conversion. The addition of water in the feed stream enhanced the conversion of methane and yield of hydrogen. Higher voltage leads to higher yield of $C_2H_6,\;C_3H_8,\;C_4H_{10}$ and yield or $C_2H_2\;and\;C_2H_4$ appeared highly in lower voltage.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.543-550
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• 2011

Conductive SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were produced by subjecting a 40:60 (vol%) mixture of zirconium diboride (ZrB2) powder and ${\beta}$-silicon carbide (SiC) matrix to spark plasma sintering (SPS). Sintering was carried out for 5 min in an argon atmosphere at a uniaxial pressure and temperature of 50 MPa and $1500^{\circ}C$, respectively. The composite sintered at a heating speed of $25^{\circ}C$/min and an on/off pulse sequence of 12:2 was denoted as SZ12L. Composites SZ12H, SZ48H, and SZ10H were obtained by sintering at a heating speed of $100^{\circ}C$/min and at on/off pulse sequences of 12:2, 48:8, and 10:9, respectively. The physical, electrical, and mechanical properties of the SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites were examined and thermal image analysis of the composites was performed. The apparent porosities of SZ12L, SZ12H, SZ48H, and SZ10H were 13.35%, 0.60%, 12.28%, and 9.75%, respectively. At room temperature, SZ12L had the lowest flexural strength (286.90 MPa), whereas SZ12H had the highest flexural strength (1011.34 MPa). Between room temperature and $500^{\circ}C$, the SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites had a positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR) and linear V-I characteristics. SZ12H had the lowest PTCR and highest electrical resistivity among all the composites. The optimum SPS conditions for the production of energy-friendly SiC-$ZrB_2$ composites are as follows: 1) an argon atmosphere, 2) a constant pressure of 50 MPa throughout the sintering process, 3) an on/off pulse sequence of 12:2 (pulse duration: 2.78 ms), and 4) a final sintering temperature of $1500^{\circ}C$ at a speed of $100^{\circ}C$/min and sintering for 5 min at $1500^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.280-284
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• 2012

Bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric materials were successfully prepared by a spark plasma sintering process. Crystalline BiSbTe ingots were crushed into small pieces and then attrition milled into fine powders of about 300 nm ~ 2${\mu}m$ size under argon gas. Spark plasma sintering was applied on the BiSbTe powders at 240, 320, and $380^{\circ}C$, respectively, under a pressure of 40 MPa in vacuum. The heating rate was $50^{\circ}C$/min and the holding time at the sintering temperature was 10 min. At all sintering temperatures, high density bulk BiSbTe was successfully obtained. The XRD patterns verify that all samples were well matched with the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_{3}$. Seebeck coefficient (S), electric conductivity (${\sigma}$) and thermal conductivity (k) were evaluated in a temperature range of $25{\sim}300^{\circ}C$. The thermoelectric properties of BiSbTe were evaluated by the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT (ZT = $S^2{\sigma}T$/k). The grain size and electric conductivity of sintered BiSbTe increased as the sintering temperature increased but the thermal conductivity was similar at all sintering temperatures. Grain growth reduced the carrier concentration, because grain growth reduced the grain boundaries, which serve as acceptors. Meanwhile, the carrier mobility was greatly increased and the electric conductivity was also improved. Consequentially, the grains grew with increasing sintering temperature and the figure of merit was improved.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.34-39
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• 1999

Electron temperature and electron density were rreasured in a radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma (RFICP) using a Langmuir probe method. Measurerrent was conducted in an argon discharge for pressures from 10 mTorr to 40 mTorr and input rf rnwer from 100 W to 600 W. Spatial distribution electroo temperature and electron density were rreasured for discharge with satre aspect ratio (R/L=2). Electron temperature and electron density were discovered depending on both pressure and power. Electron density was increased with iocreasing input power, but saturated at 450 W. Electron density was iocreased with iocreasing pressure. Radial distribution of the electron density was peaked at the rnsition which was a little rmved from center toward quartz window. Normal distribution of the electron density was peaked in the center between quartz plate and substrate. The above results could contribute to understand the Mechanism of Radio-Frequency Inductively Discharge Plasma.Plasma.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2011

We investigated the etching characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) and the effect of additive gases in a $Cl_2$-based inductively coupled plasma. The inert gases were argon, nitrogen, and helium. The maximum etch rates were 44.3, 39.9, and 37.9 nm/min for $Cl_2$(75%)/Ar(25%), $Cl_2$(50%)/$N_2$(50%), and $Cl_2$(75%)/He(25%) gas mixtures, 600 W radiofrequency power, 150 W bias power, and 2 Pa process pressure. We obtained the maximum etch rate by a combination of chemical reaction and physical bombardment. A volatile compound of Zn-Cl. achieved the chemical reaction on the surface of the ZnO thin films. The physical etching was performed by inert gas ion bombardment that broke the Zn-O bonds. The highly oriented (002) peak was determined on samples, and the (013) peak of $Zn_2SiO_4$ was observed in the ZnO thin film sample based on x-ray diffraction spectroscopy patterns. In addition, the sample of $Cl_2$/He chemistry showed a high full-width at half-maximum value. The root-mean-square roughness of ZnO thin films decreased to 1.33 nm from 5.88 nm at $Cl_2$(50%)/$N_2$(50%) plasma chemistry.