• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.579-584
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• 1998

Polymer dispersed liquid crystal(PDLC) composite films were made by polymerization induced phase separation method using UV-curing to investigate the effect of fabrication conditions, such as photoinitiator concentration, film thickness, polymerization temperature, and electric field during polymerization, etc., on the electro-optic properties. As the amount of photoinitiator increased, the driving voltage of PDLC device increased due to the increase of small-size liquid crystal phases. This was considered as the results from the increased interfacial area between liquid crystal (LC) and polymer matrix, since LC molecules at the interfacial regions were relatively difficult to response for the applied electric field. When the higher molecular weight oligomer (PTDA-1000) was used as matrix, the initial transmittance was observed to be relatively higher than that for the lower molecular weight oligomer (PTDA-250). Saturation transmittance for PTDA-1000 was observed at relatively lower voltage than that for PTDA-250, of which transmittance was not saturated even at 60 V. As polymerization temperature increased, the initial transmittance of resulting PDLC film increased due to the larger LC droplets formation and the more matched refractive index between LC and matrix than those cases for the lower polymerization temperature. Though driving voltage decreased for the thinner film, it was considered that optimum thickness of the film should be maintained to get some practical contrast, which is the ratio of off- and on-state transmittance. Furthermore, electro-optic properties such as initial transmittance, driving voltage, and response time were observed to be considerably affected by application of external field during polymerization.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 1992

M/BM -series catalysts, $MoO_3$ supported on ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$ were also prepared by impregnation method. BM/M-series catalysts, ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$ supported on $MoO_3$ were also prepared by coprecipitation. Structure and catalytic properties of the two phase catalysts were studied by means of using nitrogen adsorption, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The reaction test for the selective oxidation of propylene to acrolein over Bi-molybdate catalysts was studied using a fixed-bed reactor system. In M/BM-series catalysts, $MoO_3$ was dispersed on ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$, and the crystal structure of ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$ remains unchanged by the presence of excess $MoO_3$. However the surface morphology and bulk structure of BM/M-series catalysts were altered probably because the precipitated $Bi(OH)_3$ reacted with $MoO_3$ during the calcination to form ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$ phase. The results of propylene oxidation on both series catalysts showed that the reaction took place over the surface of ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$ particle and the role of excess $MoO_3$ was to supply oxygen to ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$. These increasing effects on activity were also observed in the mechanical mixtures of ${\alpha}-Bi_2Mo_3O_{12}$ and $MoO_3$.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.174-181
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• 2007

In this study, $SiO_2/poly(ethylene-co-vinyl$ alcohol)(EVOH) hybrid coating materials with gas barrier property could be produced using sol-gel method. The biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) substrate with surface pretreatment was coated with the prepared hybrid sols containing various inorganic silicate component by a spin coating method. Crystallization behavior of the hybrids was investigated in terms of analysis of X-ray diffraction and cooling thermogram from DSC experiment. From the morphological observation of the $SiO_2/EVOH$ hybrid gel, it was confirmed that there existed an optimum content of inorganic silicate precursor, Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), to produce hybrid materials with dense microstructure, exhibiting uniformly dispersed silica particles with average size below 100 nm. When TEOS was added at below or above the optimum content, particle clusters with large domain were observed, resulting in phase separation. This morphological result was found to be in good agreement with that of oxygen permeability of the hybrid coated films. In the case of film coated with hybrid prepared from addition of 0.01 - 0.02mol of TEOS, a remarkable improvement in barrier property could be obtained, however, with the addition of TEOS more than 0.04 mol, the barrier property was dramatically reduced because of phase separation and micro-crack formation on the film surface.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.8.1-8.1
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• 2011

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) materials have been widely used as an electron collector in DSSC. This is required to have an extremely high porosity and surface area such that the dye can be sufficiently adsorbed and be electronically interconnected, resulting in the generation of a high photocurrent within cells. In particular, their geometrical structures and crystalline phase have been extensively investigated as important issues in improving its photovoltaic efficiency. In this study, we present a new strategy to fabricate a photoelectrode having a periodic structured $TiO_2$ film templated from 1D or 3D polystyrene (PS) microspheres array. Monodisperse PS spheres of various radiuses were used for colloidal array on FTO glasses and two types of photoelectrode structures with different $TiO_2$ materials were investigated respectively. One is the igloo-shaped electrode prepared by $TiO_2$ deposition by RF-sputtering onto 2D microsphere-templated substrates. At the interface between the film and substrate, there are voids formed by the decomposition of PS microspheres during the calcination step. These holes might be expected to play the predominant roles as scattering spherical voids to promote a light harvesting effect, a spacious structure for electrolytes with higher viscosity and effective paths for electron transfer. Additionally the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ phase prepared by the RF-sputtering method was previously reported to improve the electron drift mobility within $TiO_2$ electrodes. This yields solar cells with a cell efficiency of 2.45% or more at AM 1.5 illumination, which is a very remarkable result, considering its $TiO_2$ electrode thickness (<2 ${\mu}m$). This study can be expanded to obtain higher cell efficiency by higher dye loading through the increase of surface area or multi-layered stacking. The other is the inverse opal photonic crystal electrode prepared by titania particles infusion within 3D colloidal arrays. To obtain the enlargement of ordered area and high quality of crystallinity, the synthesis of titania particles coated with a organic thin layer were applied instead of sol-gel process using the $TiO_2$ precursors. They were dispersed so well in most solvents without aggregates and infused successfully within colloidal array structures. This ordered mesoporous structure provides the large surface area leading to the enough adsorption of dye molecules and have an light harvesting effect due to the photonic band gap properties (back-and-forth reflection effects within structures). A major advantage of this colloidal array template method is that the pore size and its distribution within $TiO_2$ photoelectrodes are determined by those of latex beads, which can be controlled easily. These materials may have promising potentials for future applications of membrane, sensor and so on as well as solar cells.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.115-123
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• 2021

This study demonstrates a new method for the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid particles composed of an inorganic silica shell and organic core particles. The organic core particles are prepared with a uniform size using droplet-based microfluidic technology. In the process of preparing the organic core particles, uniform droplets are generated by independently controlling the flow rates of the dispersed phase containing photocurable resins and the continuous phase. After the generation of droplets in a microfluidic device, the droplets are photo-polymerized as particles by ultraviolet irradiation at the ends of microfluidic channels. The core particle is coated with a nano complex composed of polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) and phosphate ion (Pi) through strong non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction under optimized pH conditions. The polyamine nano complex rapidly induces the condensation reaction of silicic acid through the arranged amine groups of the main chain of PAH. Therefore, this method enabled the preparation of organic-inorganic hybrid particles coated with inorganic silica nanoparticles on the organic core. Finally, we demonstrated the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid particles in a short time under ambient and environmentally friendly conditions, and this is applicable to the production of organic-inorganic hybrid particles having various sizes and shapes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.560-567
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• 1997

A new approach to obtain stable $W_1/O/W_2$ multiple emulsions has been studied ; The basis of the interfacial interaction between a PCL-PEO-PCL triblock copolymer and a lipophilic emulsifier in the dispersed oil phase was examined. $W_1/O/W_2$ multiple emulsions were prepared by the two-step method. Arlacel P-l35 was used as a liphophilic emulsifier and Synperonic PE/F 127 as a hydrophilic one. Eutanol-G was used as an oil phase. NaCl was encapsulated within the multiple emulsion droplets as the internal marker and its release rate studies were carried out. The suability of the multiple emulsions have been assessed by measuring Separation Ratios(%) and microscopic observations. The release of NaCl was significantly reduced in $W_1/O/W_2$ multiple emulsions containing PCL-PEO-PCL triblock copolymer(2k-4k-2k or 6k-4k-6k) in the oil phase. It may be concluded that the copolymer and the emulsifier form effective interfacial complex to enhance stability and to control the release rate. The effective diffusion coefficients of the NaCl were estimated as $2.64{\times}10^{-15}s$and $3.23{\times}10^{-16}gcm^2/s$ for the $W_1/O/W_2$ multiple emulsion containing 1.2 wt % of PCL-PEO-PCL triblock copolymers with compositions of 2k-4k-2k and 6k-4k-2k, respectively. The rate of release decreased with the increase of the initial concentration of NaCl. The results were examined in view of Higuchi mechanism. A kinetic model which is similar to the model for release of dispersed drugs from a polymeric matrix was found to be suitable for the release of NaCl from $W_1/O/W_2$ multiple emulsions.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.65-65
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• 2012

Copper zinc tin sulfide ($Cu_2ZnSnS_4$, CZTS) is a very promising material as a low cost absorber alternative to other chalcopyrite-type semiconductors based on Ga or In because of the abundant and economical elements. In addition, CZTS has a band-gap energy of 1.4~1.5eV and large absorption coefficient over ${\sim}10^4cm^{-1}$, which is similar to those of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$(CIGS) regarded as one of the most successful absorber materials for high efficient solar cell. Most previous works on the fabrication of CZTS thin films were based on the vacuum deposition such as thermal evaporation and RF magnetron sputtering. Although the vacuum deposition has been widely adopted, it is quite expensive and complicated. In this regard, the solution processes such as sol-gel method, nanocrystal dispersion and hybrid slurry method have been developed for easy and cost-effective fabrication of CZTS film. Among these methods, the hybrid slurry method is favorable to make high crystalline and dense absorber layer. However, this method has the demerit using the toxic and explosive hydrazine solvent, which has severe limitation for common use. With these considerations, it is highly desirable to develop a robust, easily scalable and relatively safe solution-based process for the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer with a thickness of 1.5~2.0 ${\mu}m$ and micrometer-scaled grains using two different non-vacuum approaches. The first solution-processing approach includes air-stable non-toxic solvent-based inks in which the commercially available precursor nanoparticles are dispersed in ethanol. Our readily achievable air-stable precursor ink, without the involvement of complex particle synthesis, high toxic solvents, or organic additives, facilitates a convenient method to fabricate a high quality CZTS absorber layer with uniform surface composition and across the film depth when annealed at $530^{\circ}C$. The conversion efficiency and fill factor for the non-toxic ink based solar cells are 5.14% and 52.8%, respectively. The other method is based on the nanocrystal dispersions that are a key ingredient in the deposition of thermally annealed absorber layers. We report a facile synthetic method to produce phase-pure CZTS nanocrystals capped with less toxic and more easily removable ligands. The resulting CZTS nanoparticle dispersion enables us to fabricate uniform, crack-free absorber layer onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$, which exhibits a robust and reproducible photovoltaic response. Our simple and less-toxic approach for the fabrication of CZTS layer, reported here, will be the first step in realizing the low-cost solution-processed CZTS solar cell with high efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.6.2-6.2
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• 2009

Nanostructured materials arecurrently receiving much attention because of their unique structural andphysical properties. Research has been stimulated by the envisagedapplications for this new class of materials in electronics, optics, catalysisand magnetic storage since the properties derived from nanometer-scalematerials are not present in either isolated molecules or micrometer-scalesolids. This study presents the experimental results derived fromthe various functional materials processed in nano-scale using pulsed laserablation, since those materials exhibit new physical phenomena caused by thereduction dimensionality. This presentation consists of three mainparts to consider in pulsed laser ablation (PLA) technique; first nanocrystallinefilms, second, nanocolloidal particles in liquid, and third, nanocoating fororganic/inorganic hybridization. Firstly, nanocrystalline films weresynthesized by pulsed laser deposition at various Ar gas pressures withoutsubstrate heating and/or post annealing treatments. From the controlof processng parameters, nanocystalline films of complex oxides and non-oxidematerials have been successfully fabricated. The excellentcapability of pulsed laser ablation for reactive deposition and its ability totransfer the original stoichiometry of the bulk target to the deposited filmsmakes it suitable for the fabrication of various functionalmaterials. Then, pulsed laser ablation in liquid has attracted muchattention as a new technique to prepare nanocolloidal particles. Inthis work, we represent a novel synthetic approach to directly producehighly-dispersed fluorescent colloidal nanoparticles using the PLA from ceramicbulk target in liquid phase without any surfactant. Furthermore, novel methodbased on simultaneous motion tracking of several individual nanoparticles isproposed for the convenient determination of nanoparticle sizedistributions. Finally, we report that the GaAs nanocrystals issynthesized successfully on the surface of PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate)microspheres by modified PLD technique using a particle fluidizationunit. The characteristics of the laser deposited GaAs nanocrytalswere then investigated. It should be noted that this is the first successfultrial to apply the PLD process nanocrystals on spherical polymermatrices. The present process is found to be a promising method fororganic/inorganic hybridization.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.159-168
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• 2010

In this study, high porous PVdF flat sheet membranes were prepared to obtain reinforced membrane support for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Nano-size laponite was randomly dispersed in the membranes to improve mechanical property which lowered by the high porosity. The morphology and porosity of prepared PVdF/Laponite composite membranes were examined using the SEM analysis and the weight method and all membranes showed over 60% porosity. The membrane thermal stability depending on the laponite contents in the composite membranes was evaluated by membrane heat shrinkage at $105^{\circ}C$ and $135^{\circ}C$. MD and TD heat shrinkage of the PVdF composite membrane containing 5 wt% laponite was 2~3% and 2~3.5% at $135^{\circ}C$, respectively. The mechanical strength was enhanced after incorporating laponite particles and 30% increase in the modulus compared to pure PVdF membrane was obtained.

• Clean Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.243-248
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• 2013

Thermally conductive materials are widely used in various applications where effective heat dissipation is required. Graphene shows high potential for various uses owing to high electrical conductivity, good mechanical strength, and high thermal conductivity. Generally previous works used organic solvents are generally used for the dispersion of graphene in fabrication procedure. In order to achieve clean fabrication it is required to use water media. In this study, we fabricated graphene attached poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microsphere via microfluidic method. With the aid of surfactant, graphene was well dispersed in water which was used as continuous flow. Thermal conductivity was improved with the small amount of graphene addition and this indicate potential use of this system for thermally conductive composite material.