• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.661-668
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• 2010

Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$(CIGS) photovoltaic thin films were electrodeposited on Mo/glass substrates with an aqueous solution containing 2 mM $CuCl_2$, 8 mM $InCl_3$, 20 mM $GaCl_3$ and 8mM $H_2SeO_3$ at the electrodeposition potential of -0.6 to -1.0 V(SCE) and pH of 1.8. The best chemical composition of $Cu_{1.05}In_{0.8}Ga_{0.13}Se_2$ was found to be achieved at -0.7 V(SCE). The precursor Cu-In-Ga-Se films were annealed for crystallization to chalcopyrite structure at temperatures of 100-$500^{\circ}C$ under Ar gas atmosphere. The chemical compositions, microstructures, surface morphologies, and crystallographic structures of the annealed films were analyzed by EPMA, FE-SEM, AFM, and XRD, respectively. The precursor Cu-In-Ga-Se grains were grown sparsely on the Mo-back contact and also had very rough surfaces. However, after annealing treatment beginning at $200^{\circ}C$, the empty spaces between grains were removed and the grains showed well developed columnar shapes with smooth surfaces. The precursor Cu-In-Ga-Se films were also annealed at the temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ for 60 min under Se gas atmosphere to suppress the Se volatilization. The Se amount on the CIGS film after selenization annealing increased above the Se amount of the electrodeposited state and the $MoSe_2$ phase occurred, resulting from the diffusion of Se through the CIGS film and interaction with Mo back electrode. However, the selenization-annealed films showed higher crystallinity values than did the films annealed under Ar atmosphere with a chemical composition closer to that of the electrodeposited state.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2037-2042
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• 2013

A TCO-less palladium (Pd) catalytic layer on the glass substrate was assessed as the counter electrode (CE) in a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) to confirm the stability of Pd with the $I^-/I_3{^-}$electrolyte on the DSSC performance. A 90nm-thick Pd film was deposited by a thermal evaporator. Finally, DSSC devices of $0.45cm^2$ with glass/FTO/blocking layer/$TiO_2$/dye/electrolyte(10 mM LiI + 1 mM $I_2$ + 0.1 M $LiClO_4$ in acetonitrile solution)/Pd/glass structure was prepared. We investigated the microstructure and photovoltaic property at 1 and 12 hours after the sample preparation. The optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), cyclic voltammetry measurement (C-V), and current voltage (I-V) were employed to measure the microstructure and photovoltaic property evolution. Microstructure analysis showed that the corrosion by reaction between the Pd layer and the electrolyte occurred as time went by, which led the decrease of the catalytic activity and the efficiency. I-V result revealed that the energy conversion efficiency after 1 and 12 hours was 0.34% and 0.15%, respectively. Our results implied that we might employ the other non-$I^-/I_3{^-}$electrolyte or the other catalytic metal layers to guarantee the long term stability of the DSSC devices.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.42-46
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• 2008

Even though fuel cell have high efficiency when pure hydrogen from gas tank is used as a fuel source, it is more beneficial to generate hydrogen from city gas (mainly methane) in residential application such as domestic or office environments. Thus hydrogen is generated by reforming process using hydrocarbon. Unfortunately, the reforming process for hydrogen production is accompanied with unavoidable impurities. Impurities such as CO, $CO_2$, $H_2S$, $NH_3$, $CH_4$, and $CH_4$ in hydrogen could cause negative effects on fuel cell performance. Those effects are kinetic losses due to poisoning of the electrode catalysts, ohmic losses due to proton conductivity reduction including membrane and catalyst ionomer layers, and mass transport losses due to degrading catalyst layer structure and hydrophobic property. Hydrogen produced from reformer eventually contains around 73% of $H_2$, 20% or less of $CO_2$, 5.8% of less of $N_2$, or 2% less of $CH_4$, and 10ppm or less of CO. This study is aimed at investigating the effect of carbon dioxide on fuel cell performance. The performance of PEM fuel cell was investigated using current vs. potential experiment, long run(10 hr) test, and electrochemical impedance measurement when the concentrations of carbon dioxide were 10%, 20% and 30%. Also, the concentration of impurity supplied to the fuel cell was verified by gas chromatography(GC).

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.172-178
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• 1997

Polyaniline(PANI)-stearic acid(SA) composite monolayer was formed at the air-water interface. The stearic acid as a surfactant was used to promote PANI monolayer formation. Uniform PANI-SA monolayer assemblies with Y type and transfer ratio of ca. 1 were fabricated using the Langmuir-Blodgett(LB) technique. The PANI-SA composite LB films with high electrical conductivity of $10^{-1}{\sim}10^{-2}S/cm$ were obtained by doping of HCl or $I_2$, and their conductivity revealed essentially close value as that of conventional PAHI-HCl complex. Especially, iodine is found to be the most promising dopant, since it gives a remarkable stability for the application as a polymer electrode in the MIM molecular device consisted of acceptor, sensitizer, and donor. The structure and physical properties of PANI-SA LB films were investigated through the near-ir UV, FT-IR, and Cyclic voltammetry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.27-27
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• 2011

For the design of real applicable molecular devices, current-voltage properties through molecular nanostructures such as metal-molecule-metal junctions (molecular junctions) have been studied extensively. In thiolate monolayers on the gold electrode, the chemical bonding of sulfur to gold and the van der Waals interactions between the alkyl chains of neighboring molecules are important factors in the formation of well-defined monolayers and in the control of the electron transport rate. Charge transport through the molecular junctions depends significantly on the energy levels of molecules relative to the Fermi levels of the contacts and the electronic structure of the molecule. It is important to understand the interfacial electron transport in accordance with the increased film thickness of alkyl chains that are known as an insulating layer, but are required for molecular device fabrication. Thiol-tethered RuII terpyridine complexes were synthesized for a voltage-driven molecular switch and used to understand the switch-on mechanism of the molecular switches of single metal complexes in the solid-state molecular junction in a vacuum. Electrochemical voltammetry and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics are measured to elucidate electron transport processes in the bistable conducting states of single molecular junctions of a molecular switch, Ru(II) terpyridine complexes. (1) On the basis of the Ru-centered electrochemical reaction data, the electron transport rate increases in the mixed self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of Ru(II) terpyridine complexes, indicating strong electronic coupling between the redox center and the substrate, along the molecules. (2) In a low-conducting state before switch-on, I-V characteristics are fitted to a direct tunneling model, and the estimated tunneling decay constant across the Ru(II) terpyridine complex is found to be smaller than that of alkanethiol. (3) The threshold voltages for the switch-on from low- to high-conducting states are identical, corresponding to the electron affinity of the molecules. (4) A high-conducting state after switch-on remains in the reverse voltage sweep, and a linear relationship of the current to the voltage is obtained. These results reveal electron transport paths via the redox centers of the Ru(II) terpyridine complexes, a molecular switch.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.543-553
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• 1996

Oxygen reduction in an alkaline fuel cell was studied by using perovskite type oxides as an oxygen electrode catalyst. The high surface area catalysts were prepared by malic acid method and had a formula of $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{1-x}Fe_xO_3$(x=0.00, 0.01, 0.10, 0.20, 0.35 and 0.50). From the result of XRD pattern and specific surface area due to the amount of Fe substitution and the consumption of ammonia-water, the complex formation of Fe ion with $NH_3$ was the main factor for both the phase stability of perovskite and the increase of specific surface area. Multi-step calcination was necessary to give a single phase of perovskite in catalyst precursor. The crystal structure of the catalysts was simple cubic perovskite, which was verified from the XRD patterns of the catalysts. The activity of oxygen reduction was monitored by the techniques of cyclic voltammetry, static voltage-current method, and current interruption method. The activity(current density) of oxygen reduction showed its minimum at x=0.01 and its maximum between 0.20 and 0.35 of x-value in $La_{0.6}Sr_{0.4}Co_{1-x}Fe_xO_3$. This tendency was independent of the change of surface area.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2018

Hollow carbon spheres (HCS) and carbon spheres (CS) were prepared by a hydrothermal reaction and they were introduced as a substrate for the deposition of $MnO_2$ nanoparticles. The $MnO_2$ nanoparticles were deposited on the carbon surface by a chemical redox deposition method. After deposition, the $MnO_2$ nanoparticles were uniformally distributed on the carbon surface in a slit-shape, and sparse $MnO_2$ slits appeared on the HCS surface. The $MnO_2-HCS$ showed an initial specific capacitance of $164.1F\;g^{-1}$ at scan rate of $20mv\;s^{-1}$, and after 1,000 cycles, the specific capacitance was maintained to $141.3F\;g^{-1}$. The capacity retention of $MnO_2-HCS$ and $MnO_2-CS$ were calculated to 86% and 78% in the cycle performance test up to 1,000 cycles, respectively. $MnO_2-HCS$ showed a good cycle stability due to the mesoporous hollow structure which can cause a faster diffusion of the electrolyte and can easily adsorb and desorb $Na^+$ ions on the surface of the electrode.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1081-1088
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• 2013

Two new metal-free organic dyes bridged by anthracene-mediated ${\pi}$-conjugated moieties were successfully synthesized for use in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). A N,N-diphenylthiophen-2-amine unit in these dyes acts as an electron donor, while a (E)-2-cyano-3-(thiophen-2-yl)acrylic acid group acts as an electron acceptor and an anchoring group to the $TiO_2$ electrode. The photovoltaic properties of (E)-2-cyano-3-(5-((10-(5-(diphenylamino)thiophen-2-yl)anthracen-9-yl)ethynyl)thiophen-2-yl)acrylic acid (DPATAT) and (E)-2-cyano-3-(5'-((10-(5-(diphenylamino)thiophen-2-yl)anthracen-9-yl)ethynyl)-2,2'-bithiophen-5-yl)acrylic acid (DPATABT) were investigated to identify the effect of conjugation length between electron donor and acceptor on the DSSC performance. By introducing an anthracene moiety into the dye structure, together with a triple bond and thiophene moieties for fine-tuning of molecular configurations and for broadening the absorption spectra, the short-circuit photocurrent densities ($J_{sc}$), and open-circuit photovoltages ($V_{oc}$) of DSSCs were improved. The improvement of $J_{sc}$ in DSSC made of DPATABT might be attributed to much broader absorption spectrum and higher molecular extinction coefficient (${\varepsilon}$) in the visible wavelength range. The DPATABT-based DSSC showed the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.34% (${\eta}_{max}$ = 3.70%) under AM 1.5 illumination ($100mWcm^{-2}$) in a photoactive area of $0.41cm^2$, with the $J_{sc}$ of $7.89mAcm^{-2}$, the $V_{oc}$ of 0.59 V, and the fill factor (FF) of 72%. In brief, the solar cell performance with DPATABT was found to be better than that of DPATAT-based DSSC.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.1170-1175
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• 1998

PZT films without lower electrode were deposited on the highly doped Si(100) substrate with MgO buffer layer (Mgo/si) by RF magnetron sputtering method followed by the rapid thermal annealing at $650^{\circ}C$ . We investigated the dependences of the crystalline and electrical properties on the MgO thickness and the RTA post annealing. The PZT films on bare Si (without MgO) showed pyrochlore crystal structure while those on MgO(50 )/Si substrates showed the typical perovskite crystal structures. From SEM and AES analysis, the thickness of PZT films was about 7000 showing relatively smooth interface. The depth profiles indicated that atomic species were distributed homogeneously in the PZT/MgO/Si substrate. The dielectric constant($\varepsilon_{r}$ ) and remanent polarization(2Pr) were about 300 and $14\mu$C/$\textrm{cm}^2$;, respectively. The leakage current was about $3.2\mu$/A$\textrm{cm}^2$.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.48 no.12
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• pp.8-14
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• 2011

The optimal geometry of the gate field plate in AlGaN/GaN-on-Si HEMT has been proposed using two-dimensional device simulation to achieve a high breakdown voltage for a given gate-to-drain distance. It was found that the breakdown voltage was drastically enhanced due to the reduced electric field at the gate corner when a gate field plate was employed. The electric field distribution at the gate corner and the field plate edge was investigated as functions of field plate length and insulator thickness. According to the simulation results, the electric field at the gate corner can be successfully reduced even with the field plate length of 1 ${\mu}m$. On the other hand, when the field plate length is too long, the distance between field plate and drain electrode is reduced below a critical level, which eventually lowers the breakdown voltage. The highest breakdown voltage was achieved with the field plate length of 1 ${\mu}m$. According to the simulation results varying the $SiN_x$ film thickness for the fixed field plate length of 1 ${\mu}m$, the optimum thickness range of the $SiN_x$ film was 200 - 300 nm where the electric field strength at the field plate edge counterbalances that of the gate corner.