• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.424-432
• /
• 2019

Planar BiVO₄ and 3 wt% Mo-doped BiVO₄ (abbreviated as Mo:BiVO₄) film were prepared by the facile spin-coating method on fluorine doped SnO₂(FTO) substrate in the same precursor solution including the Mo precursor in Mo:BiVO₄ film. After annealing at a high temperature of 450℃ for 30 min to improve crystallinity, the films exhibited the monoclinic crystalline phase and nanoporous architecture. Both films showed no remarkably discrepancy in crystalline or morphological properties. To investigate the effect of surface passivation exploring the Al₂O₃ layer, the ultra-thin Al₂O₃ layer with a thickness of approximately 2 nm was deposited on BiVO₄ film using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. No distinct morphological modification was observed for all prepared BiVO₄ and Mo:BiVO₄ films. Only slightly reduced nanopores were observed. Although both samples showed some reduction of light absorption in the visible wavelength after coating of Al₂O₃ layer, the Al₂O₃ coated BiVO₄ (Al₂O₃/BiVO₄) film exhibited enhanced photoelectrochemical performance in 0.5 M Na₂SO₄ solution (pH 6.5), having higher photocurrent density (0.91 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), briefly abbreviated as V_RHE) than BiVO₄ film (0.12 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V_RHE). Moreover, Al₂O₃ coating on the Mo:BiVO₄ film exhibited more enhanced photocurrent density (1.5 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V_RHE) than the Mo:BiVO₄ film (0.86 mA/㎠ at 1.23 V_RHE). To examine the reasons, capacitance measurement and Mott-Schottky analysis were conducted, revealing that the significant degradation of capacitance value was observed in both BiVO₄ film and Al₂O₃/Mo:BiVO₄ film, probably due to degraded capacitance by surface passivation. Furthermore, the flat-band potential (V_FB) was negatively shifted to about 200 mV while the electronic conductivities were enhanced by Al₂O₃ coating in both samples, contributing to the advancement of PEC performance by ultra-thin Al₂O₃ layer.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.12
• /
• pp.4693-4697
• /
• 2022

Parylene coating was adopted on CdZnTe (CZT) detector as a mechanical protection layer after wet passivation with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and ammonium fluoride (NH₄F). Wet chemical passivant lose their effectiveness when exposed to the ambient conditions for a long time. Parylene coating could protect the effectiveness of passivation, by mechanically blocking the exposure to the ambient conditions. Stability of CZT detector was tested with the measurement of leakage current density and response to radio-isotopes. When the enough thickness of parylene (>100 ㎛) is adopted, parylene is a promising protection layer thereby ensuring the performance and long-term stability of CZT detectors.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.196-205
• /
• 2019

Ni-rich layered oxides $Li(Ni_xCo_yMn_z)O_2$ (x + y + z = 1) have been extensively studied in recent times owing to their high capacity and low cost and can possibly replace $LiCoO_2$ in the near future. However, these layered oxides suffer from problems related to the capacity fading, thermal stability, and safety at high voltages. In this study, we use surface coating as a strategy to improve the thermal stability at higher voltages. The uniform and conformal $Al_2O_3$ coating on prefabricated electrodes using atomic layer deposition significantly prevented surface degradation over prolonged cycling. Initial capacity of 190, 199, 188 and $166mAh\;g^{-1}$ is obtained for pristine, 2, 5 and 10 cycles of ALD coated samples at 0.2C and maintains 145, 158, 151 and $130mAh\;g^{-1}$ for high current rate of 2C in room temperature. The two-cycle $Al_2O_3$ modified cathode retained 75% of its capacity after 500 cycles at 5C with 0.05% capacity decay per cycle, compared with 46.5% retention for a pristine electrode, at an elevated temperature. Despite the insulating nature of the $Al_2O_3$ coating, a thin layer is sufficient to improve the capacity retention at a high temperature. The $Al_2O_3$ coating can prevent the detrimental surface reactions at a high temperature. Thus, the morphology of the active material is well-maintained even after extensive cycling, whereas the bare electrode undergoes severe degradation.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.94-101
• /
• 2020

This study was trying to focus on achieving high efficiency of multi junction solar cell with thin film silicon solar cells. The proposed thin film Si-Ge/c-Si tandem junction solar cell concept with a combination of low-cost thin-film silicon solar cell technology and high-efficiency c-Si cells in a monolithically stacked configuration. The tandem junction solar cells using amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) as an absorption layer of upper sub-cell were simulated through ASA (Advanced Semiconductor Analysis) simulator for acquiring the optimum structure. Graded Ge composition - effect of E_g profiling and inserted buffer layer between absorption layer and doped layer showed the improved current density (J_sc) and conversion efficiency (η). 13.11% conversion efficiency of the tandem junction solar cell was observed, which is a result of showing the possibility of thin film Si-Ge/c-Si tandem junction solar cell.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.27 no.2_2
• /
• pp.397-402
• /
• 2024

Silicon carbide materials undergo an oxidation reaction in a high-temperature oxidizing environment and show different characteristics depending on the test temperature and time. In particular, the added oxides form a secondary phase within the sintering process and exhibit different oxidation characteristics depending on the added sintering materials. Therefore, to evaluate the oxidation characteristics, the weight of the test piece and the thickness of the oxidation layer were observed, and the structure and oxidation characteristics of the material were analyzed using SEM. SEM observation showed that an oxide layer was formed on the surface of the liquid sintered silicon carbide material after it was oxidized at 1200 ℃, 1300 ℃, and 1400 ℃ for 10 hours, respectively. Then, a bending test was performed at each temperature on the test piece with the oxidation layer formed to evaluate the change in flexural strength. The strength was 466.6 MPa at 1200 ℃, 363.1 MPa at 1300 ℃, and 350.8 MPa at 1400 ℃. Al₂O₃-SiO₂ oxidized at 1200 ℃ for 10 hours showed an increase in strength of about 21.0 MPa compared to the data before the oxidation test.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.90-96
• /
• 2013

We report here flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on Ti-mesh electrodes that show good mechanical flexibility and electrical conductivity. $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays prepared by electrochemical anodizing Ti-mesh substrate were used as photoanode. A Pt-coated Ti-mesh substrate was used as counter electrode. The photoanodes were modified by coating a $TiO_2$ porous layer onto the $TiO_2$ nanotubes in order to increase the specific surface area. To increase the long term stability of the DSSCs, a gel type electrolyte was used instead of a conventional liquid type electrolyte. The DSSC based on $33.2{\mu}m$ long porous $TiO_2$ nanotubes exhibited a better energy conversion efficiency of ~2.33%, which was higher than that of the DSSCs based on non-porous $TiO_2$ nanotubes.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.1128-1133
• /
• 2019

This paper proposed colored front panel glass for Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems using multi-layered thin films composed of transition metal oxide (TMO) layers. Molybdenum oxide (MoO₃) and tungsten oxide (WO₃) provided complementary and suitable materials in making effective interference of reflected light from interfaces with significant difference in refractive indices. A simple, fast, and cheap fabrication method was achieved by depositing the multi-layer films in a single thermal evaporator. Magenta colored glass with optical transmittance of more than 90% was achieved with MoO₃ (60nm)/WO₃(100nm) multi-layered film. This technology could play in a critical role in commercial BIPV system applications.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.45 no.9
• /
• pp.561-566
• /
• 2008

Carbon fiber fabric-silicon carbide composites were fabricated by liquid silicon infiltration (LSI) process. The porous two-dimensional carbon fiber fabric performs were prepared by 13 plies of 2D-plain-weave fabric in a three laminating method, [0/90], [${\pm}45$], [$0/90/{\pm}45$] lay-up, respectively. Before laminating, a thin pyrolytic carbon (PyC) layer deposited on the surface of 2D-plain weave fabric sheets as interfacial layer with $C_3H_8$ and $N_2$ gas at $900^{\circ}C$. A densification of the preforms for $C_f-Si-SiC$ matrix composite was achieved according to the LSI process at $1650^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. in vacuum atmosphere. The bending strength of the each composite were measured and the microstructural consideration was performed by a FE-SEM.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.196-203
• /
• 2012

$TiO_2$ was successfully formed on a Ti specimen by MAO (Micro-Arc-Oxidation) method treated in $Na_3PO_4$ electrolyte. This study deals with the influence of voltage and working time on the change of surface microstructure and phase composition. Voltage affected the forming rate of the oxidized layer and surface microstructure where, a low voltage led to a high surface roughness, more holes and a thin oxidized layer. On the other hand, a high voltage led to more dense surface structure, wider surface holes, a thick layer and fewer holes. Higher voltage increases photocatalytic activity because of better crystallization of the oxidized layer and good phase composition with anatase and rutile $TiO_2$, which is able to effectively separate excited electrons and holes at the surface.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.6-11
• /
• 2020

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a two-terminal tandem solar cell depends upon the tunnel-recombination junction (TRJ) between the top and bottom sub-cells. An optimized TRJ in a tandem cell helps improve its open-circuit voltage (V_oc), short-circuit current density (J_sc), fill factor (FF), and efficiency (PCE). One of the parameters that affect the TRJ is the buffer layer thickness. Therefore, we investigated various TRJs by varying the thickness of the buffer or intermediate layer (TRJ-buffer) in between the highly doped p-type and n-type layers of the TRJ. The TRJ-buffer layer was p-type nc-Si:H, with a doping of 0.06%, an activation energy (E_a) of 43 meV, an optical gap (E_g) of 2.04 eV, and its thickness was varied from 0 nm to 125 nm. The tandem solar cells we investigated were a combination of a heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) bottom sub-cell and an a-Si:H (amorphous silicon) top sub-cell. The initial cell efficiency without the TRJ buffer was 7.65% while with an optimized buffer layer, its efficiency improved to 11.74%, i.e., an improvement in efficiency by a factor of 1.53.