• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.363.1-363.1
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• 2016

Transparent and stretchable conductors are expected to be an essential component in future stretchable optoelectronic devices. Until now, two main methods have been commonly employed to fabricate transparent and stretchable conductors by using metal nanomaterials: creating buckling configurations and creating network configurations. In this report, a novel strategy for obtaining transparent and stretchable conductors is presented, one that employs these two main approaches simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, this proposed configuration of a buckled long nanofiber network in this study has not yet been reported. In order to provide the transparent conductors with dual mode stretchability originating from simultaneous buckled and network configurations, a buckled Au@polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) nanofiber network (hereafter referred to BANN for convenience) was fabricated by transferring Au-metallized electrospun PVP nanofibers onto a prestrained polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. Our BANN shows considerably lower strain sensitivity of resistance than that of straight Au@PVP nanofiber network. Durability tests conducted by performing cyclic tensile strain reveal that the relative change in resistance of BANN (prestrain = 20%) is quite small after 1000 cycles. We also demonstrate that this BANN exhibits superior performance over widely used indium tin oxide conductors with regard to high optical transmittance and low sheet resistance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.537-542
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• 2015

One-dimensional (1D) silver nanostructures, which possess the highest conductivity among all room-temperature materials, moderate flexibility and high transmittance, are one of the most promising candidate materials to replace conventional indium tin oxide transparent electrodes. However, the short length and large diameter of 1D silver nanostructures cause a substantial decrease in the optical transparency or an increase in the sheet resistance. In this work, ultra-long silver nanofiber networks were synthesized with a low-cost and scalable electrospinning process, and the diameter of the nanofibers were finetuned to achieve a higher aspect ratio. The decrease in the diameter of the nanofibers resulted in a higher optical transparency at a lower sheet resistance: 87 % at $300{\Omega}/sq$, respectively. It is expected that an electrospun silver nanofiber based transparent electrode can be used as a key component in various optoelectronic applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.562-568
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• 2012

Metal nanowires can be coated on various substrates to create transparent conducting films that can potentially replace the dominant transparent conductor, indium tin oxide, in displays, solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes, and electrochromic windows. One issue with these metal nanowire based transparent conductive films is that the resistance between the nanowires is still high because of their low aspect ratio. Here, we demonstrate high-performance transparent conductive films with silver nanofiber networks synthesized by a low-cost and scalable electrospinning process followed by two-step sequential thermal treatments. First, the PVP/$AgNO_3$ precursor nanofibers, which have an average diameter of 208 nm and are several thousands of micrometers in length, were synthesized by the electrospinning process. The thermal behavior and the phase and morphology evolution in the thermal treatment processes were systematically investigated to determine the thermal treatment atmosphere and temperature. PVP/$AgNO_3$ nanofibers were transformed stepwise into PVP/Ag and Ag nanofibers by two-step sequential thermal treatments (i.e., $150^{\circ}C$ in $H_2$ for 0.5 h and $300^{\circ}C$ in Ar for 3 h); however, the fibrous shape was perfectly maintained. The silver nanofibers have ultrahigh aspect ratios of up to 10000 and a small average diameter of 142 nm; they also have fused crossing points with ultra-low junction resistances, which result in high transmittance at low sheet resistance.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1249-1253
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• 2007

Experimental studies on the fabrication of sub-30 nm nanofibers using weakly two-photon induced photopolymerized region have been carried out. For the generation of nanofibers inside or outside microstructures, an over-polymerizing method involving a long exposure technique (LET) was proposed. Such nanofibers can find meaningful applications as bio-filters, mixers, and many other uses in diverse research field. A multitude of nanofibers with a notably high resolution (about 22 nm) in two-photon polymerization was achieved using the LET. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the LET can be employed for the direct fabrication of various embossing patterns by controlling the exposure duration and the interval between voxels. Thin interconnecting networks are formed regularly in the boundary of the over-polymerized region, which allows for the creation of various pattern shapes. Overall of this work, some patterns including nanofibers are fabricated by the LET.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.3258-3264
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• 2012

Aluminum oxide ($Al_2O_3$) nanofibers were treated thermally under an ammonia ($NH_3$) gas stream balanced by nitrogen to form a thin aluminum nitride (AlN) layer on the nanofibers, resulting in the enhancement of thermal conductivity of $Al_2O_3$/epoxy nanocomposites. The micro-structural and morphological properties of the $NH_3$-assisted thermally-treated $Al_2O_3$ nanofibers were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AEM), respectively. The surface characteristics and pore structures were observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Zeta-potential and $N_2$/77 K isothermal adsorptions. From the results, the formation of AlN on $Al_2O_3$ nanofibers was confirmed by XRD and XPS. The thermal conductivity (TC) of the modified $Al_2O_3$ nanofibers/epoxy composites increased with increasing treated temperatures. On the other hand, the severely treated $Al_2O_3$/epoxy composites showed a decrease in TC, resulting from a decrease in the probability of heat-transfer networks between the filler and matrix in this system due to the aggregation of nanofiber fillers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1144-1149
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• 2007

Experimental studies on the fabrication of sub-30 nm nanofibers using weakly two-photon induced photopolymerized region have been carried out. For the generation of nanofibers inside or outside microstructures, an over-polymerizing method involving a long exposure technique (LET) was proposed. Such nanofibers can find meaningful applications as bio-filters, mixers, and many other uses in diverse research field. A multitude of nanofibers with a notably high resolution (about 22 nm) in two-photon polymerization was achieved using the LET. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the LET can be employed for the direct fabrication of various embossing patterns by controlling the exposure duration and the interval between yokels. Thin interconnecting networks are formed regularly in the boundary of the over-polymerized region, which allows for the creation of various pattern shapes. Overall of this work, some patterns including nanofibers are fabricated by the LET.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.343-352
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• 2010

A zirconia gel/polymer hybrid nanofiber was produced in a nonwoven fabric mode by electrospinning a sol derived from hydrolysis of zirconium butoxide with a polyvinyl butyral. Results indicated that the hydroxyl groups on the vinyl alcohol units in the backbone of the polymer were involved in the hydrolysis as well as grafting the hydrolyzed zirconium butoxide. In addition, use of acetic acid as a catalyst resulted in further hydrolysis and condensation in the sol, which led to the growth of -Zr-O-Zr- networks among the polymer chains. These networks gradually transformed into a crystalline zirconia structure upon heating. The as-spun fiber was smooth but partially wrinkled on the surface. The average fiber diameter was $690{\pm}110\;nm$. The fiber exhibited a strong but broad blue photoluminescence with its maximum intensity at a wavelength of ~410 nm at room temperature. When the fiber was heat-treated at $400^{\circ}C$, the fiber diameter shrunk to $250{\pm}60\;nm$. Nanocrystals which belonged to a tetragonal zirconia phase and were ~5 nm in size appeared. A strong white photoluminescence was observed in this fiber. This suggests that oxygen or carbon defects associated with the formation of the nanocrystals play a role in generating the photoluminescence. Further heating to $800^{\circ}C$ resulted in a monoclinic phase beginning to form In the heat-treated fibers, coloring occurred but varied depending on the heating temperature. Crystallization, coloring, and phase transition to the monoclinic structure influenced the photoluminescence. At $600^{\circ}C$, the fiber appeared to be fully crystallized to a tetragonal zirconia phase.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2016

In this work, we prepared porous WO3 nanofibers (NFs) functionalized by bio-inspired catalytic $Cr_2O_3$ and $Co_3O_4$ nanoparticles as highly sensitive and selective $H_2S$ gas sensing layers. Highly porous 3-dimensional (3D) NFs networks decorated by well-dispersed catalyst NPs exhibited superior $H_2S$ gas response ($R_{air}/R_{gas}$ = 46 at 5 ppm) in high humidity environment (95 %RH). In particular, the sensors showed outstanding $H_2S$ selectivity against other interfering analytes (such as acetone, toluene, CO, $H_2$, ethanol). Exhaled breath sensors using $Cr_2O_3$ and $Co_3O_4$ catalysts-loaded $WO_3$ NFs are highly promising for the accurate detection of halitosis.