• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.228-234
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• 2017

Gas sensors based on metal-oxide-semiconductors are predominantly used in numerous applications including monitoring indoor air quality and detecting harmful substances such as volatile organic compounds. Nanostructures, e.g., nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanodomes, or nanofibers, have been widely utilized to improve the gas sensing properties of metal-oxide-semiconductors by increasing the effective surface area participating in the surface reaction with target gas molecules. Recently, 1-dimensional (1D) metal oxide nanostructures fabricated using glancing angle deposition (GAD) method with e-beam evaporation have been widely employed to increase the surface-to-volume ratio significantly with large-area uniformity and reproducibility, leading to promising gas sensing properties. Herein, we provide a brief overview of 1D metal oxide nanostructures fabricated using GAD and their gas sensing properties in terms of fabrication methods, morphologies, and additives. Moreover, the gas sensing mechanisms and perspectives are presented.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.227-238
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• 2016

This review article highlights different types of nano-sized catalysts for the selective alcohol oxidation to form aldehydes (or ketones) with supported or immobilized metal nanoparticles. Metal nanoparticle catalysts are obtained through dispersing metal nanoparticles over a solid support with a large surface area. The nanocatalysts have wide technological applications to industrial and academic fields such as organic synthesis, fuel cells, biodiesel production, oil cracking, energy conversion and storage, medicine, water treatment, solid rocket propellants, chemicals and dyes. One of main reactions for the nanocatalyst is an aerobic oxidation of alcohols to produce important intermediates for various applications. The oxidation of alcohols by supported nanocatalysts including gold, palladium, ruthenium, and vanadium is very economical, green and environmentally benign reaction leading to decrease byproducts and reduce the cost of reagents as opposed to stoichiometric reactions. In addition, the room temperature alcohol oxidation using nanocatalysts is introduced.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1279-1286
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• 2013

Particle size and metal species are important to both soil microbial toxicity and phytotoxicity in the soil ecosystem. The effects of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles (MPs) on soil microbial toxicity, phytotoxicity, and bioaccumulation in two crops (Cucumis sativus and Zea mays) were estimated in a soil microcosm. In the microcosm system, soil was artificially contaminated with 1,000 mg/kg CuO and ZnO NPs and MPs. After 15 days, we compared the microbial toxicity and phytotoxicity by particle size. In addition, C. sativus and Z. mays were cultivated in soils treated with CuO NPs and ZnO NPs, after which the treatment effects on bioaccumulation were evaluated. NPs were more toxic than MPs to microbes and plants in the soil ecosystem. We found that the soil enzyme activity and plant biomass were inhibited to the greatest extent by CuO NPs. However, in a Biolog test, substrate utilization patterns were more dependent upon metal type than particle size. Another finding indicated that the metal NP uptake amounts of plants depend on the plant species. In the comparison between C. sativus and Z. mays, the accumulation of Cu and Zn by C. sativus was noticeably higher. These findings show that metal oxide NPs may negatively impact soil bacteria and plants. In addition, the accumulation patterns of NPs depend on the plant species.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.453-457
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• 2007

Interest in use of ink-jet printing for pattern-on-demand fabrication of metal interconnects without complicated and wasteful etching process has been on rapid increase. However, ink-jet printing is a wet process and needs an additional thermal treatment such as an annealing process. Since a metal ink is a suspension containing metal nanoparticles and organic capping molecules to prevent aggregation of them, the microstructure of an ink-jet printed metal interconnect 'as dried' can be characterized as a stack of loosely packed nanoparticles. Therefore, during being treated thermally, an inkjet-printed interconnect is likely to evolve a characteristic microstructure, different from that of the conventionally vacuum-deposited metal films. Microstructure characteristics can significantly affect the corresponding electrical and mechanical properties. The characteristics of change in microstructure and electrical resistivity of inkjet-printed silver (Ag) films when annealed isothermally at a temperature between 170 and $240^{\circ}C$ were analyzed. The change in electrical resistivity was described using the first-order exponential decay kinetics. The corresponding activation energy of 0.44 eV was explained in terms of a thermally-activated mechanism, i.e., migration of point defects such as vacancy-oxygen pairs, rather than microstructure evolution such as grain growth or change in porosity.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.45 no.9
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• pp.512-517
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• 2008

In this study, yttrium-doped $SiO_2$ nanoparticles are synthesized using a reverse micelle technique combined with metal alkoxide hydrolysis and condensation. Spherical Y-doped $SiO_2$ nanoparticles with a uniform size distribution are prepared using selfassembly molecules in conjunction with the hydrolysis and condensation of organometallic precursors. The water/surfactant molar ratio influenced the Y-doped $SiO_2$ particles distribution of the core-shell composite particles and the distribution of Y doped $SiO_2$ particles was broadened as the water to surfactant ratio increased. The particle size of Y increase linearly as the $Y(NO_3)_3$ solution concentration increased. The average size of the cluster was found to depend on the micelle size, the nature of the solvent, and the concentration of the reagent. The effects of synthesis parameters, such as the molar ratio of water to surfactant and the molar ratio of water to TEOS, are discussed.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.220-237
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• 2020

Modern electrochemical energy devices involve generation and reduction of fuel gases through electrochemical reactions of water splitting, alcohol oxidation, oxygen reduction, etc. Initially, these processes were executed in the presence of noble metal-based catalyst that showed low overpotential and high current density. However, its high cost, unavailability, corrosion and related toxicity limited its application. The search for alternative with high stability, durability, and efficiency led scientists towards carbon nanoparticles supported catalysts which has high surface area, good electrical conductivity, tunable morphology, low cost, ease of synthesis and stability. Carbon nanoparticles are classified into two groups based on morphology, one and zero dimensional particles. Carbon nanoparticles at zero dimension, denoted as carbon dots, are less used carbon support compared to other forms. However, recently carbon dots with improved electronic properties have become popular as catalyst as well as catalyst support. This review focused on the recent advances in electrocatalytic activities of carbon dots. The mechanisms of common electrocatalytic reactions and the role of the catalysts are also discussed. The review also proposed future developments and other research directions to overcome current limitations.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.83-88
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• 2012

The electrical wire explosion process in liquid media is promising for nano-sized metal and/or alloy particles. The hybrid Pt/Fe-Cr-Al and Pt/Ni-Cr-Fe nanoparticles for exhaust emission control system are synthesized by electrical wire explosion process in liquid media. The alloy powders have spherical shape and nanometer size. According to the wire component, while Pt/Fe-Cr-Al nanoparticles are shown the well dispersed Pt on the Fe-Cr-Al core particle, Pt/Ni-Cr-Fe nanoparticles are shown the partially separated Pt on the Ni-Cr-Fe core particle. Morphologies and component of two kinds of hybrid nano catalyst particles were characterized by transmission electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1127-1130
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• 2013

Formation of the monodisperse submicrospheres consisting of ionic palladium(II) complexes, $[(Me_4en)Pd(L)]_2(X)_4$($Me_4en$ = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine; L = bis(4-(4-pyridylcarboxyl)phenyl)methane; $X^-=BF_4{^-}$ and $ClO_4{^-}$), has been carried out without any templates or additives. The submicrospheres were coated with silicates, and then calcined in air at $550^{\circ}C$ for 1 h, to efficiently form hollow-spherical $SiO_2$ submicro-reactors dotted with palladium(0) nanoparticles (PdNPs). That is, the submicrospheres act as both a template and a source of the palladium metal nanoparticles. The submicro-reactors containing nano-catalysts have been characterized by means of SEM, TEM, and XPS. Notably, the reactors were proved to be very effective for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and hydrogenation reactions.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.316-321
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• 2009

Co nanoparticles on silica substrates were fabricated by inducing a thin-film dewetting through two different processes-furnace annealing and pulsed-laser annealing. The effects of annealing temperature, film thickness and laser energy density on dewetting morphology and mechanism were investigated. Co thinfilms with thicknesses between 3 to 15 nm were deposited using ion-beam sputtering, and then, in order to induce dewetting, thermally annealed in furnace at temperatures between 600 and $900^{\circ}C$. Some as-deposited films were irradiated using a Nd-YAG pulsed-laser of 266 nm wavelength to induce dewetting in liquid-state. Films annealed in furnace agglomerated to form nanoparticles above $700^{\circ}C$, and those average particle size and spacing were increased with an increase of film thickness. On the laser annealing process, above the energy density of $100mJ/cm^2$, metal films were completely dewetted and the agglomerated particles exhibited greater size uniformity than those on the furnace annealing process. A detailed dewetting mechanism underlaying both processes were discussed.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.52
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• pp.7.1-7.6
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• 2022

The process of encapsulating cobalt nanoparticles using a graphene layer is mainly direct pyrolysis. The encapsulation structure of hybrids prepared in this way improves the catalyst stability, which greatly reduces the leaching of non-metals and prevents metal nanoparticles from growing beyond a certain size. In this study, cobalt particles surrounded by graphene layers were formed by increasing the temperature in a transmission electron microscope, and they were analyzed using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Synthesized cobalt hydroxide nanosheets were used to obtain cobalt particles using an in-situ heating holder inside a TEM column. The cobalt nanoparticles are surrounded by layers of graphene, and the number of layers increases as the temperature increases. The interlayer spacing of the graphene layers was also investigated using atomic imaging. The success achieved in the encapsulation of metallic nanoparticles in graphene layers paves the way for the design of highly active and reusable heterogeneous catalysts for more challenging molecules.