• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2178-2182
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• 2011

Recently, the synthesis of ordered macroporous materials has received much attention due to its potential use as photonic band gap materials.$^1$ In this study, we have used the three-dimensional (3D) latex array template impregnated with benzenesulfonic acid (BSA), which is capable of catalyzing the reaction using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor and distilled water. The polystyrene (PS) templates were reacted with TEOS in $scCO_2$ at 40 $^{\circ}C$ and at 80 bar. In the reactor, TEOS was filtrated into the PS particle lattice. After the reaction, porous silica materials were obtained by calcinations of the template. The stability test of the PS template in pure $CO_2$ was conducted before the main experiment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the reaction in $scCO_2$ takes place only on the particle surface. This new method using $scCO_2$ has advantages over conventional sol-gel processes in its capability to control the fluid properties such as viscosity and interfacial tension. It has been found that the reaction in $scCO_2$ occurs only on the particle surface, making the proposed technique as more rapid and sustainable method of synthesizing inverse opal materials than conventional coating processes in the liquid phase and in the vapor phase.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.587-594
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• 2004

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) structures of the $LiCoO_2$ electrode materials for Li secondary batteries were fabricated by using the close-packed arrays of PMMA spheres served as templates. In order to successfully fabricate the cathode materials with highly ordered array form, the metal citrates were applied to new precursors. The precursor/template composites were prepared by the infiltration with metal citrate precursors into the voids of template. By removing the PMMA templates, then, the inverse opal structures with the uniform pores of narrow size distribution were resulted. It was confirmed that the 3DOM $LiCoO_2$ material is to take a single phase of rocksalt (R3m) structure. In addition, 3DOM $LiNiO_2$ and $LiMn_{2}O_4$ cathode materials were fabricated using an identical preparation procedure. Also, the morphology of the 3DOM cathode materials calcined at $500^{\circ}C\;to\;700^{\circ}C$ was observed by scanning electron microscope.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.410.1-410.1
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• 2016

Vanadium dioxide ($VO_2$) is a well-known material that exhibits a metal-semiconductor transition at 340 K, with drastic change of transmittance at NIR region. However, $VO_2$ based thermochromics accompany with low visible transmittance value and unfavorable color (brownish yellow). Herein, we demonstrate the adjustment of visible transmittance of $VO_2$ thin film by nanosphere template assisted patterning process using sol-gel method. 2-Dimenstional honeycomb shape was varied as function of diameter of nanosphere and coating conditions. The morphological geometry of the films was investigated by FE-SEM and AFM. Result shows that inversed shape of nanosphere was formed clearly and pattern width was altered according to the bead size. This structure creates the geometrical blank area from the position of nanosphere which improves the optical transmittance at the visible region. Moreover, such patterned $VO_2$ thin film not only maintains the optical switching efficiency, but also generate the gorgeous scattering effect which presumably support the glazing application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.22-22
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• 2010

최근 염료감응형 태양전지(DSSC)는 광변환효율 측면에서 향상 가능성이 높으며, 전기화학적 반응을 바탕으로 하므로 생산단가가 낮아 차세대 태양전지로 관심을 모우고 있다. 염료감응형 태양전지에 있어서 주요 구성성분 중의 하나는 다공성 산화물 광전극 재료이다. 다양한 반도체 물질과 비교할 때 $TiO_2$는 전도대의 위치와 전자이동성 면에서 비교적 적합하며, 유기물과의 흡착성 및 안정성 측면에서 대단히 우수하다. 염료감응형 태양전지의 $TiO_2$ 광전극이 갖추어야 할 요건은 표면적이 넓어서 염료 흡착량이 많아야 하며, 전자전달 및 전해질 이동을 위한 효율적 구조이어야 한다. $TiO_2$ 광전극 제작을 위한 재료로서는 나노입자가 널리 이용되며, 입자의 크기는 20 nm 부근이 적합한 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 발표에서는 나노입자 외에 나노막대, 나노섬유, 나노튜브, inverse-opal 구조 등과 같이 지금까지 연구되고 있는 $TiO_2$ 나노구조 관련연구를 소개 한다. 한편으로 효율적 전극구조를 제작하려면 $TiO_2$ 나노구조 제어 외에도, 투명전극과 $TiO_2$ 전극과의 계면층(interfacial layer) 제어, 빛의 효율적 이용을 위한 산란층(scattering layer) 및 $TiO_2$ 전극에서 전해질로의 전자손실 억제를 위한 blocking layer 도입 등이 필요하다. 이에 대한 기본개념을 설명하고 다른 연구자의 연구결과를 소개한다. 본 연구실의 연구 결과인, 메조 포러스 구조, 다공성 속빈구 구조와 구형구조체를 합성하고 이를 염료감응형 태양전지에 응용한 내용을 소개한다. 다공성 속빈구의 경우, 산란층으로 대단히 우수한 결과를 나타내었고, 다공성 구형구조체는 광전극 주재료로 적합한 특성을 나타내었다. 즉, 다공성 구형구조체를 적용한 광전극은 표면적이 대단히 넓고 또한 효율적 동공구조가 형성되어 전해질 이동에도 매우 효율적이다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.8.1-8.1
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• 2011

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) materials have been widely used as an electron collector in DSSC. This is required to have an extremely high porosity and surface area such that the dye can be sufficiently adsorbed and be electronically interconnected, resulting in the generation of a high photocurrent within cells. In particular, their geometrical structures and crystalline phase have been extensively investigated as important issues in improving its photovoltaic efficiency. In this study, we present a new strategy to fabricate a photoelectrode having a periodic structured $TiO_2$ film templated from 1D or 3D polystyrene (PS) microspheres array. Monodisperse PS spheres of various radiuses were used for colloidal array on FTO glasses and two types of photoelectrode structures with different $TiO_2$ materials were investigated respectively. One is the igloo-shaped electrode prepared by $TiO_2$ deposition by RF-sputtering onto 2D microsphere-templated substrates. At the interface between the film and substrate, there are voids formed by the decomposition of PS microspheres during the calcination step. These holes might be expected to play the predominant roles as scattering spherical voids to promote a light harvesting effect, a spacious structure for electrolytes with higher viscosity and effective paths for electron transfer. Additionally the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ phase prepared by the RF-sputtering method was previously reported to improve the electron drift mobility within $TiO_2$ electrodes. This yields solar cells with a cell efficiency of 2.45% or more at AM 1.5 illumination, which is a very remarkable result, considering its $TiO_2$ electrode thickness (<2 ${\mu}m$). This study can be expanded to obtain higher cell efficiency by higher dye loading through the increase of surface area or multi-layered stacking. The other is the inverse opal photonic crystal electrode prepared by titania particles infusion within 3D colloidal arrays. To obtain the enlargement of ordered area and high quality of crystallinity, the synthesis of titania particles coated with a organic thin layer were applied instead of sol-gel process using the $TiO_2$ precursors. They were dispersed so well in most solvents without aggregates and infused successfully within colloidal array structures. This ordered mesoporous structure provides the large surface area leading to the enough adsorption of dye molecules and have an light harvesting effect due to the photonic band gap properties (back-and-forth reflection effects within structures). A major advantage of this colloidal array template method is that the pore size and its distribution within $TiO_2$ photoelectrodes are determined by those of latex beads, which can be controlled easily. These materials may have promising potentials for future applications of membrane, sensor and so on as well as solar cells.