• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.577-582
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• 2017

Self-cleaning and photocatalytic $TiO_2$ thin films were prepared by a facile sol-gel method followed by spin coating using peroxo titanic acid as a precursor. The as-prepared thin films were heated at low temperature($110^{\circ}C$) and high temperature ($400^{\circ}C$). Thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), Field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy and water contact angle measurement. XRD analysis confirms the low crystallinity of thin films prepared at low temperature, while crystalline anatase phase was found the for high temperature thin film. The photocatalytic activity of thin films was studied by the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye solution. Self-cleaning and photocatalytic performance of both low and high temperature thin films were compared.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.649-656
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• 2010

Boron-doped $TiO_2$ photocatalysts were synthesized by a modified sol-gel method and their photocatalytic activities were performed and compared with those of pure synthetic and commercial $TiO_2$ catalysts under UV or visible light conditions. Pure $TiO_2$ itself exhibited very negligible photocatalytic performance under visible light conditions in the aspects of toluene decomposition reactions, although significant decomposition potential was observed as expected with UV light conditions. However, boron doping over $TiO_2$ significantly improved photocatalytic activity particularly under visible conditions, where over 95% degradation of toluene was achieved with 1wt% $B-TiO_2$ within 2 hrs. All the decomposition reactions seemed to follow pseudo first-order kinetics. The effects of boron-doping and its characteristics are further discussed through the kinetic studies and comparison of results.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.635-644
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• 2023

Due to the rapid development of the livestock industry, particularly due to residual pharmaceutical antibiotics, environmental populations have been negatively affected. Herein, we report a ZnO/melamine-functionalized carboxylic-rich graphene oxide (ZFG) photocatalyst for visible light-driven photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride in aqueous solutions. The properties of the photocatalysts were evaluated by XRD, FTIR, XPS, Fe-SEM, HR-TEM, TGA, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, zeta potential, and electrochemical measurements. The photocatalytic activity was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. The photocatalytic properties of the ZFG photocatalyst evaluated against the tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) antibiotic under visible light irradiation showed superior photodegradation of 96.27% within 60 min at an initial pH of 11. The enhancement of photocatalytic degradation was due to the introduction of functionalized graphene, which increases the light-harvesting capability and molecular adsorption capability in addition to minimizing the recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers due to its role as an electron acceptor and mediator.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.817-821
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• 2008

We have investigated the influence of the crystal structure on the chemical bonding nature and photocatalytic activity of cubic and hexagonal perovskite A[$Cr_{1/2}Ta_{1/2}$]O3 (A = Sr, Ba) compounds. According to neutron diffraction and field emission-scanning electron microscopy, the crystal structure and particle size of these compounds are strongly dependent on the nature of A-site cations. Also, it was found that the face-shared octahedra in the hexagonal phase are exclusively occupied by chromium ions, suggesting the presence of metallic (Cr-Cr) bonds. X-ray absorption and diffuse UV-vis spectroscopic analyses clearly demonstrated that, in comparison with cubic Sr[$Cr_{1/2}Ta_{1/2}$]$O_3$ phase, hexagonal Ba[$Cr_{1/2}Ta_{1/2}$]$O_3$ phase shows a decrease of Cr oxidation state as well as remarkable changes in interband Cr d-d transitions, which can be interpreted as a result of metallic (Cr-Cr) interactions. According to the test of photocatalytic activity, the present semiconducting materials have a distinct activity against the photodegradation of 4-chlorophenol. Also the Srbased compound was found to show a higher photocatalytic activity than the Ba-based one, which is attributable to its smaller particle size and its stronger absorption in visible light region.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.2849-2853
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• 2010

A method to improve the photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide by modification with a sensitizer and a metal oxide is proposed. To achieve this goal, we used metal oxides as dopants. In particular, $CaWO_4$ and $Gd_2O_2S$:Tb were used because their 2.6 eV and 2.2 eV band gap energy and optical properties have a large positive effect on photocatalysis. The improvement in the photocatalytic activity of $TiO_2$ modified with $Gd_2O_2S$:Tb under ultraviolet light irradiation is described in a previous study. The present work focuses on the sensitization of metal oxide-modified $TiO_2$. Having observed the ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra of 3,4,9,10-Perylenetetracarboxylic diimide in the wide visible-light region from 400 nm to 650 nm and the broad peaks in its photoluminescence spectra at 695 nm and 717 nm, we decided to use this perylene dye to sensitize modified $TiO_2$ to enhance its activity as a visible-light harvesting photocatalyst. We also explored the positive effects thin-film surface changes stemming from ultraviolet pre-treatment have on photocatalytic activity. Finally, we subjected several metal oxide-modified $TiO_2$ products sensitized by the perylene dye to ultraviolet pre-treatment, obtaining the most active photocatalysts.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2021

Pure and Sm ion doped BiVO₄ catalysts were synthesized using a conventional hydrothermal method and characterized by XRD, DRS, SEM, and PL. We also examined the activity of these materials on the photocatalytic decomposition of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. The doping of Sm ion into BiVO₄ catalyst changed the ms-BiVO₄ crystal structure into the tz-BiVO₄ crystal structure in the low synthesis temperature. Light absorption analysis using DRS showed that all the catalysts displayed strong absorption in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum regardless of Sm ion doping. In addition, an amorphous morphology was shown in the pure BiVO₄ catalyst, but the morphology of the BiVO₄ catalyst doped with Sm ion was changed into an ellipse shape and also the particle size decreased. In the photocatalytic decomposition of rhodamine B, Sm ion doped BiVO₄ catalyst showed higher photocatalytic activity than the pure BiVO₄ catalyst. In addition, the Sm3-BVO catalyst doped with 3% Sm ion showed the highest photocatalytic activity, as well as the highest formation rate of OH radicals (•OH) and the highest PL peak. This result suggests that the formation rate of OH radicals produced in the interface between the photocatalyst and water is well correlated with the photocatalytic activity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2013

A selected halogenated organic contaminant, monochlorophenol was successfully degraded by photocatalytic reaction in a circulating batch system. The photocatalytic degradation in most cases follows first-order kinetics. The photocatalytic reaction rate increased in the $TiO_2$ dosage range of 0.1 g/L to 0.4 g/L, then decreased with further increase of the dosage. Also the degradation rate increased over the range of the retention time from 0.49 min. to 0.94 min., then decreased with further increase of the retention time in the circulating batch reactor. The photocatalytic activity was enhanced by addition of metal impurities, platinum(Pt) and palladium(Pd) onto the photocatalysts. The photocatalytic degradation rate increased with the increase of Pt and Pd in the content range of 0 to 2wt %, then decreased with further increase of the metal contents. Therefore the metal loading to $TiO_2$ influence the degradation rate of a halogenated organic compound by acting as electron traps, consequently reducing the electron/positive hole pair recombination rate.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.123-131
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• 2015

The unintentionally doped and bismuth (Bi) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) films were prepared by spray pyrolysis at $450^{\circ}C$ with zinc acetate and bismuth nitrate precursor. The n-type conduction with concentration $6.13{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$ can be observed for the unintentionally doped ZnO. With the increasing of bismuth nitrate concentration in precursor, the p-type conduction can be observed. The p-type concentration $4.44{\times}10^{17}cm^{-3}$ can be achieved for the film with the Bi/Zn atomic ratio 5% in the precursor. The photoluminescence spectroscopy with HeCd laser light source was studied for films with different Bi doping. The photocatalytic activity for the unintentionally doped and Bi-doped ZnO films was studied through the photodegradation of Congo red under UV light illumination. The effects of different Bi contents on photocatalytic activity are studied and discussed. Results show that appropriate Bi doping in ZnO can increase photocatalytic activity.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.1738-1742
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• 2009

Nanocrystalline Zn$Fe_2O_4$ oxide-semiconductor with spinel structure was synthesized by the polymerized complex (PC) method and investigated for its photocatalytic and photoelectric properties. The observation of a highly pure phase and a lower crystallization temperature in Zn$Fe_2O_4$ made by PC method is in total contrast to that was observed in Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction (SSR) method. The band gap of the nanocrystalline Zn$Fe_2O_4$ determined by UV-DRS was 1.90 eV (653 nm). The photocatalytic activity of Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by PC method as investigated by the photo-decomposition of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) under visible light (${\geq}$ 420 nm) was much higher than that of the Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by SSR as well as Ti$O_{2-x}N_x$. High photocatalytic activity of Zn$Fe_2O_4$ prepared by PC method was mainly due to its surface area, crystallinity and the dispersity of platinum metal over Zn$Fe_2O_4$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.54-54
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• 2010

Zinc oxide is metal oxide semiconductor with the 3.37 eV bandgap energy. Zinc oxide is very attractive materials for many application fields. Zinc Oxide has many advantages such as high conductivity and good transmittance in visible region. Also it is cheaper than other semiconductor materials such as indium tin oxide (ITO). Therefore, ZnO is alternative material for ITO. ZnO is attracting attention for its application to transparent conductive oxide (TCO) films, surface acoustic wave (SAW), films bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR), piezoelectric materials, gas-sensing, solar cells and photocatalyst. In this study, we synthesized ZnO nanoparticles and defined their physical and chemical properties. Also we studied about the application of ZnO nanoparticles as a photocatalyst and try to find a enhancement photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanorticles.. We synthesized ZnO nanoparticles using spray-pyrolysis method and defined the physical and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles in experiment I. When the ZnO are exposed to UV light, reduction and oxidation(REDOX) reaction will occur on the ZnO surface and generate ${O_2}^-$ and OH radicals. These powerful oxidizing agents are proven to be effective in decomposition of the harmful organic materials and convert them into $CO_2$ and $H_2O$. Therefore, we investigated that the photocatalytic activity was increased through the surface modification of synthesized ZnO nanoparticles. In experiment II, we studied on the stability of ZnO nanoparticles in water. It is well known that ZnO is unstable in water in comparison with $TiO_2$. $Zn(OH)_2$ was formed at the ZnO surface and ZnO become inactive as a photocatalyst when ZnO is present in the solution. Therefore, we prepared synthesized ZnO nanoparticles that were immersed in the water and dried in the oven. After that, we measured photocatalytic activities of prepared samples and find the cause of their photocatalytic activity changes.