• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.217-217
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• 2011

Recently, demand for thermally stable metal nanoparticles suitable for chemical reactions at high temperatures has increased to the point to require a solution to nanoparticle coalescence. Thermal stability of metal nanoparticles can be achieved by adopting core-shell models and encapsulating supported metal nanoparticles with mesoporous oxides [1,2]. However, to understand the role of metal-support interactions on catalytic activity and for surface analysis of complex structures, we developed a novel catalyst design by coating an ultra-thin layer of titania on Pt supported silica ($SiO_2/Pt@TiO_2$). This structure provides higher metal dispersion (~52% Pt/silica), high thermal stability (~600$^{\circ}C$) and maximization of the interaction between Pt and titania. The high thermal stability of $SiO_2/Pt@TiO_2$ enabled the investigation of CO oxidation studies at high temperatures, including ignition behavior, which is otherwise not possible on bare Pt nanoparticles due to sintering [3]. It was found that this hybrid catalyst exhibited a lower activation energy for CO oxidation because of the metal-support interaction. The concept of an ultra-thin active metal oxide coating on supported nanoparticles opens-up new avenues for synthesis of various hybrid nanocatalysts with combinations of different metals and oxides to investigate important model reactions at high-temperatures and in industrial reactions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.3593-3599
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• 2010

In an original effort, this lab attempted to employ polystyrene nanoparticles as a template for the synthesis of ordered and highly porous macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films, utilizing their high combustion temperature and narrow size distribution. However, polystyrene nanoparticle thin films were not obtained due to the low interaction between individual particles and between the particle and silicon substrate. However, polystyrene-polyacrylic acid (PS-AA) colloidal particles of a core-shell structure were synthesized by a one-pot miniemulsion polymerization approach, with hydrophilic polyacrylic acid tails on the particle surface that improved interaction between individual particles and between the particle and silicon substrate. The PS-AA thin films were spin-coated in the thickness ranges from monolayer to approximately $1.0\;{\mu}m$. Using the PS-AA thin films as sacrificial templates, macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films were successfully synthesized by vapor deposition or conventional solution sol-gel infiltration methods. Inspection with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed that the macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films consist of interconnected air balls (~100 nm). Typical macroporous $SiO_2$ thin films showed ultralow refractive indices ranging from 1.098 to 1.138 at 633 nm, according to the infiltration conditions, which were confirmed by spectroscopy ellipsometry (SE) measurements. This research shows how the synthetic control of the macromolecule such as hydrophilic polystyrene nanopaticles and silicate sol precursors innovates the optical properties and processabilities for actual applications.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2009

$\beta-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ nanorods were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method using nickel-oxide nanoparticle as a catalyst and gallium metal powder as a source material. The average diameter of nanorods was around 160 nm and the average length was $4{\mu}m$. Also, we confirmed that the synthesis of nanorods follows the vapor-solid growth mechanism. From the results of X-ray diffraction and HR-TEM observation, it can be found that the synthesized nanorods consisted of a typical core-shell structure with single-crystalline $\beta-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ core with a monoclinic crystal structure and an outer amorphous gallium oxide layer. Li/$\beta-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ nanorods cell delivered capacity of 867 mAh/g-$\beta-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ at first discharge. Although the Li/$\beta-Ga_{2}O_{3}$ nanorods cell showed low coulombic efficiency at first cycle, the cell exhibited stable cycle life property after fifth cycle.