• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.252-259
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• 2005

Single crystal $CuGaSe_2$ layers were grown on thoroughly etched semi-insulating CaAs(100) substrate at $450^{\circ}C$ with hot wall epitaxy (HWE) system by evaporating $CuGaSe_2$ source at $610^{\circ}C$. The crystalline structure of the single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence (PL) and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The carrier density and mobility of single crystal $CuGaSe_2$ thin films measured with Hall effect by Van der Pauw method are $4.87{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$ and $129cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ at 293 K, respectively. The temperature dependence of the energy band gap of the $CuGaSe_2$ obtained from the absorption spectra was well described by the Varshni's relation, $E_g(T)=1.7998eV-(8.7489{\times}10^{-4}eV/K)T^2/(T+335K)$. The voltage, current density of maxiumun power, fill factor, and conversion, efficiency of $n-CdS/p-CuGaSe_2$, heterojunction solar cells under $80mW/cm^2$ illumination were found to be 0.41 V, $21.8mA/cm^2$, 0.75 and 11.17%, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.371-377
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• 2009

The objectives of the present study were to investigate the effects of different dietary ratios of whole-crop corn silage and alfalfa hay on nitrogen (N) digestion, duodenal flow and metabolism across the portal-drained viscera (PDV) of growing beef steers, and to elucidate their relationships. Four steers (236${\pm}$7 kg BW) fitted with duodenal cannulae and chronic indwelling catheters into the portal and mesenteric veins and abdominal aorta were used in a 4${\times}$4 Latin square design. Animals were fed (at 12-h intervals) the 4 diets consisting of whole-crop corn silage (C) and alfalfa hay (A) in 80:20 (C8A2), 60:40 (C6A4), 40:60 (C4A6) and 20:80 (C2A8) ratios of which dietary crude protein (CP) was 10.5, 12.0, 13.5 and 15.0% of dry matter (DM), respectively. Feeding level was restricted to 95% of ad libitum intake to measure N digestion, blood flow and net flux of N across the PDV. Digestibility of DM and neutral detergent fiber and digestible energy intake linearly increased as the ratio of alfalfa hay increased. The N intake, duodenal flow and intestinal disappearance increased linearly with increasing alfalfa hay. Arterial and portal concentrations of ${\alpha}$-amino N showed a quadratic response to increasing levels of alfalfa hay and were the highest in steers fed the C6A4 diet. The net PDV release of ${\alpha}$-amino N and ammonia N increased linearly with increasing alfalfa hay, but urea N uptake by PDV did not differ among diets. As a percentage of apparently digested N in the total gut, net PDV release of ${\alpha}$-amino N linearly decreased from 66 to 48% with increasing alfalfa hay. Conversely, net PDV recovery of ${\alpha}$-amino N to intestinal N disappearance varied with increasing alfalfa hay accounting for 49, 50, 58 and 61% on C8A2, C6A4, C4A6 and C2A8 diets, respectively. Net PDV uptake of urea N, relative to apparently digested N, linearly decreased from 81 to 25% as alfalfa hay increased from 20 to 80% of DM intake. Considering PDV uptake of urea N, microbial efficiency and conversion of total tract digested N to PDV ${\alpha}$-amino N net supply, a diet consisting of 80% whole-crop corn silage and 20% alfalfa hay (10.5% CP) was the best, while considering the quantities of intestinal N disappearance and ${\alpha}$-amino N absorption, a diet of 20% whole-crop corn silage and 80% alfalfa hay (15% CP) would be preferred. The proportion of ${\alpha}$-amino N recovered by PDV relative to the intestinal N disappearance may vary with energy intake level of mixed forage diets.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.173-180
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• 2020

As the demand for fossil fuels continues to increase worldwide, carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in the air has increased over the centuries. The way to reduce CO₂ emissions to the atmosphere, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology have been developed that can be applied to power plants and factories, which are primary emission sources. According to the climate change mitigation policy, direct air capture (DAC) in air, referred to as "negative emission" technology, has a low CO₂ concentration of 0.04%, so it is focused on adsorbent research, unlike conventional CCS technology. In the DAC field, chemical adsorbents using CO₂ absorption, solid absorbents, amine-functionalized materials, and ion exchange resins have been studied. Since the absorbent-based technology requires a high-temperature heat treatment process according to the absorbent regeneration, the membrane-based CO₂ capture system has a great potential Membrane-based system is also expected for indoor CO₂ ventilation systems and immediate CO₂ supply to smart farming systems. CO₂ capture efficiency should be improved through efficient process design and material performance improvement.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.505-512
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• 2014

A new donor-accepter-donor-accepter-donor (D-A-D-A-D) type 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-thiophene-based acceptor unit 2,5-di(4-(5-bromo-4-octylthiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-7-yl)thiophene ($DTBTTBr_2$) was synthesized. Copolymerized with fluorene and indeno[1,2-b]fluorene electron-rich moieties, two alternating narrow band gap (NBG) copolymers PF-DTBTT and PIF-DTBTT were prepared. And two copolymers exhibit broad and strong absorption in the range of 300-700 nm with optical band gap of about 1.75 eV. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels vary between -5.43 and -5.52 eV and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels range from -3.64 to -3.77 eV. Potential applications of the copolymers as electron donor material and $PC_{71}BM$ ([6,6]-phenyl-$C_{71}$ butyric acid methyl ester) as electron acceptors were investigated for photovoltaic solar cells (PSCs). Photovoltaic performances based on the blend of PF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) and PIF-DTBTT/$PC_{71}BM$ (w:w; 1:2) with devices configuration as ITO/PEDOT: PSS/blend/Ca/Al, show an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 2.34% and 2.56% with the open circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$) of 0.87 V and 0.90 V, short circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) of $6.02mA/cm^2$ and $6.12mA/cm^2$ under an AM1.5 simulator ($100mA/cm^2$). The photocurrent responses exhibit the onset wavelength extending up to 720 nm. These results indicate that the resulted narrow band gap copolymers are viable electron donor materials for polymer solar cells.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.232-236
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• 1999

A solar cell based on dye-sensitized photoelectric conversion was studied by electrochemical and spec-trofluorometric methods for the purposes of enhancing its efficiency and stability of $TiO_2$ solar cells. Nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ was used to prepare photoelectrodes, and photosensitizing dyes such as malachite green oxalate, basic blue3, rhodamine B, and bromocresol purple were chosen as sensitizers. Electrochemical oxidation potentials and absorption and emission wavelengths of dyes were used to determine energy levels of the dyes. By comparing excited energy levels of the dyes with the conduction band edge potential $(E_{c,s})\;of\;TiO_2$ calculated by using the flat-band potential $(E_{fb})\;of\;TiO_2$, properties of a dye required to fabricate a high efficient photosensitizing solar cell with high short-circuit current $(J_{sc})$ were suggested. Enhanced stability of photocurrent was obtained by coating a $TiO_2|ITO$ electrode with Polypyrrole that Possibly Prevented the recombination between the conduction band electrons and oxidized dyes and suppressed the direct electrode redox reactions of dyes on ITO.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.632-639
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• 2021

In this research, fluorine doping was performed to enhance the photocatalytic activities of WO₃ which were measured using methylene blue dye. WO_3-xF_x photocatalyts were prepared by a vaper phase fluorination during a sintering for preparing WO₃ photocatalysts from a WCl₆ precursor. The bandgap energy of WO₃ photocatalysts decreased from 2.95 eV to 2.54 eV, and the oxygen vacancies site increased by about 55% after fluorine doping. In addition, the initial degradation efficiency of methylene blue showed that the fluorine doped sample showed a 6-fold increase in photocatalytic activities from 10% to 60% compared to that of the untreated sample. It is believed that fluorine is doped to reduce the band gap of photocatalysts, enabling the catalytic activity with low energy, and that oxygen vacancies-generated surface defects increase the visible light absorption region of WO₃ photocatalysts, thereby increasing photocatalytic activity. In this study, it was confirmed that fluorine-doped WO_3-xF_x photocatalysts with an excellent photocatalytic activity can be manufactured easily using a one-step vaper phase fluorination that does not require a post-treatment process.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2007

In recent years, mammography system is changed rapidly from conventional screen-film system to digital system for application to screening and diagnosis. Digital mammography system provides several advantages over screen-film mammography system. According to the information provided by the manufacturer, digital mammography system offers radiation dose reduction in comparison with screen-film mammography system, because of digital detector, particularly direct digital detector has higher x-ray absorption efficiency than screen-film combination or imaging plate(IP). We measured average glandular doses(AGD) in screen-film mammography(SFM) system with slow screen-film combination, computed mammography(CM) system, indirect digital mammography(IDM) system and direct digital mammography(DDM) system using brest tissue-equivalent phantom(glandularity 30%, 50% and 70%). The results were shown as follows : AGD values for DDM system were highest than those for other systems. Although automatic exposure control(AEC) mode was selected, the curve of the AGD values against thickness or glandularity increased significantly for the SFM system with the uniform target/filter(Mo/Mo) combination. Therefore, the AGD values for the high energy examinations were highest in the SFM system, and those for the low energy examinations were highest in the DDM system. But the curve of the AGD values against thickness and glandularity increased gently for CM system with the automatic selection of the target/filter combination (from Mo/Mo to Mo/Rh or from Mo/Rh to Rh/Rh), and the AGD values were lowest. Consequently, the parameters in mammography for each exposure besides detection efficiency play an important role in oder to estimate a patient radiation dose.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.137-141
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• 2010

Poly [4,7-Di-thiophen-2-yl-benzo(1,2,5)thiadiazole]-alt-1,4-bis(dodecyloxy)-2,5-divinylbenzene (PPVTBT) was synthesized by the Heck coupling reaction between 4,7-Di-thiophen-2-yl-benzo(1,2,5)thiadiazole and 1,4-bis(dodecyloxy)-2,5-divinylbenzene. The maximum absorption and band gap of PPVTBT were 550 nm and 1.74 eV, respectively. The HOMO and LUMO energy level of PPVTBT were -5.24 eV and -3.50 eV, respectively. The photovoltaic device based on the blend of PPVTBT and (6)-1-(3-(methoxycarbonyl)propyl)-{5}-1-phenyl[5,6]-$C_{61}$ (PCBM) (1 : 6 by weight ratio) was fabricated. The efficiency of device was 0.16%. The short circuit current density (Jsc), fill factor (FF) and open-circuit voltage (Voc) of the device was $0.74mA/cm^{2}$, 31% and 0.71 V, respectively, under AM 1.5 G and 1 sun condition ($100mA/cm^{2}$).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.240-244
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• 2013

Although forward osmosis desalination technology has drawn substantial attention as a next-generation desalination method, the energy efficiency of its draw solution treatment process should be improved for its commercialization. When ammonium bicarbonate is used as the draw solute, the system consists of forward-osmosis membrane modules, draw solution separation and recovery processes. Mixed gases of ammonia and carbon dioxide generated during the draws solution separation, need to be recovered to re-concentrate ammonium bicarbonate solution, for continuous operation as well as for the economic feasibility. The diluted ammonium bicarbonate solution has been proposed as the absorbent for the draw solution regeneration. In this study, experiments are conducted to investigate performance and features of the absorption corresponding to absorbent concentration. It is concluded that ammonium bicarbonate solution can be used to recover the generated ammonia and carbon dioxide. The results will be applied to design and operation of pilot-scale forward-osmosis desalination system.