• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.597-602
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• 2015

Characteristics of continuous preparation of ZnO powder were investigated in a micro drop/bubble fluidized reactor of which diameter and height were 0.03 m and 1.5 m, respectively. The flow rate of carrier gas for transportation of precursors to the reactor was 6.0 L/min and the concentration of Zn ion in the precursor solutions was 0.4 mol/L, respectively. Effects of reaction temperature (973 K~1,273 K) and flow rate of micro bubbles (0~0.4 L/min) on the pore characteristics of prepared ZnO powder were examined. The optimum reaction temperature for the maximum porosity in the ZnO powder was 1,073 K within this experimental condition. The mean size of ZnO powder prepared continuously in the reactor decreased but the surface of the powder became smooth, with increasing reaction temperature. The injection of micro bubbles into the reactor could enhance the formation of pores in the powder effectively, and thus the mean BET surface area could be increased by up to 58%. The mean size of prepared ZnO powder was in the range of $1.25{\sim}1.75{\mu}m$ depending on the reaction temperature.

• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.308-315
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• 2016

$SiO_x/ZnO$ composites were prepared from sol-gel method for excellent cycle life characteristics. The composites were coated by PVC as a carbon precursor. ZnO removal to create a void space therein was able to buffer the volume change during charge and discharge. To determine the crystal structure and the shape of the synthesized composite, XRD, SEM, TEM analysis was performed. The carbon contents in the composites were confirmed by TGA. The pore structure and pore size distribution of the composite was measured with the BET specific surface area analysis and BJH pore size distribution. Enhanced electric conductivity by carbon addition was determined from powder resistance measurement. Electrochemical properties were measured with the AC impedance and the charge and discharge cycle life characteristics. When carbon was coated on the $SiO_x/ZnO$ sample, the electrical conductivity and the discharge capacity were increased. After removal of ZnO with HCl the surface area of the sample was increased, but the discharge capacity was decreased. $SiO_x/ZnO$ sample without acarbon coating showed very low discharge capacity, and after carbon coating the sample showed high discharge capacity. For cycle life characteristics, $C-SiO_x/ZnO$ composite (Zn : Si : C = 1 : 1 : 8) with a capacity of $815mAh\;g^{-1}$ at 50 cycle and 0.2 C has higher capacity than existing graphite-based anode materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.245-245
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• 2004

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.07b
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• pp.1323-1326
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• 2005

The photoluminescence, electroluminescence and surface properties of ZnS:Cu,Cl phosphor coated by sol-gel process were studies. Na-silicate was used as precursor coating material. pH of solution and the concentration of Na-silicate are the important conditions to obtain the uniform coating on the phosphors. Also, the electroluminescent devices were made with Na-silicate coated phosphor. The spectroscopic characterization is performed by photospectrometer.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.10
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• pp.784-790
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• 2002

For mass product of nanocrystalline ZnO ultrafine powders, self-sustaining combustion process(SCP) and ultrasonic spray combustion method(USCM) were applied at the same time. Ultrasonic spray gun was attached on top of the vertical type furnace. The droplet was sprayed into reaction zone of the furnace to form SCP which produces spherical shape with soft agglomerate crystalline ZnO particles. To characterize formed particles, fuel and oxidizing agent for SCP were used glycine and zinc nitrate or zinc hydroxide. Respectively, with changing combustion temperature and mixture ratio of oxidizing agent and fuel, the best ultrasonic spray conditions were obtained. To observe ultrasonic spray effect, two types of powder synthesis processes were compared. One was directly sprayed into furnace from the precursor solution (Type A), the other directly was heated on the hot plate without using spray gun (Type B). Powder obtained by type A was porous sponge shape with heavy agglomeration, but powder obtained using type B was finer primary particle size, spherical shape with weak agglomeration and bigger value of specific surface area. 9/ This can be due to much lower reaction temperature of type B at ignition time than type A. Synthesized nanocrystalline ZnO powders at the best ultrasonic spray conditions have primary particle size in range 20~30nm and specific surface area is about 20m$^2$/g.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2017

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) light harvesting structures are highly attracted because of their high light harvesting capacity and charge collection efficiencies. In this study, we have fabricated $Cu_2ZnSn(S_xSe_{1-x})_4$ based 3D thin film solar cells on PR patterned Molybdenum (Mo) substrates using photolithography technique. Specifically, Mo patterns were deposited on PR patterned Mo substrates by sputtering and the thin Cu-Zn-Sn stacked layer was deposited over this Mo patterns by sputtering technique. The stacked Zn-Sn-Cu precursor thin films were sulfo-selenized to form CZTSSe pattern. Finally, CZTSSe absorbers were coated with thin CdS layer using chemical bath deposition and ZnO window layer was deposited over CZTSSe/CdS using DC sputtering technique. Fabricated 3-D solar cells were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) to study their structural, compositional and morphological properties, respectively. The 3% efficiency is achieved for this kind of solar cell. Further efforts will be carried out to improve the performance of solar cell through various optimizations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.255-255
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• 2011

Zinc oxide based thin films have been extensively studied in recent several years because they have very interesting properties and zinc oxide is non-poisonous, abundant and cheap material. ZnO films are employed in different applications like transparent conductive layers in solar cells, protective coatings and so on. Wide industrial application of the ZnO films requires of development of cheap, effective and scalable technology. Typically used technologies don't completely satisfy the industrial requirements. In the present work, we studied effect of the deposition parameters on the structure and properties of ZnO films deposited by DC arc plasmatron. The varied parameters were gas flow rates, precursor composition, substrate temperature and post-deposition annealing temperature. Vapor of Zinc acetylacetone was used as source materials, oxygen was used as working gas and argon was used as the cathode protective gas and a transport gas for the vapor. The plasmatron power was varied in the range of 700-1500 watts. Flow rate of the gases and substrate temperature rate were varied in the wide range to optimize the properties of the deposited coatings. After deposition films were annealed in the hydrogen atmosphere in the wide range of temperatures. Structure of coatings was investigated using XRD and SEM. Chemical composition was analyzed using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Sheet conductivity was measured by 4-point probe method. Optical properties of the transparent ZnO-based coatings were studied by the spectroscopy. It was shown that deposition by a DC Arc plasmatron can be used for low-cost production of zinc oxide films with good optical and electrical properties. Increasing of the oxygen content in the gas mixture during deposition allow to obtain high-resistive protective and insulation coatings with high adhesion to the metallic surface.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.502-509
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• 2018

Epitaxial ZnO nanowires (NWs) were synthesized on sapphire (001) substrates using a hydrothermal process. The effects of the pH value of the precursor solution on the structural and optical properties of the resulting NWs was studied. The epitaxial relationship and the domain matching configuration between the sapphire (001) substrate and the as-grown ZnO NWs were determined using synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. The (002) plane of $w{\ddot{u}}rtzite$ ZnO NW grows in the surface normal direction parallel to the sapphire (001) direction. However, three types of in-plane domain matching configurations were observed, such as the on-position, $30^{\circ}$-rotated position, and ${\pm}8.5^{\circ}$-rotated position relative to the on-position, which might be attributed to inheriting the in-plane domain configuration of the ZnO seed layer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.252.2-252.2
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• 2013

ZnO nanostructures have a lot of interest for decades due to its varied applications such as light-emitting devices, power generators, solar cells, and sensing devices etc. To get the high performance of these devices, the factors of nanostructure geometry, spacing, and alignment are important. So, Patterning of vertically- aligned ZnO nanowires are currently attractive. However, many of ZnO nanowire or nanorod fabrication methods are needs high temperature, such vapor phase transport process, metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy, thermal evaporation, pulse laser deposition and thermal chemical vapor deposition. While hydrothermal process has great advantages-low temperature (less than $100^{\circ}C$), simple steps, short time consuming, without catalyst, and relatively ease to control than as mentioned various methods. In this work, we investigate the dependence of ZnO nanowire alignment and morphology on si substrate using of nanosphere template with various precursor concentration and components via hydrothermal process. The brief experimental scheme is as follow. First synthesized ZnO seed solution was spun coated on to cleaned Si substrate, and then annealed $350^{\circ}C$ for 1h in the furnace. Second, 200nm sized close-packed nanospheres were formed on the seed layer-coated substrate by using of gas-liquid-solid interfacial self-assembly method and drying in vaccum desicator for about a day to enhance the adhesion between seed layer and nanospheres. After that, zinc oxide nanowires were synthesized using a low temperature hydrothermal method based on alkali solution. The specimens were immersed upside down in the autoclave bath to prevent some precipitates which formed and covered on the surface. The hydrothermal conditions such as growth temperature, growth time, solution concentration, and additives are variously performed to optimize the morphologies of nanowire. To characterize the crystal structure of seed layer and nanowires, morphology, and optical properties, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) studies were investigated.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.114-118
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• 2016

$Cu_{1.8}Zn_{1.2}(Sn_{1-x}Ge_x)S_4$ (CZTGeS) nanocrystals were mechanochemically synthesized from elemental precursor powders without using any organic solvents and any additives. The composition of CZTGeS nanocrystals were systematically varied with different Ge mole fraction (x) from 0.1 to 0.9. The XRD, Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution TEM, and diffuse reflectance studies show that the as-synthesized CZTGeS nanocrystals exhibited consistent changes in various structural and optical properties as a function of x, such as lattice parameters, wave numbers for $A_1$ Raman vibration mode, interplanar distances (d-spacing), and optical bandgap energies. The bandgap energy of the synthesized CZTGeS nanocrystals gradually increases from 1.40 to 1.61 eV with increasing x from 0.1 to 0.9, demonstrating that Ge-doping is useful means to tune the bandgap of mechanochemically synthesized nanocrystals-based kesterite thin-film solar cells. The preliminary solar cell performance is presented with an efficiency of 3.66%.