• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.27.2-27.2
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• 2010

In recent years, there is a strong requirement of low cost, stable microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS) for resonators, microswitches and sensors. Most of these devices consist of freely suspended microcantilevers, which are usually made by the etching of some sacrificial materials. Herein, we have attempted to use Si nanowires, inherited from the parent Si wafer, as a sacrificial material due to its porosity, low cost and ease of fabrication. Prior to the fabrication of the Si nanowires silver nanoparticles were continuously formed on the surface of Si wafer. Vertically aligned Si nanowires were fabricated from the parent Si wafers by aqueous chemical route at $50^{\circ}C$. Afterwards, the morphological and structural characteristics of the Si nanowires were investigated. The morphology of nanowires was strongly modulated by the resistivity of the parent wafer. The 3-step etching of nanowires in diluted KOH solution was carried out at room temperature in order to control the fast etching. A layer of $Si_3N_4$ (300 nm) was used for the selective fabrication of nanowires. Finally, a freely suspended bridge of zinc oxide (ZnO) was fabricated after the removal of nanowires from the parent wafer. At present, we believe that this technique may provide a platform for the inexpensive fabrication of futuristic MEMS.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.425-428
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• 2012

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of graphene based hydrogen sensors. Graphene was synthesized by annealing process of Ni/3C-SiC thin films. Graphene was transferred onto oxidized Si substrates for fabrication of chemiresistive type hydrogen sensors. Au electrode on the graphene shows ohmic contact and the resistance is changed with hydrogen concentration. Nanoparticle catalysts of Pd and Pt were decorated. Response factor and response (recovery) time of hydrogen sensors based on the graphene are improved with catalysts. The response factors of pure graphene, Pt and Pd doped graphenes are 0.28, 0.6 and 1.26, respectively, at 50 ppm hydrogen concentration.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.691-695
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• 2016

This paper covers the investigation of the microscale behavior of Pt nanostrucures fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) at elevated temperature. Nanoparticles are fabricated at up to 70 ALD cycles, while congruent porous nanostructures are observed at > 90 ALD cycles. The areal density of the ALD Pt nanostructure on top of the SiO2 substrate was as high as 98% even after annealing at $450^{\circ}C$ for 1hr. The sheet resistance of the ALD Pt nanostructure dramatically increased when the areal density of the nanostructure decreased below 85 - 89% due to coarsening at elevated temperature.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.291-296
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• 2014

In recent years, researchers have extensively investigated polymers filled with inorganic nanoparticles because these materials present improved physical properties relative to those of conventional unfilled polymers. Oxides, silica in particular, are the most commonly used inorganic particles because they possess good properties and can be fabricated at a low cost. However, oxides are hydrophilic in nature, and this leads to the presence of water at the interface between the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix. Due to the predominance of particle-matrix interfaces in nanocomposites, the presence of water at the interlayer region can be problematic. Moreover, the hydrophobic nature of most polymers, particularly for polyolefins such as polyethylene, may make it difficult to remove this interfacial water. In this paper, as-received and moistened samples of agglomerated nanosilica/polyethylene were dried using an isothermal treatment at $60^{\circ}C$, and the efficacy of this treatment was studied using dielectric spectroscopy. The Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars relaxation peaks were observed to shift to lower frequencies by three decades, and this was linked to a modification of the water content, due to drying, at the interfaces between silica and polyethylene and at the interfaces within the nanosilica agglomerates. The evolution of the extracted retardation time is explained by the nanosilica hydrophily and the free volume introduced by the nanoparticles.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.242-248
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• 2015

In this paper, three carbon sources, i.e., solid graphite, gaseous CH4 and liquid ethanol, and one solid silicon source were employed to synthesize SiC/C nanocomposite powders by arc-discharge plasma. The processing conditions such as the component ratios of raw materials, atmospheric gases, etc. were adjusted for controllable synthesis of the nanopowders. It is indicated that both of solid graphite and silicon can be co-evaporated and reacted to form nanophases of cubic ${\beta}$-SiC with ~50 nm in mean size and a little free graphite; the carbon atoms decomposed from gaseous $CH_4$ favor to combine with the evaporated silicon atoms to form the dominant SiC nanophase; liquid carbon source of ethanol can also be used to harvest the main ${\beta}$-SiC and minor 6H-SiC phases in the assembly of nanoparticles. The as-prepared SiC/C nanocomposite powders were further purified by a heat-treatment in air and their photocatalytic performances were then greatly improved.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) can be deposited on various substrates using chemical vapor deposition process, which results in the formation of PDMS thin films with thickness below 5 nm. PDMS layers can be evenly deposited on surfaces of nanoparticles composed of various chemical compositions such as $SiO_2$, $TiO_2$, ZnO, C, Ni, and NiO, and the PDMS-coated surface becomes completely hydrophobic. These hydrophobic layers are highly resistant towards degradation under acidic and basic environments and UV-exposures. Nanoparticles coated with PDMS can be used in various environmental applications: hydrophobic silica nanoparticles can selectively interact with oil from oil/water mixture, suppressing fast diffusion of spill-oil on water and allowing more facile physical separation of spill-oil from the water. Upon heat-treatments of PDMS-coated $TiO_2$ under vacuum conditions, $TiO_2$ surface becomes completely hydrophilic, accompanying formation oxygen vacancies responsible for visible-light absorption. The post-annealed $PDMS-TiO_2$ shows enhanced photocatalytic activity with respect to the bare $TiO_2$ for decomposition of organic dyes in water under visible light illumination. We show that the simple PDMS-coating process presented here can be useful in a variety of field of environmental science and technology.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.67-78
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• 2017

Combustion of ethanol (EtOH) at low temperatures has been studied using titania- and silica-supported platinum nanocrystallites with different sizes in a wide range of 1~25 nm, to see if EtOH can be used as a clean, alternative fuel, i.e., one that does not emit sulfur oxides, fine particulates and nitrogen oxides, and if the combustion flue gas can be used for directly heating the interior of greenhouses. The results of $H_2-N_2O$ titration on the supported Pt catalysts with no calcination indicate a metal dispersion of $0.97{\pm}0.1$, corresponding to ca. 1.2 nm, while the calcination of 0.65% $Pt/SiO_2$ at 600 and $900^{\circ}C$ gives the respective sizes of 13.7 and 24.6 nm when using X-ray diffraction technique, as expected. A comparison of EtOH combustion using $Pt/TiO_2$ and $Pt/SiO_2$ catalysts with the same metal content, dispersion and nanoparticle size discloses that the former is better at all temperatures up to $200^{\circ}C$, suggesting that some acid sites can play a role for the combustion. There is a noticeable difference in the combustion characteristics of EtOH at $80{\sim}200^{\circ}C$ between samples of 0.65% $Pt/SiO_2$ consisting of different metal particle sizes; the catalyst with larger platinum nanoparticles shows higher intrinsic activity. Besides the formation of $CO_2$, low-temperature combustion of EtOH can lead to many other pathways that generate undesired byproducts, such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetic acid, diethyl ether, and ethylene, depending strongly on the catalyst and reaction conditions. A 0.65% $Pt/SiO_2$ catalyst with a Pt crystallite size of 24.6 nm shows stable performances in EtOH combustion at $120^{\circ}C$ even for 12 h, regardless of the space velocity allowed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.913-922
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• 2019

Magnetic $Ni_{0.7}Co_{0.3}Fe_2O_4$ nanoparticles that were prepared via the rapid combustion process were functionalized and modified to obtain magnetic $Ni_{0.7}Co_{0.3}Fe_2O_4@SiO_2-CHO$ nanocomposites, on which penicillin G acylase (PGA) was covalently immobilized. Selections of immobilization concentration and time of fixation were explored. Catalytic performance of immobilized PGA was characterized. The free PGA had greatest activity at pH 8.0 and $45^{\circ}C$ while immobilized PGA's activities peaked at pH 7.5 and $45^{\circ}C$. Immobilized PGA had better thermal stability than free PGA at the range of $30-50^{\circ}C$ for different time intervals. The activity of free PGA would be 0 and that of immobilized PGA still retained some activities at $60^{\circ}C$ after 2 h. $V_{max}$ and $K_m$ of immobilized PGA were 1.55 mol/min and 0.15 mol/l, respectively. Free PGA's $V_{max}$ and $K_m$ separately were 0.74 mol/min and 0.028 mol/l. Immobilized PGA displayed more than 50% activity after 10 successive cycles. We concluded that immobilized PGA with magnetic $Ni_{0.7}Co_{0.3}Fe_2O_4@SiO_2-CHO$ nanocomposites could become a novel example for the immobilization of other amidohydrolases.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.78-81
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• 2010

Surface modification of silica nanoparticles was investigated using an aerosol self assembly. Stearic acid was used as surface treating agent. A two-fluid jet nozzle was employed to generate an aerosol of the colloidal suspension, which contained 20 nm of silica nanoparticles, surface modifier, and ethyl alcohol. Powder properties such as morphology, specific surface area and pore size distribution were analyzed by SEM, BET and BJH methods, respectively. Surface properties of the silica power were analyzed by FT-IR. The OH bond of the $SiO_2$ surface was converted to a C-H bond. It was revealed that the hydrophilic surface changed to a hydrophobic one due to the aerosol self assembly. Morphology of the surface treated powder was nanostructured with lots of pores having an average diameter of around $2\;{\mu}m$. Depending on the stearic acid concentration (0.25 to 1.0 wt%), the pore size distribution of the particles and the degree of hydrophobicity ranged from 1.5 nm to 180 nm and 29.6% to 50.2%, respectively.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.220-227
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of emulsion processing with various homogenization treatments on the physical properties of nanoparticles. For the manufacturing of nanoparticles, by taking the emulsion-diffusion method, various coating materials, such as gum arabic, hydroxyethyl starch, polycarprolactone, paraffin wax, ${\kappa}$-carrageenan and emulsifiers like Tween$^{(R)}$60, Tween$^{(R)}$80, monoglyceride and Pluronic$^{(R)}$F68, were added into the emulsion system. Furthermore, the various speeds (7,000 rpm to 10,000 rpm), and times (15 s to 60 s) of homogenization were treated during the emulsion- diffusion process. NEO II homomixer was the most effective homogenizer for making nanoparticles as 51 nm ($D_{10}$) and 26 nm ($D_{50}$). To manufacture smaller nanoparticles, by using NEO II homomixer, 10,000 rpm of agitation speed, polycaprolactone as coating material, and Pluronic$^{(R)}$F68 as an emulsifier were the optimum operating conditions and components. For the stability of nanoparticles for 7 days, $20^{\circ}C$ of storage temperature was appropriate to maintain the particle size. From these results, the type of homogenizer, homogenization speed, homogenization time and storage temperature could affect the particle size. Moreover, type of coating materials and emulsifier also influenced the size and stability of the nanoparticles.