• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.417-421
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• 2016

We improve the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) by preparing a working electrode (WE) with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) by inducing Au thin films with thickness of 0.0 to 5.0 nm, deposited via sputtering. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the microstructure of the blocking layer (BL) of the Au thin films. Micro-Raman measurement was employed to confirm the LSPR effect, and a solar simulator and potentiostat were used to evaluate the photovoltaic properties, including the impedance and the I-V of the DSSC of the Au thin films. The results of the microstructural analysis confirmed that nano-sized Au agglomerates were present at certain thicknesses. The photovoltaic results show that the ECE reached a value of 5.34% with a 1-nm thick-Au thin film compared to the value of 5.15 % without the Au thin film. This improvement was a result of the increase in the LSPR of the $TiO_2$ layer that resulted from the Au thin film coating. Our results imply that the ECE of a DSSC may be improved by coating with a proper thickness of Au thin film on the BL.

• Carbon letters
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2012

Carbon materials were synthesized by pyrolysis from fibers of Corn-straw (Zea mays), Rice-straw (Oryza sativa), Jute-straw (Corchorus capsularis) Bamboo (Bombax bambusa), Bagass (Saccharum officinarum), Cotton (Bombax malabaricum), and Coconut (Cocos nucifera); these materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectra. All carbon materials are micro sized with large pores or channel like morphology. The unique complex spongy, porous and channel like structure of Carbon shows a lot of similarity with the original anatomy of the plant fibers used as precursor. Waxy contents like tyloses and pits present on fiber tracheids that were seen in the inherent anatomy disappear after pyrolysis and only the carbon skeleton remained; XRD analysis shows that carbon shows the development of a (002) plane, with the exception of carbon obtained from bamboo, which shows a very crystalline character. Raman studies of all carbon materials showed the presence of G- and D-bands of almost equal intensities, suggesting the presence of graphitic carbon as well as a disordered graphitic structure. Carbon materials possessing lesser density, larger surface area, more graphitic with less of an $sp^3$ carbon contribution, and having pore sizes around $10{\mu}m$ favor hydrogen adsorption. Carbon materials synthesized from bagass meet these requirements most effectively, followed by cotton fiber, which was more effective than the carbon synthesized from the other plant fibers.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2004

In this study, the influence of heat treatment and Ca contents on the electrochemical behavior was investigated. Mg-Ca alloys, i.e., Mg-0.22wt%Ca, Mg-0.56wt%Ca, Mg-1.31wt%Ca are prepared by ingot metallurgy. As-cast Mg-Ca alloys exhibited better electrochemical properties than pure Mg. Especially, Mg-0.22wt%Ca alloy improves its anode efficiency up to 62% and lowers the OCP up to -1.72VSCE. Microstructure and XRD patterns of Mg-Ca alloys show that additive Ca element is mainly solid-solutioned. While, the others show the microstructure and XRD pattern with large $Mg_2Ca$ at grain boundary. To assess the effect of heat treatment on the as-cast Mg-alloy, the specimens were heat treated at $200^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours under $CO_2$ gas atmosphere. Although corrosion properties of Mg-Ca alloys are somewhat deteriorated by heat treatment at $200^{\circ}C$ Mg-0.22wt%Ca alloy with uniformly distributed nano-sized $Mg_2Ca$ phase in ${\alpha}$-Mg matrix show still better corrosion properties than pure Mg specimen.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.881-887
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• 2014

Micro-sized Peltier coolers are generally employed for uniformly distributing heat generated in the multi-chip packages. These coolers are commonly classified into vertical and planar devices, depending on the heat flow direction and the arrangement of thermoelectric materials on the used substrate. Owing to the strong need for evaluation of performance of thermoelectric modules, at present an establishment of proper theoretical model has been highly required. The design theory for micro-sized thermoelectric cooler should be considered with contact resistance. Cooling performance of these modules was significantly affected by their contact resistance such as electrical and thermal junction. In this paper, we introduce the useful and optimal design model of small dimension thermoelectric module.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.131-136
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• 2009

Radio frequency (RF) plasma treatment is studied for the size reduction and the spheroidization of coarse particles to change them into nano-sized powders of spherical shape in MLCC fields. The uni-nanoadditives manufactured by RF plasma processing for high dispersion have been investigated for the effect on core-shell structure in dielectrics of MLCC. Microstructures have been characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA). We compared the distribution of core-shell grains between specimens manufactured using uni-nanoadditive and using mixed additive. In addition, the uniformity of rare earth elements in the core-shell structured grains was analyzed. It was shown, from TEM observations, that the sintered specimen manufactured using uni-nanoadditives had more dense small grains with well-developed core-shell structure than the specimen using mixed additives, which had a homogeneous microstructure without abnormal grain growth and shows broad temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) curves in all temperature ranges because of well dispersed additives.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.181-186
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• 2009

We fabricated ordered micro/nano patterns induced by controlled dewetting on the topographically patterned PS/P4VP bilayer thin film. The method is based on utilizing microimprinting lithography to induce a topographically heterogeneous bilayer film that allows the controlled dewetting upon subsequent thermal annealing. The dewetting that was initiated strictly at the boundary of the thicker and thinner regions was guided by the presence of the topographic structure. The dewetting front velocity of the microdomains in the confined regions was linearly proportional to the measurement time, which enabled us to control the size of the dewet domain with annealing time. In particular, the submicron sized dot arrays between lines were generated with ease when the dewetting was confined into geometry with a few microns in size. The kinetically driven, non-lithographical pattern structures accompanied the pattern reduction to 400%. The pattern arrays on a transparent glass substrate were especially useful for non-circular microlens arrays where the focal length of the lens was easily tunable by controlling the thermal annealing.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.298-302
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• 2012

Fe/$SiO_2$ core-shell type composite nanoparticles have been synthesized using a reverse micelle process combined with metal alkoxide hydrolysis and condensation. Nano-sized $SiO_2$ composite particles with a core-shell structure were prepared by arrested precipitation of Fe clusters in reverse micelles, followed by hydrolysis and condensation of organometallic precursors in micro-emulsion matrices. Microstructural and chemical analyses of Fe/$SiO_2$ core-shell type composite nanoparticles were carried out by TEM and EDS. The size of the particles and the thickness of the coating could be controlled by manipulating the relative rates of the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of TEOS within the micro-emulsion. The water/surfactant molar ratio influenced the Fe particle distribution of the core-shell composite particles, and the distribution of Fe particles was broadened as R increased. The particle size of Fe increased linearly with increasing $FeNO_3$ solution concentration. The average size of the cluster was found to depend on the micelle size, the nature of the solvent, and the concentration of the reagent. The average size of synthesized Fe/$SiO_2$ core-shell type composite nanoparticles was in a range of 10-30 nm and Fe particles were 1.5-7 nm in size. The effects of synthesis parameters, such as the molar ratio of water to TEOS and the molar ratio of water to surfactant, are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.173-178
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• 2012

The $Y_2O_3$ ceramics have been widely used as plasma resistant materials in the semiconductor industry. In this study, composites made of plasma resistant $Y_2O_3$ and electrically conductive carbon have been produced. The electrical properties of this composite were measured with respect to the size, volume fraction of the conductive carbon phase, and sintering temperature. When micro-sized carbon was used, the composites were insulating up to 5 wt% addition of the carbon. However, when nano-sized carbon of around 60 ~100 nm was used, the composites became conductive over threshold volume fraction of carbon, which increased with increasing sintering temperature. This behavior of electrical conductivity of the composites was discussed in terms of the percolation theory. The percolation threshold of the conductivity seemed to be affected by the grain growth and coalescences of dispersed conductive carbon phases with grain growth of matrix $Y_2O_3$.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.169-182
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• 2012

In this paper the intrinsic influence of micron-sized nickel particle reinforcements on microstructure, micro-hardness tensile properties and tensile fracture behavior of nano-alumina particle reinforced magnesium alloy AZ31 composite is presented and discussed. The unreinforced magnesium alloy (AZ31) and the reinforced nanocomposite counterpart (AZ31/1.5 vol.% $Al_2O_3$/1.5 vol.% Ni] were manufactured by solidification processing followed by hot extrusion. The elastic modulus and yield strength of the nickel particle-reinforced magnesium alloy nano-composite was higher than both the unreinforced magnesium alloy and the unreinforced magnesium alloy nanocomposite (AZ31/1.5 vol.% $Al_2O_3$). The ultimate tensile strength of the nickel particle reinforced composite was noticeably lower than both the unreinforced nano-composite and the monolithic alloy (AZ31). The ductility, quantified by elongation-to-failure, of the reinforced nanocomposite was noticeably higher than both the unreinforced nano-composite and the monolithic alloy. Tensile fracture behavior of this novel material was essentially normal to the far-field stress axis and revealed microscopic features reminiscent of the occurrence of locally ductile failure mechanisms at the fine microscopic level.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate failure characteristic and mechanism of four commercial water-repellent coatings for elevated temperature machinery applications. Method: Thermal degradation was performed for up to 64 thermal cycles. 1 cycle consists of 15 minute holding at 523K under 300rpm revolution and 15 minute-natural cooling. Contact angle was measured and microstructure of the coating layer was observed by using a scanning electron microscope. Results: Four kinds of commercial repellent coating showed hydrophobic or super-hydrophobic property implying that all coatings are suitable for room temperature application. Contact angle of three kinds of commercial coatings decreased rapidly after thermal exposure, while only one specimen having hydrophobic surface showed extremely slow degradation. Conclusion: Observed decrease in contact angle of the coatings were attributed to formation of macro-sized pores and disappearance of micro-protrusion during thermal exposure. Optimum water-repellent coating needs to be selected under the consideration of initial contact angle as sell as service temperature.