• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.98-103
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• 2011

We prepared a counter electrode by electroplating Ni as underlayer and Pt as plating layer on the FTO glass to increase the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). We found an excellent adhesion between Ni underlayer and FTO glass when Ni underlayer was electroplated at $10mA/cm^2$ for 2 min on FTO glass. We observed Ni and Pt metal diffraction peaks by XRD analysis when Ni underlayer was electroplated at $10mA/cm^2$ for 2 min, and Pt layer was electroplated at $5mA/cm^2$ for 1 min on the Ni underlayer. Photovoltaic performance and impedance analysis of DSSCs fabricated with this counter electrode shows the highest efficiency of 5.6% and the lowest resistance of 75 ohm.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.274-278
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• 2012

$TiO_2$ can be used optically and is applied on many areas such as gas sensor, solar cell and photocatalysis. Electrospun nanofibers have received great interest for development and utilization in some novel applications, such as chemical sensors, dye-sensitized solar cell and photo catalysis. In this study, pure $TiO_2$ and Ga-doped $TiO_2$ nanofibers synthesized by a modified electrospinning method. The Ga doped $TiO_2$ solution is prepared by mixing poly vinyl pyrrolidone, ethyl alcohol, and titanium (IV) isopropoxide. By electrospinning these sols, nanofibers were fabricated. These fibers are heat-treated at $800^{\circ}C$ in air. The prepared pure $TiO_2$ and Ga-doped $TiO_2$ nanofibers samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy.

• Clean Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.306-313
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• 2014

Nanoporous $TiO_2$ films are commonly used as working electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). So far, there have been attempts to synthesize films with various $TiO_2$ nanostructures to increase the power-conversion efficiency. In this work, vertically aligned rutile $TiO_2$ nanorods were grown on fluorinated tin oxide (FTO) glass by hydrothermal synthesis, followed by deposition of an anatase $TiO_2$ film. This new method of anatase $TiO_2$ growth avoided the use of a seed layer that is usually required in hydrothermal synthesis of $TiO_2$ electrodes. The dense anatase $TiO_2$ layer was designed to behave as the electron-generating layer, while the less dense rutile nanorods acted as electron-transfer pathwaysto the FTO glass. In order to facilitate the electron transfer, the rutile phase nanorods were treated with a $TiCl_4$ solution so that the nanorods were coated with the anatase $TiO_2$ film after heat treatment. Compared to the electrode consisting of only rutile $TiO_2$, the power-conversion efficiency of the rutile-anatase hybrid $TiO_2$ electrode was found to be much higher. The total thickness of the rutile-anatase hybrid $TiO_2$ structures were around $4.5-5.0{\mu}m$, and the highest power efficiency of the cell assembled with the structured $TiO_2$ electrode was around 3.94%.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.667-671
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• 2014

In this study, we suggest a facile method to control conditions of single component independently when preparing consisting two-component metal oxides nanofiber by simply dispersing nanoparticles in precursor solution. The well dispersed $SiO_2$ nanoparticles in $TiO_2$ nanofibers were successfully synthesized through a simple electrospinning process. The as-synthesized nanodfibers were investigated via FE-SEM, XRD and EDS for structural studies, furthermore, the analysis of UV-VIS and photocatalytic activity were carried out for demonstrate the effect of $SiO_2$ nanoparticles dispersed in $TiO_2$ nanofibers. As a result, $TiO_2$ nanofibres dispersed with $SiO_2$ nanoparticles have enhanced photocatalytic activity than that of $TiO_2$ nanofibres only. In this strategy, the introduction of $SiO_2$ nanoparticles in $TiO_2$ nanofibers were attribute to enlarge absorption in the visible region (380~440 nm). Additionally, $Br{\o}nsted$ acid sites generated in each metal oxide of Ti and Si increase OH radicals efficiently as well as it limit recombination loss by holding photogenerated electrons for high efficient photocatalytic activity.