• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.290.1-290.1
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• 2013

The electrical characterization of Au islands on TiO2 at nanometer scale (as a Schottky nanodiode) has been studied with conductive atomic force microscopy in ultra-high vacuum. The diverse sizes of the Au islands were formed by using self-assembled patterns on n-type TiO2 semiconductor film using the Langmuir-Blodgett process. Local conductance images showing the current flowing through the TiN coated AFM probe to the surface of the Au islands on TiO2 was simultaneously obtained with topography, while a positive sample bias is applied. The boundary of the Au islands revealed a higher current flow than that of the inner Au islands in current AFM images, with the forward bias presumably due to the surface plasmon resonance. The nanoscale Schottky barrier height of the Au/TiO2 Schottky nanodiode was obtained by fitting the I-V curve to the thermionic emission equation. The local resistance of the Au/TiO2 nanodiode appeared to be higher at the larger Au islands than at the smaller islands. The results suggest that conductive atomic force microscopy can be used to reveal the I-V characterization of metal size dependence and the electrical effects of surface plasmon on a metal-semiconductor Schottky diode at nanometer scale.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.120-120
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• 2003

The metallic oxide nanomaterials including ZnO, Ga$_2$O$_3$, TiO$_2$, and SnO$_2$ have been synthesized by a number of methods including laser ablation, arc discharge, thermal annealing procedure, catalytic growth processes, and vapor transport. We have been interested in preparing the nanomaterials of Ga$_2$O$_3$, which is a wide band gap semiconductor (E$_{g}$ =4.9 eV) and used as insulating oxide layer for all gallium-based semiconductor. Ga$_2$O$_3$ is stable at high temperature and a transparent oxide, which has potential application in optoelectronic devices. The Ga$_2$O$_3$ nanoparticles and nanobelts were produced using GaN single crystals, which were grown by flux method inside SUS$^{TM}$ cell using a Na flux and exhibit plate-like morphologies with 4 ~ 5 mm in size. In these experiments, the conventional electric furnace was used. GaN single crystals were pulverized in form of powder for the growth of Ga$_2$O$_3$ nanomaterials. The structure, morphology and composition of the products were studied mainly by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).).

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.365-372
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• 2020

Predicting the quality of materials after they are subjected to plasma sintering is a challenging task because of the non-linear relationships between the process variables and mechanical properties. Furthermore, the variables governing the sintering process affect the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the final product. Therefore, an artificial neural network modeling was carried out to correlate the parameters of the spark plasma sintering process with the densification and hardness values of Ti-6Al-4V alloys dispersed with nano-sized TiN particles. The relative density (%), effective density (g/㎤), and hardness (HV) were estimated as functions of sintering temperature (℃), time (min), and composition (change in % TiN). A total of 20 datasets were collected from the open literature to develop the model. The high-level accuracy in model predictions (>80%) discloses the complex relationships among the sintering process variables, product quality, and mechanical performance. Further, the effect of sintering temperature, time, and TiN percentage on the density and hardness values were quantitatively estimated with the help of the developed model.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.971-981
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• 2019

This study evaluated the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency of volatile organic compounds by $Cu_2O-TiO_2$ under visible-light irradiation. $Cu_2O-TiO_2$ was synthesized by an ultrasonic-assisted method. The XRD result indicated successful p-n type photocatalysts. However, no diffraction peaks belonging to $TiO_2$ were observed for the $Cu_2O-TiO_2$. The Uv-vis spectra result revealed that the synthesized $Cu_2O-TiO_2$ can be activated under visible-light irradiation. The FE-TEM/EDS result showed the formation of synthesized nanocomposites in the commercial P25 $TiO_2$, the undoped $TiO_2$, and $Cu_2O-TiO_2$ and componential analysis in the undoped $TiO_2$ and $Cu_2O-TiO_2$. The photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene with $Cu_2O-TiO_2$ were higher than those of P25 $TiO_2$ and undoped $TiO_2$. These results indicate that the prepared $Cu_2O-TiO_2$ photocatalyst can be applied effectively to control gaseous BTEX.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2019

Piezoelectric energy harvesting technology is attracting attention, as it can be used to convert more accessible mechanical energy resources to periodic electricity. Recent developments in the field of piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) are associated with nanocomposites made from inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials and organic elastomers. Here, we used the $BaTiO_3$ nanoparticles and piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) polymeric matrix to fabricate the nanocomposites-based PEH to improve the output performance of PEHs. The piezoelectric nanocomposite is produced by dispersing the inorganic piezo-ceramic nanoparticles inside an organic piezo-polymer and subsequently spin-coat it onto a metal plate. The fabricated organic-inorganic piezoelectric nanocomposite-based PEH harvested the output voltage of ~1.5 V and current signals of ~90 nA under repeated mechanical pushings: these values are compared to those of energy devices made from non-piezoelectric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers and supported by a multiphysics simulation software.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.508-514
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• 2022

Piezoelectric composite films which are enabled by inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials-embedded polymer, have attracted enormous attention as a sustainable power source for low powered electronics, because of their ease of fabrication and flexible nature. However, the absorption of applied stress by the soft polymeric matrices is a major issue that must be solved to expand the fields of piezoelectric composite applications. Herein, a flexible and porous piezoelectric composite (piezoelectric sponge) comprised of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles and polydimethylsiloxane was developed using template method to enhance the energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the stress that vanishes into the polymer matrix. In the porous structure, effective stress transfer can occur between the piezoelectric active materials in compression mode due to direct contact between the ceramic particles embedded in the pore-polymer interface. The piezoelectric sponge with 30 wt% of BaTiO₃ particles generated an open-circuit voltage of ~12 V and a short-circuit current of ~150 nA. A finite element method-based simulation was conducted to theoretically back up that the piezoelectric output performance was effectively improved by introducing the sponge structure. Furthermore, to demonstrate the feasibility of pressure detecting applications using the BaTiO₃ particles-embedded piezoelectric sponge, the composite was arranged in a 3 × 3 array and integrated into a single pressure sensor. The fabricated sensor array successfully detected the shape of the applied pressure. This work can provide a cost-effective, biocompatible, and structural strategy for realizing piezoelectric composite-based energy harvesters and self-powered sensors with improved energy conversion efficiency.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1738-1742
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• 2009

Nanocrystalline Zn$Fe_2O_4$ oxide-semiconductor with spinel structure was synthesized by the polymerized complex (PC) method and investigated for its photocatalytic and photoelectric properties. The observation of a highly pure phase and a lower crystallization temperature in Zn$Fe_2O_4$ made by PC method is in total contrast to that was observed in Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) method. The band gap of the nanocrystalline Zn$Fe_2O_4$ determined by UV-DRS was 1.90 eV (653 nm). The photocatalytic activity of Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by PC method as investigated by the photo-decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) under visible light (${\geq}$ 420 nm) was much higher than that of the Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by SSR as well as Ti$O_{2-x}N_x$. High photocatalytic activity of Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by PC method was mainly due to its surface area, crystallinity and the dispersity of platinum metal over Zn$Fe_2O_4$.