• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.112-115
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• 2010

Transparent conducting undoped and Al impurity doped ZnO films were deposited on glass substrate by spin coat technique using 24 days aged ZnO precursor solution with solution of ethanol and diethanolamine. The films were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), electrical resistivity ($\rho$), carrier concentration (n), and hall mobility ($\mu$) measurements. XRD data show that the deposited film shows polycrystalline nature with hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferential orientation along (002) crystal plane. The SEM images show that surface morphology, porosity and grain sizes are affected by doping concentration. The Al doped samples show high transmittance and better resistivity. With increasing Al concentration only mild change in optical band gap is observed. Optical properties are not affected by aging of parent solution. A lowest resistivity ($8.5 \times 10^{-2}$ ohm cm) is observed at 2 atomic percent (at.%) Al. With further increase in Al concentration, the resistivity started to increase significantly. The decrease resistivity with increasing Al concentration can be attributed to increase in both carrier concentration and hall mobility.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.76-82
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• 2014

1-Methylimidazole-2-thiol, as a kind of mercaptans, is a typical organic pollutant which has not been efficiently removed. In this study, titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) photocatalyst based on magnetic multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was synthesized via hydrothermal and sol-gel methods. The as-prepared photocatalyst was extensively characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray energy diffraction spectrum (EDS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). This photocatalyst of $TiO_2$/$Fe_3O_4$/MWCNTs was proved to exhibit high photocatalytic efficiency and the photodegradation rate could reach nearly 82.7% for the degradation of 1-methylimidazole-2-thiol under ultraviolet irradiation. In addition, the results demonstrated that inorganic ions had a negative impact on photodegradation of 1-methylimidazole-2-thiol to varying degrees. Moreover, pH had a great and complex effect on photocatalytic degradation of 1-methylimidazole-2-thiol under ultraviolet irradiation.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.99.1-99.1
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• 2012

The thin-film photovoltaic absorbers (CdTe and $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$) can achieve solar conversion efficiencies of up to 20% and are now commercially available, but the presence of toxic (Cd,Se) and expensive elemental components (In, Te) is a real issue as the demand for photovoltaics rapidly increases. To overcome these limitations, there has been substantial interest in developing viable alternative materials, such as $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) is an emerging solar absorber that is structurally similar to CIGS, but contains only earth abundant, non-toxic elements and has a near optimal direct band gap energy of 1.4 - 1.6 eV and a large absorption coefficient of ~104 $cm^{-1}$. The CZTS absorber layers are grown and investigated by various fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation with a post sulfurization, sputtering, non-vacuum sol-gel, pulsed laser, spray-pyrolysis method and electrodeposition technique. In the present work, we report an alternative aqueous chemical approach based on chemical bath deposition (CBD) method for large area deposition of CZTS thin films. Samples produced by our method were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, absorbance and photoluminescence. The results show that this inexpensive and relatively benign process produces thin films of CZTS exhibiting uniform composition, kesterite crystal structure, and some factors like triethanolamine, ammonia, temperature which strongly affect on the morphology of CZTS film.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.619-624
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• 2003

The $Gd_{1.9-x}Li_{0.1}Eu_xO_3$ (x=0.02, 0.05, 0.08, and 0.12) powders (${\thickapprox}1{\mu}m$) synthesized by sol-gel method, whose surfaces are modified in a colloidal silica suspension (size of $SiO_2$ particles: ${\sim}30$ nm), have been fabricated to highly stable and effective luminescent films on the glass substrates. Thanks to the fused $SiO_2$ nano particles in the vicinity of the glass softening temperature (at around $700^{\circ}C$), $Gd_{1.9-x}Li_{0.1}Eu_xO_3$ powders are strongly attached onto the surface of glass substrate (>9H, pencil hardness tester). This simple and low-cost method to get $Gd_{1.9-x}Li_{0.1}Eu_xO_3$ phosphor films without any loss of luminescence brightness would promise for applications to display devices.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.524-528
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• 2006

On the synthesis of Au/$TiO_2$ core-shell structure nanoparticle, the effect of concentration of $Ti^{4+}$ and reaction temperature on the morphology and optical property of Au/$TiO_2$ core-shell nanoparticles is examined. A gold colloid was prepared by $HAuCl_4{\cdot}4H_2O\;and\;C_6H_5Na_3{\cdot}2H_2O$. Titanium stock solution was prepared by mixing solution of titanium(IV) isopropoxide (TTIP) and triethanolamine (TEOA). The concentrations of $Ti^{4+}$ stock solution were adjusted to $10.01{\sim}0.3$ mM, and then the gold colloid is added to the $Ti^{4+}$ stock solution. Au/$TiO_2$ core-shell structure nanoparticles could be prepared by the hydrolysis of the $Ti^{4+}$ stock solution at $80^{\circ}C$. The size of synthesized Au nanoparticles was 15 nm. The thickness of $TiO_2$ shell on the surface of gold particles was about 10 nm. The absorption peak of synthesized Au/$TiO_2$ core-shell nanoparticles shifted towards the red end of the spectrum by about 3 nm because of the formation of $TiO_2$ shell on the surface of gold particles. The good $TiO_2$ shell is produced when $Ti^{4+}$ concentration is varied between 0.01 and 0.05 mM, and reaction temperature is maintained at $80^{\circ}C$. The crystal structure of $TiO_2$ shell was amorphous.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.211-214
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• 2002

Properties of 52/48 PZT films with various thicknesses for piezoelectric micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) devices fabricated by multi-coating method on $Pt(3500{\AA})/Ti(400{\AA})/SiO_2(3000{\AA})/Si$(525$\mu\textrm{m}$) substrates were investigated. PZT films were deposited by spin-coating process at 3500 rpm for 30 sec, followed by pyrolysis at 45$0^{\circ}C$ for 10 min producing the thickness of about 120nm. These processes were repeated 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 times in order to have various thicknesses, respectively. Finally, they were crystallized at $650^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. All thick PZT films showed dense and homogeneous surface microstructures. Thick PZT films showed crystalline structures of random orientations with increasing thickness. Dielectric constants of thick PZT films were increased with increasing film thickness and reached 800 at 100kHz for 2.3$\mu\textrm{m}$ thick PZT film. $P_r\; and\; E_c$ of 2.3$\mu\textrm{m}$ thick PZT films were about 20$\mu$C/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and 63kV/cm. Depth profile analysis by Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) of 4800 $\AA$ thick PZT film showed the formation of the perovskite phase on Pt layer by Pb diffusion behavior. It was considered that Pb-Pt intermediate layer promoted PZT (111) columnar structures.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.401-407
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• 2010

We studied the influence of different types of metal electrodes on the performance of solution-processed zinc tin oxide (ZTO) thin-film transistors. The ZTO thin-film was obtained by spin-coating the sol-gel solution made from zinc acetate and tin acetate dissolved in 2-methoxyethanol. Various metals, Al, Au, Ag and Cu, were used to make contacts with the solution-deposited ZTO layers by selective deposition through a metal shadow mask. Contact resistance between the metal electrode and the semiconductor was obtained by a transmission line method (TLM). The device based on an Al electrode exhibited superior performance as compared to those based on other metals. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) allowed us to measure the work function of the oxide semiconductor to understand the variation of the device performance as a function of the types metal electrode. The solution-processed ZTO contained nanopores that resulted from the burnout of the organic species during the annealing. This different surface structure associated with the solution-processed ZTO gave a rise to a different work function value as compared to the vacuum-deposited counterpart. More oxygen could be adsorbed on the nanoporous solution-processed ZTO with large accessible surface areas, which increased its work function. This observation explained why the solution-processed ZTO makes an ohmic contact with the Al electrode.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2013

Superhydrophobic $SiO_2$ layers with a micro-nano hierarchical surface structure were prepared. $SiO_2$ layers deposited via an electrospray method combined with a sol-gel chemical route were rough on the microscale. Au particles were decorated on the surface of the microscale-rough $SiO_2$ layers by use of the photo-reduction process with different intensities ($0.11-1.9mW/cm^2$) and illumination times (60-240 sec) of ultraviolet light. With the aid of nanoscale Au nanoparticles, this consequently resulted in a micro-nano hierarchical surface structure. Subsequent fluorination treatment with a solution containing trichloro(1H,2H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)silane fluorinated the hierarchical $SiO_2$ layers. The change in surface roughness factor was in good agreement with that observed for the water contact angle, where the surface roughness factor developed as a measure needed to evaluate the degree of surface roughness. The resulting $SiO_2$ layers revealed excellent repellency toward various liquid droplets with different surface tensions ranging from 46 to 72.3 mN/m. Especially, the micro-nano hierarchical surface created at an illumination intensity of $0.11mW/cm^2$ and illumination time of 60 sec showed the largest water contact angle of $170^{\circ}$. Based on the Cassie-Baxter and Young-Dupre equations, the surface fraction and work of adhesion for the micronano hierarchical $SiO_2$ layers were evaluated. The work of adhesion was estimated to be less than $3{\times}10^{-3}N/m$ for all the liquid droplets. This exceptionally small work of adhesion is likely to be responsible for the strong repellency of the liquids to the micro-nano hierarchical $SiO_2$ layers.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.24-30
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• 2013

Today, the modification of carbon foam for high performance remains a major issue in the environment and energy industries. One promising way to solve this problem is the optimization of the pore structure for desired properties as well as for efficient performance. In this study, using a sol-gel process followed by carbonization in an inert atmosphere, hollow spherical carbon foam was prepared using resorcinol and formaldehyde precursors catalyzed by 4-aminobenzoic acid; the effect of carbonization temperature and re-immersion treatment on the pore structure and characteristics of the hollow spherical carbon foam was investigated. As the carbonization temperature increased, the porosity and average pore diameter were found to decrease but the compression strength and electrical conductivity dramatically increased in the temperature range of this study ($700^{\circ}C$ to $850^{\circ}C$). The significant differences of X-ray diffraction patterns obtained from the carbon foams carbonized under different temperatures implied that the degree of crystallinity greatly affects the characteristics of the carbon form. Also, the number of re-impregnations of carbon form in the resorcinol-formaldehyde resin was varied from 1 to 10 times, followed by re-carbonization at $800^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours under argon gas flow. As the number of re-immersion treatments increased, the porosity decreased while the compression strength improved by about four times when re-impregnation was repeated 10 times. These results imply the possibility of customizing the characteristics of carbon foam by controlling the carbonization and re-immersion conditions.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.542-548
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• 2003

Nanoparticles with unsaturated poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s (UPHAs) biosynthesized with Pseudo-monas oleovorans were prepared by spontaneous emulsification solvent diffusion method. The influence of nanoparticle formation was investigated with various experimental parameters such as sonication conditions, sol-vent, surfactant and polymer contents, etc. The physical and chemical properties of UPHAS and its nanoparticles were characterized using $^1$H- and $\^$13/C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and gel permeation chromatography. The morphology of particles was observed using scanning electron microscope and the size and distribution of nanoparticles were measured with electrophoretic light scattering spectrophotometer. The mean diameter of particles decreased with increasing sonication amplitude and time. The addition of ethanol into UPHAS chloroform solution decreased the particle size presumably due to increased solvent diffusion into water phase. The particle size increased with increased the concentration of UPHAS solution. Under the 2-4％ poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) aqueous solution the minimum mean diameter of particles was shown. The higher degree of hydrolysis and degree of polymerization of PVA increased the mean diameter of particles.