• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.02a
• /
• pp.572-572
• /
• 2012

Growth of metal oxides on graphene may lead to a better understanding of delicate effects of their growth habits on their underlying physics. The vanadium dioxide ($VO_2$) is well known for its metal-to-insulator transition accompanied by a reversible first order structural phase transition at 340 K. This transition makes $VO_2$ a potentially useful material for applications in electrical and optical devices. We report a successful growth of $VO_2$ nanostructures on a graphene substrate via a vapor-solid transport route. As-grown $VO_2$ nanostructures on graphene were systematically characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. These results indicate that the strain between $VO_2$ and graphene layers may be easily controlled by the number of underlying graphene layer. We also found that the strain in-between $VO_2$ and graphene layer affected its metal-to-insulator transition characteristics. This study demonstrates a new way for synthesizing $VO_2$ in a desired phase on the transparent conducting graphene substrate and an easy pathway for controlling metal-to-insulator phase transition via strain.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.39-43
• /
• 2011

This study has lowered the specific resistance by coating a thin film layer of Ag, playing the role of the electron donor on the ZnO that is used usefully for the transparent conductive oxides. Presently, this study has examined the transmittance and electric characteristics according to the thickness of the Ag thin film layer. Also, this study has observed the transmittance and electric characteristics according to the uppermost ZnO thin film layer of ZnO/Ag/ZnO symmetric film and has conducted the theoretical investigation. In order to observe the transmittance and electric characteristics according to the thickness of the Ag thin film layer and the uppermost ZnO thin film layer, this study conducted the film deposition at room temperature while making use of the DC magnetron sputtering system. In order to see the changes in the thickness of the Ag thin film layer, this study coated a thin film while increasing by 4nm; and, in order to see the changes in the thickness of uppermost ZnO thin film layer, it performed the thin film coating by increasing by 5nm. From the experimental result, the researchers observed that the best transmittance could be obtained when the thickness of the Ag thin film layer was 8nm, but the resistance and mobility increased as the thickness got larger. On the other hand, when the thickness of the uppermost ZnO thin film layer was 20nm, the experiment yielded the best transmittance with excellent electric characteristics. Also, when compared the ZnO/Ag asymmetric film with the ZnO/Ag/ZnO symmetric film, the ZnO/Ag asymmetric film showed better transmittance and electric characteristics.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2010.06a
• /
• pp.87-87
• /
• 2010

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems are promising methods of producing H2 gas using solar energy in an aqueous solution. The photoelectrochemical properties of numerous metal oxides have been studied. Among them, the PEC systems based on TiO2 have been extensively studied. However, the drawback of a PEC system with TiO2 is that only ultraviolet (UV) light can be absorbed because of its large band gap (3.2 - 3.4 eV). Two approaches have been introduced in order to use PEC cells in the visible light region. The first method includes doping impurities, such as nitrogen, into TiO2, and this technique has been extensively studied in an attempt to narrow the band gap. In comparison, research on the second method, which includes visible light water splitting in molecular photosystems, has been slow. Mallouk et al. recently developed electrochemical water-splitting cells using the Ru(II) complex as the visible light photosensitizer. the dye-sensitized PEC cell consisted of a dye-sensitized TiO2 layer, a Pt counter electrode, and an aqueous solution between them. Under a visible light (< 3 eV) illumination, only the dye molecule absorbed the light and became excited because TiO2 had the wide band gap. The light absorption of the dye was followed by the transfer of an electron from the excited state (S*) of the dye to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2 and its subsequent transfer to the transparent conducting oxide (TCO). The electrons moved through the wire to the Pt, where the water reduction (or H2 evolution) occurred. The oxidized dye molecules caused the water oxidation because their HOMO level was below the H2O/O2 level. Organic dyes have been developed as metal-free alternatives to the Ru(II) complexes because of their tunable optical and electronic properties and low-cost manufacturing. Recently, organic dye molecules containing multi-branched, multi-anchoring groups have received a great deal of interest. In this work, tri-branched tri-anchoring organic dyes (Dye 2) were designed and applied to visible light water-splitting cells based on dye-sensitized TiO2 electrodes. Dye 2 had a molecular structure containing one donor (D) and three acceptor (A) groups, and each ended with an anchoring functionality. In comparison, mono-anchoring dyes (Dye 1) were also synthesized. The PEC response of the Dye 2-sensitized TiO2 film was much better than the Dye 1-sensitized or unsensitized TiO2 films.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.356-360
• /
• 2011

Indium oxide ($In_2O_3$) single layer and $In_2O_3$/copper (Cu) bi-layer films were prepared on glass substrates by RF and DC magnetron sputtering without intentional substrate heating. In order to determine the effect of the Cu bottom layer on the optical, electrical and structural properties of $In_2O_3$ films, 3-nm-thick Cu film was deposited on the glass substrate prior to deposition of the $In_2O_3$ films. As-deposited $In_2O_3$ films had an optical transmittance of 79% in the visible wavelength region and a sheet resistance of 2,300 ${\Omega}/{\square}$, while the $In_2O_3$/Cu film had optical and electrical properties that were influenced by the Cu bottom layer. $In_2O_3$/Cu films had a lower sheet resistance of 110 ${\Omega}/{\square}$ and an optical transmittance of 71%. Based on the figure of merit, it can be concluded that the Cu bottom layer effectively increases the performance of $In_2O_3$ films for use as transparent conducting oxides in flexible display applications.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 2018

In case of high contents of rare earths in the LiCl-KCl salt, it is not easy to recover U and TRU metals as a usable resource form from LiCl-KCl eutectic salts generated from the pyroprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. In this study, a conversion of $UCl_3$ into an oxide form using $K_2CO_3$ and an electrodeposition of $NdCl_3$ into a metal form in $LiCl-KCl-UCl_3-NdCl_3$ system were conducted to resolve the problem. Before conducting the conversion, experimental conditions for the conversion were determined by performing a thermodynamic equilibrium calculation. In this study, almost all of $UCl_3$ disappeared in the LiCl-KCl salt when the injection of $K_2CO_3$ reached theoretical equivalent for the conversion, and then $NdCl_3$ was effectively electrodeposited as a metal form using liquid zinc cathode. After that, the LiCl-KCl salt became transparent, and uranium oxides were precipitated to the bottom of the LiCl-KCl salt. These results will be utilized in designing a process to separate U and rare earths in LiCl-KCl salt.