• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.402-407
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• 2019

Water electrolysis is known as the most sustainable and clean technology to produce hydrogen gas, however, a serious drawback to commercialize this technology is due to the slow kinetics in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Thus, we report on the nanoporous IrNi thin film that reveals a markedly enhanced OER activity, which is attained through a selective etching of Os from the IrNiOs alloy thin film. Interestingly, electrochemical selective etching of Os leads to the formation of 3-dimensionally interconnected nanoporous structure providing a high electrochemical surface area (ECSA, 80.8 ㎠), which is 90 fold higher than a bulk Ir surface (0.9 ㎠). The overpotential at the nanoporous IrNi electrode is markedly lowered to be 289 mV at 10 mA cm^-2, compared with bulk Ir (375 mV at 10 mA cm^-2). The nanoporous IrNi prepared through the selective de-alloying of Os is promising as the anode material for a water electrolyzer.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.7.1-7.1
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• 2011

Nanoporous templates have been widely used for the development of new functional nanostructured materials suitable for electronics, optics, magnetism, and energy storage materials. We have prepared nanoporous templates by using thin films of mixtures of polystyrene-block-poly (methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) and PMMA homopolymers. These templates have cylindrical nanoholes spanning the entire thickness of the film. Some applications of nanoporous templates are introduced: a) anti-reflective coating, b) the preparation of conducting polymer nanowires of poly (pyrrole), poly (3,4-ethylenedioxy-thiopene) onto a glass coated with indium-tin-oxide, and c) the separation membranes for biomaterials. We found that when the pore fraction of nanoholes in the film was ~0.68, almost zero reflectance at a specific wavelength, which can be changed with film thickness, was achieved at visible wavelengths Furthermore, ultra high density array of conducting nanowires was successfully prepared onto various substrates including flexible polymer. Due to highly alignment of polymer chain along the nanowire direction, the conductivity was much increased. Furthermore, these nanoporous films were found to be very effective for the separation of human Rhinovirus type 14 (HRV 14), major pathogen of a common cold in humans, from the buffer solution. We also found that when the pore size was effectively controlled down to 6 nm, a single file diffusion was observed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2333-2337
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• 2007

Nanoporous TiO2 and ZrO2 thin films were spin-coated using a surfactant-templated approach from Pluronic P123 (EO20PO70EO20) as the templating agent, titanium alkoxide (Ti(OC4H9)4) as the inorganic precursor, and butanol as a the solvent. The control of the electronic structure of TiO2 is crucial for its various applications. We found that the band gap of the hybrid nanoporous thin films can be easily tuned by adding an acetylacetonestabilized Zr(OC4H9)4 precursor to the precursor solution of Ti(OC4H9)4. Pores with a diameter of 5 nm-10 nm were randomly dispersed and partially connected to each other inside the films. TiO2 and ZrO2 thin films have an anatase structure and tetragonal structure, respectively, while the TiO2-ZrO2 hybrid film exhibited no crystallinity. The refractive index was significantly changed by varying the atomic ratio of titanium to zirconium. The band gap for the nanoporous TiO2 was estimated to 3.43 eV and that for the TiO2-ZrO2 hybrid film was 3.61 eV.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2481-2485
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• 2007

Spatially resolved, quantitative, non-destructive analysis using synchrotron x-ray reflectivity (XR) with subnano-scale resolution was successfully performed on the nanoporous organosilicate thin films for low dielectric applications. The structural information of porous thin films, which were prepared with polymethylsilsesquioxane and thermally labile 4-armed, star-shaped poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) composites, were characterized in terms of the laterally averaged electron density profile along with a film thickness as well as a total thickness. The thermal process used in this work caused to efficiently undergo sacrificial thermal degradation, generating closed nanopores in the film. The resultant nanoporous films became homogeneous, well-defined structure with a thin skin layer and low surface roughness. The average electron density of the calcined film reduced with increase of the initial porogen loading, and finally leaded to corresponding porosity ranged from 0 to 22.8% over the porogen loading range of 0-30 wt%. In addition to XR analysis, the surface and the inner structures of films are investigated and discussed with atomic force and scanning electron microscopy images.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.575-578
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• 2011

We fabricated a novel simple and rapid method of three dimensional nanoporous gold thin film (NPGF) onto a Au substrate using electrochemical deposition method. The NPGF-modified electrode analysis by scanning electron microscope and reveals the formation of nanopores, approximately 30~50 nm in diameter. differential pulse voltammetry was measured for the determination of ${\gamma}$-aminobutiric acid in the concentration range of ($10{\sim}100{\mu}M$ using a NPGF. The high sensitivity feature of NPGF is expected to be applied for real sample biosensor applications.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.255-260
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• 2020

In this study, we developed a method of improving the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) response characteristics by depositing a nanoporous Ag metal thin film through cluster source sputtering after forming a pyramidal texture structure on the Si substrate surface. A reactive ion etching (RIE) system with a metal mesh inside the system was used to form a pyramidal texture structure on the Si surface without following a complicated photolithography process, unlike in case of the conventional RIE system. The size of the texture structure increased with the RIE process time. However, after a process time of 60 min, the size of the structure did not increase but tended to saturate. When the RF power increased from 200 to 250 W, the size of the pyramidal texture structure increased from 0.45 to 0.8 ㎛. The SERS response characteristics were measured by depositing approximately 1.5 ㎛ of nanoporous Ag metal thin film through cluster sputtering on the formed texture structure by varying the RIE process conditions. The Raman signal strength of the nanoporous Ag metal thin film deposited on the Si substrate with the texture structure was higher than that deposited on the general silicon substrate by up to 19%. The Raman response characteristics were influenced by the pyramid size and the number of pyramids per unit area but appeared to be influenced more by the number of pyramids per unit area. Therefore, further studies are required in this regard.

• Proceedings of the Korea Crystallographic Association Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.48-48
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• 2002

It is generally accepted that ultra low dielectric interlayer dielectric materials (k < 2.2) will be necessary for ULSI advanced microelectronic devices after 2003, according to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) 2000. A continuous reduction of dielectric constant is believed to be possible only by incorporating nanopores filled with air (k = 1.0) into electrically insulating matrices such as poly(methyl silsesquioxane) (PMSSQ). The nanopo.ous low dielectric films should have excellent material properties to survive severe mechanical stress conditions imposed during the advanced semiconductor processes such as chemical mechanical planarization process and multilayer fabrication. When air is incorporated into the films for lowering k, their mechanical strength has inevitably to be sacrificed. To minimize this effect, the nanopores are controlled to exist in the film as closed cells. The micromechanical properties of the nanoporous thin films are considered more seriously than ever, particularly for ultra low dielectric applications. In this study, three approaches were made to design and develop nanoporous low dielectric films with improved micromechanical properties: 1) wall density increase of nanoporous organosilicate film by copolymerization of carbon bridged comonomers; 2) incorporation of sacrificial phases with good miscibility; 3) selective surface modification by plasma treatment. Nanoporous low-k films were prepared with copolymerized PMSSQ and star-shaped sacrificial organic molecules, both of which were synthesized to control molecular weight and functionality. The nanoporous structures of the films were observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and positronium annihilation lifetime spectroscopy(PALS). Micromechanical characterization was performed using a nanoindentor to measure hardness and modulus of the films.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.655-659
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• 2010

Nanoporous titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) is very attractive material for various applications due to the high surface to volume ratio. In this study, we have fabricated nanoporous $TiO_2$ thin films on Si by anodic oxidation. 500-nm-thick titanium (Ti) films were deposited on Si by using electron beam evaporation. Nanoporous structures in the Ti films were obtained by anodic oxidization using ethylene glycol electrolytes containing 0.3 wt% $NH_4F$ and 2 vol% $H_2O$ under an applied bias of 5 V. The diameter of nanopores in the Ti films linearly increased with anodization time and the whole Ti layer could become nanoporous after anodizing for 3 hours, resulting in vertically aligned nanotubes with the length of 200~300 nm and the diameter of 50~80 nm. Upon annealing at $600^{\circ}C$ in air, the anodized Ti films were fully crystallized to $TiO_2$ of rutile and anatase phases. We believe that our method to fabricate nanoporous $TiO_2$ films on Si is promising for applications to thin-film gas sensors and thin-film photovoltaics.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.12 s.271
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• pp.900-906
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• 2004

Solid oxide fuel cells have a limitation in their low-temperature application due to the low ionic conductivity of electrolyte materials and difficulties in thin film formation on porous gas diffusion layer. These problems can be solved by improvement of ionic conductivity through controlled nanostructure of electrolyte and adopting nanoporous electrodes as substrates which have homogeneous submicron pore size and highly flattened surface. In this study, ultra-thin oxide films having submicron thickness without gas leakage are deposited on nanoporous substrates. By oxidation of metal thin films deposited onto nanoporous anodic alumina substrates with pore size of $20nm{\sim}200nm$ using dc-magnetron sputtering at room temperature, ultra-thin and dense ionic conducting oxide films with submicron thickness are realized. The specific material properties of the thin films including gas permeation, grain/gran boundaries formation, change of crystalline structure/microstructure by phase transition are investigated for optimization of ultra thin film deposition process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.354.1-354.1
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• 2016

Nanoporous gold (NPG) is a very promising material in various fields such as sensor, actuator, and catalysis because of its high surface to volume ratio and conducting nature. In this study, we fabricated a NPG based amperometric sensor on a glass substrate by means of co-sputtering of Au and Si. During the sputtering process, we found the optimum conditions for heat treatment to reduce the residual stress and to improve adhesion between NPG films and the glass substrate. Subsequently, Si was selectively etched from Au-Si alloy by KOH solution, which forms nanoporous structures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and auger electron spectroscopy (AES) were used to estimate the structure of NPG films and their composition. By employing appropriate heat treatments, we could make very stable NPG films. We tested the performance of NPG sensor with aniline molecules, which shows high sensitivity for sensing low concentration of aniline.