• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.59-62
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• 2013

We investigated the effects of ZnO thin film deposition methods on the performance of inverted polymer solar cells with a structure of ITO/ZnO/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Al. The ZnO thin films were deposited by various methods (spin coating of nanoparticles, sol-gel process, atomic layer deposition) and their morphology was analyzed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The device with ZnO nanoparticle thin films showed the highest power conversion efficiency of 3 % with low series resistance and high shunt resistance. The superior performance of the device with the ZnO nanoparticle layer is attributed to better electron extraction capability.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.9-17
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• 2013

Visible light-sensitive $TiO_2$ and ZnO nanostructure materials have attracted great attention as the promising material for solar energy conversion systems such as photocatalysts for water splitting and environmental purification as well as nano-biosensors. Success of their applications relies on how to control their surface state behaviors related to the exciton dynamics and optoelectronic properties. In this paper, we briefly review some recent works on single nanoparticle photoluminescence (PL) technique and its application to observation of their surface state behaviors which are raveled by the conventional ensemble-averaged spectroscopic techniques. This review provides an opportunity to understand the temporal and spatial heterogeneities within an individual nanostructure, allowing for the potential use of single-nanoparticle approaches in studies of their photoenergy conversion and nano-scale optical biosensing.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국정보디스플레이학회 2008년도 International Meeting on Information Display
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• pp.993-994
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• 2008

Electrochromic (EC) devices are capable of reversibly changing their optical properties upon charge injection and extraction induced by the external voltage. The characteristics of the EC device, such as low power consumption, high coloration efficiency, and memory effects under open circuit status, make them suitable for use in a variety of applications including smart windows and electronic papers. Coloration due to reduction or oxidation of redox chromophores can be used for EC devices (e-paper), but the switching time is slow (second level). Recently, with increasing demand for the low cost, lightweight flat panel display with paper-like readability (electronic paper), an EC display technology based on dye-modified $TiO_2$ nanoparticle electrode was developed. A well known organic dye molecule, viologen, was adsorbed on the surface of a mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle film to form the EC electrode. On the other hand, ZnO is a wide bandgap II-VI semiconductor which has been applied in many fields such as UV lasers, field effect transistors and transparent conductors. The bandgap of the bulk ZnO is about 3.37 eV, which is close to that of the $TiO_2$ (3.4 eV). As a traditional transparent conductor, ZnO has excellent electron transport properties, even in ZnO nanoparticle films. In the past few years, one-dimension (1D) nanostructures of ZnO have attracted extensive research interest. In particular, 1D ZnO nanowires renders much better electron transportation capability by providing a direct conduction path for electron transport and greatly reducing the number of grain boundaries. These unique advantages make ZnO nanowires a promising matrix electrode for EC dye molecule loading. ZnO nanowires grow vertically from the substrate and form a dense array (Fig. 1). The ZnO nanowires show regular hexagonal cross section and the average diameter of the ZnO nanowires is about 100 nm. The cross-section image of the ZnO nanowires array (Fig. 1) indicates that the length of the ZnO nanowires is about $6\;{\mu}m$. From one on/off cycle of the ZnO EC cell (Fig. 2). We can see that, the switching time of a ZnO nanowire electrode EC cell with an active area of $1\;{\times}\;1\;cm^2$ is 170 ms and 142 ms for coloration and bleaching, respectively. The coloration and bleaching time is faster compared to the $TiO_2$ mesoporous EC devices with both coloration and bleaching time of about 250 ms for a device with an active area of $2.5\;cm^2$. With further optimization, it is possible that the response time can reach ten(s) of millisecond, i.e. capable of displaying video. Fig. 3 shows a prototype with two different transmittance states. It can be seen that good contrast was obtained. The retention was at least a few hours for these prototypes. Being an oxide, ZnO is oxidation resistant, i.e. it is more durable for field emission cathode. ZnO nanotetropods were also applied to realize the first prototype triode field emission device, making use of scattered surface-conduction electrons for field emission (Fig. 4). The device has a high efficiency (field emitted electron to total electron ratio) of about 60%. With this high efficiency, we were able to fabricate some prototype displays (Fig. 5 showing some alphanumerical symbols). ZnO tetrapods have four legs, which guarantees that there is one leg always pointing upward, even using screen printing method to fabricate the cathode.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2008년도 추계학술대회 논문집 Vol.21
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• pp.121-121
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• 2008

We propose a novel nanomaterial-based pn diode which constructed with an n-type ZnO nanowire (NW) and a p-type HgTe nanoparticle (NP) thin film. The photo current characteristics of a ZnO NW, a HgTe NP thin film and pn diode constructed with a ZnO NW and a HgTe NP thin film were investigated under illumination of the 325 nm and 633 nm wavelength light. The conductivities of a ZnO NW exposed to the 325 nm and 633 nm wavelength light increased, while the photocurrents taken from the HgTe NP thin film was very close to the dark currents. Moreover, The pn diode exhibited the rectifying characteristics of the dark current and of the photocurrent excited by the 633 nm wavelength light. In contrast, the ohmic characteristics for the photocurrent were observed due to the junction barrier lowering in the conduction band of the ZnO nanowire under the illumination of the 325 nm wavelength light.

• 한국전기전자재료학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전기전자재료학회 2008년도 하계학술대회 논문집 Vol.9
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• pp.207-207
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• 2008

ZnO is one of the widely utilized n-type semiconducting oxide materials in the field of optoelectronic devices. For its application to the fabrication of promising ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors, ZnO with various structures has been extensively studied. However, study on the photodetectors using zero-dimensional (0-D) ZnO nanoparticle is scarce while the 0-D nanoparticle structure has many advantages compared to the other dimensional structures for absorption of light. In this study, the photocurrent characteristics of ZnO nanoparticles were investigated through a simply pasting of the nanoparticles across the pre-patterned electrodes. Then the photoluminescence (PL) characteristic, photocurrent response spectrum, photo- and dark-current and photoresponse spectrum were investigated with a He-Cd laser and an Xe lamp. An dominant PL peak of the ZnO nanoparticles was located at the wavelength of 380 nm under the illumination of 325-nm wavelength light. The ratio of photocurrent to dark current (on/off ratio) is as high as 106 which is considerable value for promising photodetectors. On the other hand, the time constants in photoresponse were relatively slow. The reasons of the high on/off ratio and relatively slow photoresponse characteristic will be discussed.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.5-9
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• 2005

Nanoparticles $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ is fabricated by a sol-gel method. The magnetic and structural properties of powders were investigated with XRD, SEM, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and VSM. $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ powders annealed at $300{^{\circ}C}$ have a spinel structure and behaved superparamagnetically. The estimated size of $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ nanoparticle is about 10 nm. The hyperfine fields at 13 K for the A and B patterns are found to be 533 and 507 kOe, respectively. The ZFC curves are rounded at the blocking temperature ($T_B$)and show a paramagnetic-like behavior above $T_B$. $T_B$ of $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ nanoparticle is about 250 K. Nanoparticles $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ annealed at 400 and $500{^{\circ}C}$ have a typical spinel structure and is ferrimagnetic in nature. The isomer shifts indicate that the iron ions were ferric at the tetrahedral (A) and the octahedral (B). The saturation magnetization of nanoparticles $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ annealed at 400 and $500{^{\circ}C}$ are 40 and 43 emu/g, respectively. The magnetic anisotropy constant of $Ni_{0.9}Zn_{0.1}Fe_2O_4$ annealed at $300{^{\circ}C}$ were calculated to be 1.6 ${\times}$ $10^6$ ergs/$cm^3$.

• 센서학회지
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.125-130
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• 2022

We describe the importance of zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NP) concentration in the enhancement of electrical properties in a lead sulfide quantum dot (PbS QD)-based shortwave infrared (SWIR) photodetector. ZnO NPs were synthesized using the sol-gel method. The concentration of the ZnO NPs was controlled as 20, 30 and 40 mg/mL in this study. Note that the ZnO NPs layer is commonly used as an electron transport layer in PbS QDs SWIR photodetectors. The photo-to-dark ratio, which is an important parameter of a photodetector, was intensively examined to evaluate the electrical performance. The 20 mg/mL condition of ZnO NPs exhibited the highest photo-to-dark ratio value of 5 at -1 V, compared with 1.8 and 0.4 for 30 mg/mL and 40 mg/mL, respectively. This resulted because the electron mobility decreased when the concentration of ZnO NPs was higher than the optimized value. Based on our results, the concentration of ZnO NPs was observed to play an important role in the electrical performance of the PbS QDs SWIR photodetector.

• 한국표면공학회지
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.401-411
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• 2023

This study investigates the synthesis, characterization, and application of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles for corrosion resistance and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) mitigation in high-temperature and high-pressure environments. The ZnO nanoparticles are synthesized using plasma discharge in water, resulting in rod-shaped particles with a hexagonal crystal structure. The ZnO nanoparticles are applied to Alloy 600 tubes in simulated nuclear power plant atmospheres to evaluate their effectiveness. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis reveals the formation of thermodynamically stable ZnCr₂O₄and ZnFe₂O₄ spinel phases with a depth of approximately 35 nm on the surface after 240 hours of treatment. Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) mitigation experiments reveal that ZnO treatment enhances thermal and mechanical stability. The ZnO-treated specimens exhibit increased maximum temperature tolerance up to 310 ℃ and higher-pressure resistance up to 60 bar compared to non-treated ZnO samples. Measurements of crack length indicate reduced crack propagation in ZnO-treated specimens. The formation of thermodynamically stable Zn spinel structures on the surface of Alloy 600 and the subsequent improvements in surface properties contribute to the enhanced durability and performance of the material in challenging high-temperature and high-pressure environments. These findings have significant implications for the development of corrosion-resistant materials and the mitigation of stress corrosion cracking in various industries.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2009년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.90-90
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• 2009

박막 태양전지의 단락전류를 증가시키기 위해서는 투명전도 산화막의 표면 식각을 통한 광포획 특성 극대화가 중요하며, 일반적으로 스퍼터링법으로 제작된 투명전도 산화막의 표면 식각은 HCl solution을 이용한다. 본 연구는 투면전도 산화막 증착시 seed로 작용할 수 있는 colloidal 형태의 nanoparticle을 유리기판에 형성한 뒤 rf-magnetron sputtering 법을 이용하여 ZnO:Al(AZO) 투명전도 산화막을 증착하여 광학 전기적 특성 변화를 분석하였다. Nanoparticle을 사용하여 제조된 AZO 박막은 nanoparticle의 확산에 의한 전자농도의 향상이 보였으나, 이동도의 감소로 인해 전기적 특성에 큰 변화는 없었다. 반면 AZO 박막의 표면형상이 nanoparticle로 인해 변하여 박막의 광 포획을 위한 안개도가 향상됨을 확인 할 수 있었으며, 이로 인해 표면 형상 제어를 통한 박막 태양전지 적용을 위한 투명전도 산화막을 제작할 수 있었다.

• 한국결정성장학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국결정성장학회 2000년도 Proceedings of 2000 International Nano Crystals/Ceramics Forum and International Symposium on Intermaterials
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• pp.35-58
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• 2000

The demand for sub-micrometer or nanometer functional ceramic powders with a better suspension behavior in aqueous media in increasing. Redispersible barium titanate (BT) nanocrystals, green light emitting Mn2+ doped Zn$_2$SiO$_4$ and ZnS nanoparticle phosphors were synthesized by a hydrothermal method or chemical precipitation with surface modification. The nanoparticle redispersibility for BT was achieved by using a polymeric surfactant. X-ray diffraction(XRD) results indicated that the BT particles are of cubic phase with 80 nm in size. XRD results of zinc silicate phosphor indicate that seeds play an important role in enhancing the nucleation and crystallization of Zn$_2$SiO$_4$ crystals in a hydrothermal condition. This paper describes and discuss the methods of surface modification, and the resulting related properties for BT, zinc silicate and zinc sulfide.