• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.97-97
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• 2013

Recently, Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSS), which is one of the In- and Ga- free absorber materials, has been attracted considerable attention as a new candidate for use as an absorber material in thin film solar cells. The CZTSS-based absorber material has outstanding characteristics such as band gap energy of 1.0 eV to 1.5 eV, high absorption coefficient on the order of 104 cm-1, and high theoretical conversion efficiency of 32.2% in thin film solar cells. Despite these promising characteristics, research into CZTSS based thin film solar cells is still incomprehensive and related reports are quite few compared to those for CIGS thin film solar cells, which show high efficiency of over 20%. I will briefly overview the recent technological development of CZTSS thin film solar cells and then introduce our research results mainly related to sputter based process. CZTSS thin film solar cells are prepared by sulfurization of stacked both metallic and sulfide precursors. Sulfurization process was performed in both furnace annealing system and rapid thermal processing system using S powder as well as 5% diluted H2S gas source at various annealing temperatures ranging from $520^{\circ}C$ to $580^{\circ}C$. Structural, optical, microstructural, and electrical properties of absorber layers were characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, Hall-measurement, TRPL, etc. The effects of processing parameters, such as composition ratio, sulfurization pressure, and sulfurization temperature on the properties of CZTSS absorber layers will be discussed in detail. CZTSS thin film solar cell fabricated using metallic precursors shows maximum cell efficiency of 6.9% with Jsc of 25.2 mA/cm2, Voc of 469 mV, and fill factor of 59.1% and CZTS thin film solar cell using sulfide precursors shows that of 4.5% with Jsc of 19.8 mA/cm2, Voc of 492 mV, and fill factor of 46.2%. In addition, other research activities in our lab related to the formation of CZTS absorber layers using solution based processes such as electro-deposition, chemical solution deposition, nano-particle formation will be introduced briefly.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.256-262
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• 2010

Dispersion polymerization of methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, and glycidyl methacrylate were performed in supercritical $CO_2$ at $80\;^{\circ}C$ and 346 bar. Glycidyl methacrylate linked poly(dimethylsiloxane) (GMS-PDMS) surfactant, which was prepared by linking glycidyl methacrylate to monoglycidyl ether terminated PDMS with amino-propyltriethoxysilane, was used as surfactant for the dispersion polymerization in $CO_2$. The yield of the poly(alkyl acrylate) polymers, synthesized in $CO_2$ medium, decreased as the alkyl tail of the acrylate monomers increased. Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) and poly(methyl acrylate) were produced in bead form whereas poly(ethyl acrylate) and poly(butyl acrylate) were viscous liquid. The poly(glycidyl methacrylate) particles had a number average diameter of 2.45 ${\mu}m$ and monodisperse distribution. The poly(methyl acrylate) had a number average diameter of 0.52 ${\mu}m$ and the particle size distribution was bimodal. The glass transition temperatures ($T_g$) of the poly(glycidyl methacrylate) and the poly(alkyl acrylate) products were 4~9 K higher than the $T_g$ of the corresponding acrylate polymers synthesized in conventional processes.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.559-569
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• 2018

Catalytic supports made of carbon have many advantages, such as high coking resistance, tailorable pore and surface structures, and ease of recycling of waste catalysts. Moreover, they do not require pre-reduction. In this study, ash-free coal (AFC) was obtained by the thermal extraction of carbonaceous components from raw coal and its performance as a carbon catalytic support was compared with that of well-known activated carbon (AC). Nickel was dispersed on the carbon supports and the resulting catalysts were applied to the steam reforming of toluene (SRT), a model compound of biomass tar. Interestingly, nickel catalysts dispersed on AFC, which has a very small surface area (${\sim}0.13m^2/g$), showed higher activity than those dispersed on AC, which has a large surface area ($1,173A/cm^2$). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the particle size of nickel deposited on AFC was smaller than that deposited on AC, with the average values on AFC ${\approx}11nm$ and on AC ${\approx}23nm$. This proved that heteroatomic functional groups in AFC, such as carboxyls, can provide ion-exchange or adsorption sites for the nano-scale dispersion of nickel. In addition, the pore structure, surface morphology, chemical composition, and chemical state of the prepared catalysts were analyzed using Brunauer-Emmett-Taylor (BET) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.150-162
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• 2022

In the field of water treatment and pharmaceutical bio an alumina hollow fiber membrane used for mixture separation. However, due to the lack of strengths it is very brittle to handle and apply. Therefore, it is necessary to study and improve the bending strength of the membrane to 100 MPa or more. In this study, as the mixing ratio of the nano-particles increased to 0, 1, 3, and 5 wt%, the viscosity of the fluid mixture increased. The pore structure of the hollow membrane produced by interrupting the diffusion exchange rate of the solvent and non-solvent during the spinning process suppresses the formation of the finger-like structure and gradually increases the ratio of the sponge-like structure to improve the membrane mechanical strength to more than 100 MPa. As a result, an interparticle space was ensured to improve the porosity of the sponge-like structure with high permeability, and it showed excellent N2 permeability of about 100000 GPU and high water permeability of 3000 L/m² h. Therefore, it can be concluded, that the addition of γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles as sintering aid is an important method to enhance the mechanical strength of the α-alumina hollow fiber membrane to maintain high permeability.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2022

Tungsten carbide is widely used in carbide tools. However, its production process generates a significant number of end-of-life products and by-products. Therefore, it is necessary to develop efficient recycling methods and investigate the remanufacturing of tungsten carbide using recycled materials. Herein, we have recovered 99.9% of the tungsten in cemented carbide hard scrap as tungsten oxide via an alkali leaching process. Subsequently, using the recovered tungsten oxide as a starting material, tungsten carbide has been produced by employing a self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method. SHS is advantageous as it reduces the reaction time and is energy-efficient. Tungsten carbide with a carbon content of 6.18 wt % and a particle size of 116 nm has been successfully synthesized by optimizing the SHS process parameters, pulverization, and mixing. In this study, a series of processes for the high-efficiency recycling and quality improvement of tungsten-based materials have been developed.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.38-49
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• 2024

Wastewater treatment using membrane bioreactors has been extensively used to alleviate water shortage and pollution by improving the quality of the treated water discharged into the environment. However, membrane biofouling persistently holds back an MBR process by reducing the process efficiency. Herein, we synthesized carbon nanospheres (CNSs) with many hydrophilic oxygen groups and utilized them as an additive to prepare high-performance ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with hydrophilicity and porous pore structure. CNSs were found to form crescent-shaped pores on the membrane surface, increasing the mean surface pore size by about 40% without causing significant defects larger than bubble points, as the CNS content increased by 4.6 wt%. In addition, the porous pore structure of CNS composite membranes was also attributable to the CNS's isotropic morphologies and relatively low particle number density because the aforementioned properties contributed to preventing the polymer solution viscosity from soaring with the loading of CNS. However, too porous structure compromised the mechanical properties, such that CNS2.3 was the best from a comprehensive consideration including the pore structure and mechanical properties. As a result, CNS2.3 showed not only 2 times higher water permeability than CNS0 but also 5 times longer operation duration until membrane cleaning was required.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.325-340
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• 2024

There are several novel uses for dispersing many nanoparticles into a conventional fluid, including dynamic sealing, damping, heat dissipation, microfluidics, and more. Therefore, melting heat and mass transfer characteristics of a 3-D MHD Hybrid Nanofluid flow over a rotating disc with presenting dufour and soret effects are assessed numerically in this study. In this instance, we investigated both ferric sulfate and molybdenum disulfide as nanoparticles suspended within base fluid water. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into linked higher-order non-linear ordinary differential equations by the local similarity transformation. The collection of these deduced equations is then resolved using a Chebyshev spectral collocation-based algorithm built into the Mathematica software. To demonstrate how different instances of hybrid/ nanofluid are impacted by changes in temperature, velocity, and the distribution of nanoparticle concentration, examples of graphical and numerical data are given. For many values of the material parameters, the computational findings are shown. Simulations conducted for different physical parameters in the model show that adding hybrid nanoparticle to the fluid mixture increases heat transfer in comparison to simple nanofluids. It has been identified that hybrid nanoparticles, as opposed to single-type nanoparticles, need to be taken into consideration to create an effective thermal system. Furthermore, porosity lowers the velocities of simple and hybrid nanofluids in both cases. Additionally, results show that the drag force from skin friction causes the nanoparticle fluid to travel more slowly than the hybrid nanoparticle fluid. The findings also demonstrate that suction factors like magnetic and porosity parameters, as well as nanoparticles, raise the skin friction coefficient. Furthermore, It indicates that the outcomes from different flow scenarios correlate and are in strong agreement with the findings from the published literature. Bar chart depictions are altered by changes in flow rates. Moreover, the results confirm doctors' views to prescribe hybrid nanoparticle and particle nanoparticle contents for achalasia patients and also those who suffer from esophageal stricture and tumors. The results of this study can also be applied to the energy generated by the melting disc surface, which has a variety of industrial uses. These include, but are not limited to, the preparation of semiconductor materials, the solidification of magma, the melting of permafrost, and the refreezing of frozen land.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.181-186
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• 2011

Thermal stability of the $TiO_2$ SCR catalyst with W03 loading was investigated in terms of structural and morphological analyses. The $TiO_2$ catalysts with 10 w% $WO_3$ content and without $WO_3$ were prepared. which were heat-treated at $800^{\circ}C$ for 5 h. It was found that the catalytic acidity was decreased by thermal degradation in the $WO_3-TiO_2$ specimen that relatively less than the $TiO_2$ specimen from FT-IR analysis. The phase transition of the $TiO_2$ catalyst from anatase to rutile was increased by heal-treatment, and the percentage of the rutile phase was 28.4 % in the $WO_3-TiO_2$ and 22.9 % in the $TiO_2$. A shell region of $WO_3$ distinguished from a $TiO_2$ particle was also observed in the grain boundary region, and the $WO_3$ led to the suppression of grain growth. It could be confirmed that the suppression of grain growth can contribute to the improvement of catalytic properties for thermal stability more than the increase of anatase-rutile phase transformation which cause the reduction of the catalytic activity in the $TiO_2$ SCR catalyst by the presence of $WO_3$.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2010

Photopolymer is a material for recording three dimensional holograms containing photo information. Photopolymer has been found to be a proper material due to many advantages such as high DE value, easy processing, and low price. Compositions of PVA, monomer, initiater and photosensitizer were determined by previous experiments and the compositions of $SeO_2$ and $TiO_2$ were considered as variable to find out the effects of $TiO_2$ on DE. The DE values were constant for the varying compositions of $TiO_2$ (0.1 mg~1.0 mg). In other words, $TiO_2$ is not directly effective on the DE values. Composition change experiments from $SeO_2$ 0.1 mg, $TiO_2$ 0.9 mg to $SeO_2$ 0.9 mg, $TiO_2$ 0.1 showed a maximum DE value of 73.75% at a component of $SeO_2$ 0.8 mg, $TiO_2$ 0.2 mg. It seemed that regardless of the amount of $TiO_2$, increasing the amount of $SeO_2$ gently increases DE`s. If nano particles are heavily added, transparent films could not be made due to the separation of particles by the solubility decrease. Photopolymer films could be made with high DE values for an extensive angle range if $TiO_2$ additions were kept minimum and $SeO_2$ additions were kept maximum.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.550-557
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• 2002

TiO$_2$ particles coated on fly ash composites for use in photocatalyst were synthesized by the precipitation dropping method and heated at $700^{\circ}C$ for 2 h. The pH of reaction solution, the addition rate of NH$_4$HCO$_3$, the stirring speed, the reaction temperature and the concentration of TiC1$_4$ had a pronounced effect on the nature of precipitated TiO$_2$ particles on the surface off fly ash and the crystal structure of precipitated TiO$_2$ particles. At an addition rate of NH$_4$HCO$_3$; 1.0 ml/min, the pH of the reaction solution; 6, the stirring speed; 1,000 rpm and the reaction temperature; 8$0^{\circ}C$, about 10 nm of TiO$_2$ particle size and homogeneous precipitated layer on the surface of a fly ash was achieved. On the contrary, at an addition rate of NH$_4$HCO$_3$; 0.3,0.5 ml/min, the pH of the reaction solution; 2 and 11, the stirring speed; 300~500 rpm and the reaction temperature; lower than 5$0^{\circ}C$:, Inhomogeneous precipitated layer was developed on a fly ash. TiO$_2$ particles with anatase phase was formed as-dried precipitation at the low concentration of Tic14, the high addition rate of NH$_4$HCO$_3$ and the high reaction temperature, the crystalline fraction of anatase increased with raising heat-treatment temperature and rutile phase began to formation at 80$0^{\circ}C$. The crystal size of TiO$_2$ particles increased with raising the heat-treatment temperature, the crystal size was showed about 21 m at $700^{\circ}C$. Anatase type of TiO$_2$ coated on the fly ash heated at $700^{\circ}C$ for 2 h showed 1.25 g/cm$^3$of particle density, 82.8% of strength and 69.5 Lab of whiteness and can be used as a photocatalyst.