• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.393-399
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• 2016

We have successfully fabricated 3D (3-dimensional) nanostructures of $TiO_2$ coated with a $g-C_3N_4$ layer via hydrothermal and sintering methods to enhance photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. Due to the coupling of $TiO_2$ and $g-C_3N_4$, the nanostructures exhibited good performance as the higher conduction band of $g-C_3N_4$, which can be combined with $TiO_2$. To fabricate 3D nanostructures of $g-C_3N_4/TiO_2$, $TiO_2$ was first grown as a double layer structure on FTO (Fluorine-doped tin oxide) substrate at $150^{\circ}C$ for 3 h. After this, the $g-C_3N_4$ layer was coated on the $TiO_2$ film at $520^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. As-prepared samples were varied according to loading of melamine powder, with values of loading of 0.25 g, 0.5 g, 0.75 g, and 1 g. From SEM and TEM analysis, it was possible to clearly observe the 3D sample morphologies. From the PEC measurement, 0.5 g of $g-C_3N_4/TiO_2$ film was found to exhibit the highest current density of $0.12mA/cm^2$, along with a long-term stability of 5 h. Compared to the pristine $TiO_2$, and to the 0.25 g, 0.75 g, and 1 g $g-C_3N_4/TiO_2$ films, the 0.5 g of $g-C_3N_4/TiO_2$ sample was coated with a thin $g-C_3N_4$ layer that caused separation of the electrons and the holes; this led to a decreasing recombination. This unique structure can be used in photoelectrochemical applications.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.13 no.5 s.58
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• pp.327-335
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• 2006

In the development of new hydrogen absorbing materials for a next generation of metal hydride electrodes for rechargeable batteries, metastable Mg-Ni-based compounds find currently special attention. Amor phous-nanocrystalline $Mg_{63}Ni_{30}Y_7$ and $Mg_{50}Ni_{30}Y_{20}$ alloys were produced by mechanical alloying and melt-spinning and characterized by means of XRD, TEM and DSC. On basis of mechanically alloyed Mg-Ni-Y powders, complex hydride electrodes were fabricated and their electrochemical behaviour in 6M KOH (pH=14,8) was investigated. The electrodes made from $Mg_{63}Ni_{30}Y_7$ powders, which were prepared under use of a SPEX shaker mill, with a major fraction of nanocrystalline phase reveal a higher electrochemical activity far hydrogen reduction and a higher maximum discharge capacity (247 mAh/g) than the electrodes from alloy powder with predominantly amorphous microstructure (216 mAh/g) obtained when using a Retsch planetary ball mill at low temperatures. Those discharge capacities are higher that those fur nanocrystalline $Mg_2Ni$ electrodes. However, the cyclic stability of those alloy powder electrodes was low. Therefore, fundamental stability studies were performed on $Mg_{63}Ni_{30}Y_7$ and $Mg_{50}Ni_{30}Y_{20}$ ribbon samples in the as-quenched state and after cathodic hydrogen charging by means of anodic and cathodic polarisation measurements. Gradual oxidation and dissolution of nickel governs the anodic behaviour before a passive state is attained. A stabilizing effect of higher fractions of yttrium in the alloy on the passivation was detected. During the cathodic hydrogen charging process the alloys exhibit a change in the surface state chemistry, i.e. an enrichment of nickel-species, causing preferential oxidation and dissolution during subsequent anodization. The effect of chemical pre-treatments in 1% HF and in $10\;mg/l\;YCl_3/1%\;H_2O_2$ solution on the surface degradation processes was investigated. A HF treatment can improve their anodic passivation behavior by inhibiting a preferential nickel oxidation-dissolution at low polarisation, whereas a $YCl_3/H_2O_2$ treatment has the opposite effect. Both pre-treatment methods lead to an enhancement of cathodically induced surface degradation processes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.547-554
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• 2010

In this study, new manganese oxide (i.e., black-birnessite) particles with nanostructures were prepared and its physico-chemical properties and oxidative-transformation efficiency on 1,4-naphthoquinine(1,4-NPQ) in the presence of reactive mediator was investigated. The results were also compared with that of the manganese oxide (i.e., brown-birnessite) particles synthesized by classical McKenzie method. Analysis of XRD and SEM data show that the particles are a single phase corresponding to a birnessite-based manganese oxide with cotton ball-like shapes containing nanofibers. In batch experiments, removals of 1,4-NPQ by the black-birnessite follows pseudo-first-order kinetics and the rate constant values obtained are greater about 2.3 times than that of the brown-birnessite in spite of its lower surface area (41.0 vs 19.80 $m^2/g$). The results can be explained by the higher crystallinity and nano structured features of the back-birnessite particles, which give higher reactivity for the removals of the quinone compound. HPLC analysis of the reaction products confirmed that the balck-birnessites removed 1,4-NPQ through cross-coupling reaction in the presence of catechol as a reactive mediator.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.77-82
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• 2014

Stretchable electrodes are focused due to many demands for soft electronics. One of the candidates, carbon black composites have advantages of low cost, easy processing and decreasing resistivity in a certain range during stretching. However, the electrical conductivity of carbon black composites is not enough for electronic devices. Graphene is 2-dimensional nanostructured carbon based material which shows good electrical properties and flexibility. They may help to improve electrical conductivity of the carbon black composites. In this study, graphene was added to a carbon black electrode to enhance electrical properties and investigated. Electrical resistivity of graphene added carbon electrode decreased comparing with that of carbon black electrode because graphene bridged non-contacting carbon black aggregates to strengthen the conductive network. Also graphene reduced an increase in the resistance of the carbon black electrode applied to strain because they connected gap of separated carbon black aggregates and aligned along the stretching direction at the same time. In conclusion, an addition of graphene to carbon black gives two benefits on the electrical properties of carbon black composite as a stretchable electrode.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.479-485
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• 2008

Porous $TiO_2$ nanostructured particles containing both mesopores and macropores were fabricated by utilizing an aerosol templating method from two kinds of starting materials (colloidal mixture of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles and PS particles, and that of TTIP solution and PS particles). The effects of mixing ratio of PS to $TiO_2$ and reactor temperature on the particle properties were investigated. When $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were used as starting materials, the increase of macropores number was observed by SEM and the specific surface area and total pore volume were increased from $31.6m^2/g$ to $39.1m^2/g$ and $0.068cm^3/g$ to $0.089cm^3/g$, respectively, by increasing the weight mixing ratio of $PS/TiO_2$ from 0.79 to 1.31. When TTIP was used as precursor, the specific surface area and mesopore volume of particles prepared at same condition decreased by 67% and 75%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2001

Effects of the surface fluorination on the electrochemical charge-discharge properties of $Mg_2$Ni electrode in Ni-MH batteries fabricated by mechanical alloying were investigated. After 20h ball milling, Mg and Ni powder formed nanocrystalline $Mg_2$Ni. Discharge capacity of this alloy increased greatly at first one cycle, but due to the formation of Mg(OH)$_2$ passive layer, it showed a rapid degradation in alkaline solution within 10cyc1es. In case of 6N KOH +xN KF electrolyte (x = 0.5, 1, 2), a continuous and stable fluorinated layer formed by adding excess F$^{[-10]}$ ion, increased durability of $Mg_2$Ni electrode greatly and high rate discharge capability(90-100mAh/g). 2N KF addition led to the highest durability of all tested here. The reason of the improvement is due to thin MgF$_2$, which can prevent the $Mg_2$Ni electrode from forming Mg(OH)$_2$layer that is the main cause of degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.291-297
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• 2007

The field emission properties of CNT-emitters coated with Ag-Cu alloy have been investigated. The vertical aligned multi-walled CNTs were synthesized by dc-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (dc-PECVD) and the Ag-Cu alloy was coated by using dc-magnetron sputter. The morphology of alloy-coated and un-coated CNT-emitters was observed by using SEM and their field emission properties were also measured. Annealing the AgCu-coated CNTs at temperature more than ${\sim}700^{\circ}C$, the Ag-Cu alloy was diffused to and aggregated on the top of the CNT as a Q-tip. A significant progress on the field emission was not observed with coating Ag-Cu alloy on the CNTs, but a certain improvement in a resistance against oxygen gas was made confirmation. It seems to be due to inertness of Ag-Cu alloy on the CNTs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.213-213
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• 2012

It has been known that quantum confinement effect of CdSe nanocrystal was observed by increasing the number of deposition cycle using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. Here, we report on thermally-induced quantum confinement effect of CdSe at the given cycle number using spin-coating technology. A cation precursor solution containing $0.3\;M\;Cd(NO_3)_2{\cdot}4H_2O$ is spun onto a $TiO_2$ nanoparticulate film, which is followed by spinning an anion precursor solution containing $0.3\;M\;Na_2\;SeSO_3$ to complete one cycle. The cycle is repeated up to 10 cycles, where the spin-coated $TiO_2$ film at each cycle is heated at temperature ranging from $100^{\circ}C$ to $250^{\circ}C$. The CdSe-sensitized $TiO_2$ nanostructured film is contacted with polysulfide redox electrolyte to construct photoelectrochemical solar cell. Photovoltaic performance is significantly dependent on the heat-treatment temperature. Incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) increases with increasing temperature, where the onset of the absorption increases from 600 nm for the $100^{\circ}C$- to 700 nm for the $150^{\circ}C$- and to 800 nm for the $200^{\circ}C$- and the $250^{\circ}C$-heat treatment. This is an indicative of quantum size effect. According to Tauc plot, the band gap energy decreases from 2.09 eV to 1.93 eV and to 1.76 eV as the temperature increases from $100^{\circ}C$ to $150^{\circ}C$ and to $200^{\circ}C$ (also $250^{\circ}C$), respectively. In addition, the size of CdSe increases gradually from 4.4 nm to 12.8 nm as the temperature increases from $100^{\circ}C$ to $250^{\circ}C$. From the differential thermogravimetric analysis, the increased size in CdSe by increasing the temperature at the same deposition condition is found to be attributed to the increase in energy for crystallization with $dH=240cal/^{\circ}C$. Due to the thermally induced quantum confinement effect, the conversion efficiency is substantially improved from 0.48% to 1.8% with increasing the heat-treatment temperature from $100^{\circ}C$ to $200^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.81-90
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• 2010

We introduce a novel and versatile approach for preparing self-assembled nanoporous multilayered films with antireflective properties. Protonated polystyrene-block-poly (4-vinylpyrine) (PS-b-P4VP) and anionic polystyrene-block-poly (acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) block copolymer micelles (BCM) were used as building blocks for the layer-by-layer assembly of BCM multilayer films. BCM film growth is governed by electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding interactions between the oppositely BCMs. Both film porosity and film thickness are dependent upon the charge density of the micelles, with the porosity of the film controlled by the solution pH and the molecular weight (Mw) of the constituents. PS7K-b-P4VP28K/PS2K-b-PAA8K films prepared at pH 4 (for PS7K-b-P4VP28K) and pH 6 (for PS2K-b-PAA8K) are highly nanoporous and antireflective. In contrast, PS7K-b-P4VP28K/PS2K-b-PAA8K films assembled at pH 4/4 show a relatively dense surface morphology due to the decreased charge density of PS2K-b-PAA8K. Films formed from BCMs with increased PS block and decreased hydrophilic block (P4VP or PAA) size (e.g., PS36K-b-P4VP12K/PS16K-b-PAA4K at pH 4/4) were also nanoporous. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the nanostructured electrochemical sensors based on patterning methods show the electrochemical activities. Anionic poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) layers were selectively and uniformly deposited onto the catalase (CAT)-coated surface using the micro-contact printing method. The pH-induced charge reversal of catalase can provide the selective deposition of consecutive PE multilayers onto patterned PSS layers by causing the electrostatic repulsion between next PE layer and catalase. Based on this patterning method, the hybrid patterned multilayers composed of platinum nanoparticles (PtNP) and catalase were prepared and then their electrochemical properties were investigated from sensing $H_2O_2$ and NO gas. This study was based on the papers reported by our group. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 9935 (2006); Adv. Mater. 19, 4364 (2007); Electro. Mater. Lett. 3, 163 (2007)).

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.97-101
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• 2016

ZnO has nanostructured material because of unique properties suitable for various applications. Amongst all chemical and physics methods of synthesis of ZnO nanostructure, the hydrothermal method is attractive for its simplicity and environment friendly condition. Nanostructure ZnO thin films have been successfully synthesized on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate using hydrothermal method. A possible growth mechanism of the various nanostructures ZnO is discussed in schematics. The prepared materials were characterized by standard analytical techniques, i.e., X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD study showed that the obtained ZnO nanostructure thin films are in crystalline nature with hexagonal wurtzite phase. The SEM image shows substrate surface covered with nanostructure ZnO nanrod. The UV-vis absorption spectrum of the synthesized nanostructure ZnO shows a strong excitonic absorption band at 365 nm which indicate formation nanostructure ZnO thin film. Photoluminescence spectra illustrated two emission peaks, with the first one at 424 nm due to the band edge emission of ZnO and the second broad peak centered around 500 nm possibly due to oxygen vacancies in nanostructure ZnO. The Raman measurements peaks observed at $325cm^{-1}$, $418cm^{-1}$, $518cm^{-1}$ and $584cm^{-1}$ indicated that nanostrusture ZnO thin film is high crystalline quality. We trust that nanostructure ZnO material can be effectively will be used as a highly active and stable phtocatalysis application.