• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.375-375
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• 2010

CdTe as an absorber material is widely used in thin film solar cells with the heterostructure due to its almost ideal band gap energy of 1.45 eV, high photovoltaic conversion efficiency, low cost and stable performance. The deposition methods and preparation conditions for the fabrication of CdTe are very important for the achievement of high solar cell conversion efficiency. There are some rearranged reports about the deposition methods available for the preparation of CdTe thin films such as close spaced sublimation (CSS), physical vapor deposition (PVD), vacuum evaporation, vapor transport deposition (VTD), closed space vapor transport, electrodeposition, screen printing, spray pyrolysis, metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and RF sputtering. The RF sputtering method for the preparation of CdTe thin films has important advantages in that the thin films can be prepared at low growth temperatures with large-area deposition suitable for mass-production. The authors reported that the optical and electrical properties of CdTe thin film were closely connected by the thickness-uniformity of the film in the previous study [1], which means that the better optical absorbance and the higher carrier concentration could be obtained in the better condition of thickness-uniformity for CdTe thin film. The thickness-uniformity could be controlled and improved by the some process parameters such as vacuum level and RF power in the sputtering process of CdTe thin films. However, there is a limitation to improve the thickness-uniformity only in the preparation process [1]. So it is necessary to introduce the external or additional method for improving the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin film because the cell size of thin film solar cell will be enlarged. Therefore, the authors firstly applied the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process to improving the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin films with a G&P POLI-450 CMP polisher [2]. CMP process is the most important process in semiconductor manufacturing processes in order to planarize the surface of the wafer even over 300 mm and to form the copper interconnects with damascene process. Some important CMP characteristics for CdTe were obtained including removal rate (RR), WIWNU%, RMS roughness, and peak-to-valley roughness [2]. With these important results, the CMP process for CdTe thin films was performed to improve the thickness-uniformity of the sputtering-deposited CdTe thin film which had the worst two thickness-uniformities of them. Some optical properties including optical transmittance and absorbance of the CdTe thin films were measured by using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer (Varian Techtron, Cary500scan) in the range of 400 - 800 nm. After CMP process, the thickness-uniformities became better than that of the best condition in the previous sputtering process of CdTe thin films. Consequently, the optical properties were directly affected by the thickness-uniformity of CdTe thin film. The absorbance of CdTe thin films was improved although the thickness of CdTe thin film was not changed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.629-635
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• 2012

Two novel conjugated copolymers utilizing 4,7-dithien-2-yl-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (DTBT) coupled with cyano (-CN) substituted vinylene, as the electron deficient moeity, have been synthesized and evaluated in bulk heterojunction solar cell. The electron deficient moeity was coupled with carbazole and fluorene unit by Knoevenagel condition to provide poly(bis-2,7-((Z)-1-cyano-2-(5-(7-(2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4-yl)-2-thienyl)ethenyl)-alt-9-(1-octylnonyl)-9H-carbazol-2-yl-2-butenenitrile) (PCVCNDTBT) and poly(bis-2,7-((Z)-1-cyano-2-(5-(7-(2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4-yl)-2-thienyl)ethenyl)-alt-9,9-dihexyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl) (PFVCNDTBT). The optical band gaps of PCVCNDTBT (1.74 eV) and PFVCNDTBT (1.80 eV) are lower than those of PCDTBT (1.88 eV) and PFVDTBT (2.13 eV), which is advantageous to provide better coverage of the solar spectrum in the longer wavelength region. The high $V_{oc}$ value of the PSC of PCVCNDTBT (~0.91 V) is attributed to its lower HOMO energy level ( 5.6 eV) as compared to PCDTBT ( 5.5 eV). Bulk heterojunction solar cells based on the blends of the polymers with [6,6]phenyl-$C_{61}$-butyric acid methyl ester ($PC_{61}BM$) gave power conversion efficiencies of 0.76% for PCVCNDTBT under AM 1.5, 100 mW/$cm^2$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.54-54
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• 2010

In this study, the correlation between temperature and the gel-content of the module were analyzed through experiments. Amorphous thin-film solar cell used in this experiment has a visible light transmission performance of 10%. In addition, ethylene vinyl acetate(EVA) film and the clear glass have been used for the modulation. The most important process is to laminate the module in the manufacturing process of BIPV(Building integrated photovoltaic) module. Setting parameters of laminator in the lamination process are temperature, pressure and time. Setting conditions significantly affect the durability, watertightness and airtightness of module. The most important factor in the setting parameters is temperature to satisfy the gel-contents. The bottom and top surface temperature of module are measured according to setting temperature of laminator. The results showed $145^{\circ}C$ of max temperature of the bottom surface and $128^{\circ}C$ of max temperature of top surface on the module at the temperature condition of $160^{\circ}C$. And at the another temperature condition of laminator with $150^{\circ}C$, the max temperature do bottom and top are $117^{\circ}C$ and $134^{\circ}C$ respectively. The temperature difference between bottom and top of the module occurred, that is because heat has been blocked by the clear glass and the bottom of the cells absorb the heat from the laminator. In this particular, the temperature difference between setting temperature of the laminator and the surface temperature of the module showed $15^{\circ}C$, because the heat of laminator plate is transferred to the surface of the module and heat is lost at this time. As a results, gel-content showed 94.8%, 88.7% and 81.7% respectively according to the setting temperature $155^{\circ}C$, $150^{\circ}C$ and $145^{\circ}C$ of the laminator. In conclusion, the surface temperature of module increases, the gel-contents is relatively increased. But if the laminator plate temperature is too high, the gel-content shows rather decline in performance. Furthermore, the temperature difference between setting temperature and the surface temperature of the module is affected by laminating machine itself and the temperature of module should be considered when setting the laminator.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.606-610
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• 2010

Films consisting of a silicon quantum dot superlattice were fabricated by alternating deposition of silicon rich silicon nitride and $Si_3N_4$ layers using an rf magnetron co-sputtering system. In order to use the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure for third generation multi junction solar cell applications, it is important to control the dot size. Moreover, silicon quantum dots have to be in a regularly spaced array in the dielectric matrix material for in order to allow for effective carrier transport. In this study, therefore, we fabricated silicon quantum dot superlattice films under various conditions and investigated crystallization behavior of the silicon quantum dot super lattice structure. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra showed an increased intensity of the $840\;cm^{-1}$ peak with increasing annealing temperature due to the increase in the number of Si-N bonds. A more conspicuous characteristic of this process is the increased intensity of the $1100\;cm^{-1}$ peak. This peak was attributed to annealing induced reordering in the films that led to increased Si-$N_4$ bonding. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that peak position was shifted to higher bonding energy as silicon 2p bonding energy changed. This transition is related to the formation of silicon quantum dots. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis also confirmed the formation of silicon quantum dots. This study revealed that post annealing at $1100^{\circ}C$ for at least one hour is necessary to precipitate the silicon quantum dots in the $SiN_x$ matrix.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.525-535
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• 2017

In order to produce hydrophilic coating solution, which has superior antifogging and antifouling effect on the glass surface of solar cell module as well as improving photovoltaic efficiency, nanosilica was dispersed in an aqueous solution of Tween 20 and fluorosurfactant composed of decafluorobutane and polyethylene glycol. The antifogging effect at high temperature was excellent for all the coating solutions containing nanosilica, but the antifouling effect was observed when the content of nanosilica was over 6 wt%. As the content of fluorosurfactant increased, the initial water contact angle slightly increased and the antifogging effect remained well until 500 wiping with wet $Wipeol^{(R)}$. The antifouling effect was also excellent regardless of the content of fluorosurfactant, thus 0.1 wt% of the fluorosurfactant was enough for a coating solution production. From the AFM results, when 0.1 wt% to 0.3 wt% of the fluoro surfactant was added, the fractal structure of the coated glass surface was clearly existed and contributed to the better antifouling effect. The transmittance of coated glass surface was highest in TL-1 coating solution containing 0.1 wt% of fluorosurfactant, and the addition of fluorosurfactant in a larger amount than 0.1 wt% did not improve the transmittance. This result is in good agreement with the previous AFM result which shows a high surface roughness as well as a fractal structure formation for the TL-1 coating solution.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.963-968
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• 2009

Liquid crystal (LC; E7 and/or ML-0249)-embedded, poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-co-HFP)-based, polymer electrolytes were prepared for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The electrolytes contained 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (PMII), tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI), and iodine ($I_2$), which participate in the $I_3^-/I^-$ redox couple. The incorporation of photochemically stable PVdF-co-HFP in the DSSCs created a stable polymer electrolyte that resisted leakage and volatilization. DSSCs, with liquid crystal(LC)-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolytes between the amphiphilic ruthenium dye N719 absorbed to the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ photoanode and the Pt counter electrode, were fabricated. These DSSCs displayed enhanced redox couple reduction and reduced charge recombination in comparison to that fabricated from the conventional PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte. The behavior of the polymer electrolyte was improved by the addition of optimized amounts of plasticizers, such as ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). The significantly increased short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$, $14.60\;mA/cm^2$) and open-circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$, 0.68 V) of these DSSCs led to a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42% and a fill factor of 0.65 under a standard light intensity of $100\;mW/cm^2$ irradiation of AM 1.5 sunlight. A DSSC fabricated by using E7-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte exhibited a maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 50%.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.417-423
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• 2011

A series of new quinoxaline-based thiophene copolymers (PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T) was synthesized via Yamamoto and Stille coupling reactions. The $M_ws$ of PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T were found to be 20,000, 12,000, and 29,000, with polydispersity indices of 2.0, 1.2, and 1.1, respectively. The UV-visible absorption spectra of the polymers showed two distinct absorption peaks in the ranges 350 - 460 nm and 560 - 600 nm, which arose from the ${\pi}-{\pi}^*$ transition of oligothiophene units and intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) between a quinoxaline acceptor and thiophene donor. The HOMO levels of the polymer ranged from -5.37 to -5.17 eV and the LUMO levels ranged from -3.67 to -3.45 eV. The electrochemical bandgaps of PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T were 1.70, 1.71, and 1.72 eV, respectively, thus yielding low bandgap behavior. PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T had open circuit voltages of 0.58, 0.42, and 0.47 V, and short circuit current densities of 2.9, 5.29 and 9.05 mA/$cm^2$, respectively, when $PC_{71}BM$ was used as an acceptor. For the solar cells with PQx2T-PQx6T:$PC_{71}BM$ (1:3) blends, an increase in performance was observed in going from PQx2T to PQx6T. The power conversion efficiencies of PQx2T, PQx4T, and PQx6T devices were found to be 0.69%, 0.73%, and 1.80% under AM 1.5 G (100 mW/$cm^2$) illumination.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.03a
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• pp.149-152
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• 2012

$Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ (CIGS) is one of the most promising photovoltaic materials because of large conversion efficiency which has been achieved with an optimum Ga/(In+Ga) composition in $CuIn_{1-x}Ga_xSe_2$ (X~0.3). The Ga/(In+Ga) content is important to determine band gap, solar cell performances and carrier behaviors at grain boundary (GB). Effects of Ga/(In+Ga) content on physical properties of the CIGS layers have been extensively studied. In previous research, it is reported that GB is not recombination center of CIGS thin-film solar cells. However, GB recombination and electron-hole pair behavior studies are still lacking, especially influence of with different X on CIGS thin-films. We obtained the GB surface potential, local current and I-V characteristic of different X (00.7 while X~0.3 showed higher potential than 100 mV on GBs. Higher potential on GBs appears positive band bending. It can decrease recombination loss because of carrier separation. Therefore, we suggest recombination and electron-hole behaviors at GBs depending on composition of X.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.646-651
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• 2018

This paper reports that the electronic properties at a $P3HT/TiO_2$ interface associated with exciton dissociation and transport can be tailored by the insertion of a graphene quantum dot (GQD) layer. For donor/acceptor interface modification in an $ITO/TiO_2/P3HT/Al$ photovoltaic (PV) device, a continuous GQD film was prepared by a sonication treatment in solution that simplifies the conventional processes, including laser fragmentation and hydrothermal treatment, which limits a variety of component layers and involves low cost processing. The high conductivity and favorable energy alignment for exciton dissociation of the GQD layer increased the fill factor and short circuit current. The origin of the improved parameters is discussed in terms of the broad light absorption and enhanced interfacial carrier transport.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.393-402
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• 1993

Redox flow secondary battery have been studied actively as one of the most promising electrochemical energy storage devices for a wide range of applications, such as electric vehicles, photovoltaic arrays, and excess power generated by electric power plants. In all-vanadium redox flow battery using solution of vanadium-sulfuric acid as a active material, the difficulty in developing an efficient ion selective membrane can still be identified. The asymmetric cation exchange membrane(M-30) as a separator of all-vanadium redox flow battery which were obtained by the reaction of chlorosulfonation for 30 minutes under the irradiation of UV, showed its superiority in the transport number of 0.94 and electrical resistivity of $0.5{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$. The base membrane were prepared by lamination a low density polyethlene film of $10{\mu}m$ thickness on polyolefin membrane(HIPORE 120). The electrical resistivity of M-30 membrane in real solution of vanadium-sulfuric acid was $3.79{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$ and it was similar to that of Nafion 117 membrane. Also the cell resistivity was $6.6{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^2$and lower than that of Nafion 117. In considertion of electrochemical properties and costs of membranes, M-30 membrane was better than that of Nafion 117 and CMV of Asahi glass Co. as a separator of all-vanadium redox flow battery.