• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.47 no.8
• /
• pp.461-465
• /
• 2009

We study the diffusion of Ag based bimetallic nanoclusters supported on graphite. Using a molecular dynamics simulation, we reveal that the Ag clusters show rapid diffusion because of their hexagonal bottom layer. In order to decrease the rate of diffusion, we added Pt and Ni to distort the structure of the alloy cluster (i.e., the alloying method). We expected Pt to provide a stronger force on Ag atoms, and Ni to shorten the bond length and thereby change the structure of Ag cluster. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, because Pt and Ni atoms formed cores inside the Ag clusters. We therefore designed a collision system where large Ag clusters collide with small Pt or Ni clusters. Upon collision with Pt clusters, the diffusion showed little change, because Pt atoms are substituted at the Ag atomic site and form a perfectly ordered structure. The collision with Ni, however, deforms the bottom layer as well as the overall cluster structure and decreases diffusion. This outcome appoints toward the possibility of further application to the manufacture of durable nanocatalysts.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.400-405
• /
• 2011

ZnO nanotube arrays were synthesized by a two-step process: electrodeposition and selective dissolution. In the first step, ZnO nanorod arrays were grown on an Au/Si substrate by using a homemade electrodeposition system. ZnO nanorod arrays were then selectively dissolved in an etching solution composed of 0.125 M NaOH, resulting in hollow ZnO nanotube arrays. It is suggested that the formation mechanism of the ZnO nanotube arrays might be attributed to the preferred surface adsorption of hydroxide ion ($OH^{-1}$) on a positive polar surface followed by selective dissolution of the metastable Zn-terminated ZnO (0001) polar surface caused by the difference in the surface energy per unit area between the ZnO nanorod and nanotube.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.401-409
• /
• 2010

This study was performed to develop an antibacterial film that can be dried at room temperature. A nanosized TiO$_2$ particle-dispersed solution was prepared by the hydrothermal treatment of peroxo-titanic acid at 160${^{\circ}C}$ for 4h. The binder was synthesized through the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of TEOS (10cc) and GPTS (3.5cc) in the mixture of H$_2$O (30cc) and EtOH (30cc). The synthesized binder was mixed with 0.1 M of TiO$_2$ solution in a volume ratio of binder/TiO$_2$ solution=0.25~0.5. The glass substrate was coated after using the dip coating method, which was then followed by drying for over 2h at room temperature. Although the TiO$_2$ particles did not chemically-bond to the binder, the coating layer strongly adhered to the substrate and displayed good antibacterial properties.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.449-455
• /
• 2010

To enhance the efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells, we proposed crystalline anatase-$TiO_{2}$ by using a low temperature process ($150^{\circ}C{\sim}250^{\circ}C$). We successfully fabricated 30 nm-$TiO_{2}$ at a fixed atomic layer deposition condition of 1.0 sec of TDMAT pulse, 20 sec of TDMAT purge, 0.5 sec of H$_{2}$O pulse, and 20 sec of H$_{2}$O purge. In order to examine the microstructure, phase, and band-gap of the TiO$_{2}$ respectively, we employed a Nano-Spec, transmission electron microscope, high resolution XRD, Auger electron spectroscopy, scanning probe microscope, and UV-VIS-NIR. We were able to fabricate a crystalline anatase-phase of 30 nm-TiO$_{2}$ successfully at temperatures above $180^{\circ}C$. Our results showed that our proposed low temperature ALD process (below $200^{\circ}C$) might be applicable to glass and flexible polymer substrates.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.462-468
• /
• 2010

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have recently emerged as a material with outstanding properties. It has shown promising potential for applications in many engineering fields as electronic devices, thermal conductors, and light-weight composites. Researchers have investigated their use as reinforcements in themetal matrix composites of CNTs. In the present work, we decorated CNTs with Ni particles by electroless plating. The CNTs were wet-ball milled for various milling times with a nickel sulfate solution. The precipitated Ni particles were observed mainly by FESEM. In this study, the dispersion of the CNTs and Ni particles was improved with the addition of the surfactant. Also, as the CNTs were shortened and widened by an increased ball milling time, the size of the precipitated Ni particles increased. It was estimated that the CNTs were deformed and caused some defects on their surface during the ball milling process. Those defects were assumed to be heterogeneous nucleation sites for the Ni particles.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.419-424
• /
• 2011

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were directly synthesized on a copper (Cu) plate as a current collector by the catalytic thermal vapor deposition method for an electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) electrode. The diameters of vertically aligned CNTs grown on the Cu plate were 20~30 nm. From cyclic voltammetry (CV) results, the CNTs/Cu electrode showed high specific capacitance with typical profiles of EDLCs. Rectangularshaped CV curves suggested that the CNTs/Cu electrode could be an excellent candidate for an EDLC electrode. The specific capacitances were in a range of 25~75 F/g with a scan rate of 10~100 mV/s and KOH electrolyte concentration 1~6 M, and were maintained up to 1000 charge/discharge cycles due to strong adhesion between the Cu substrate and the CNTs.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.316-321
• /
• 2009

Co nanoparticles on silica substrates were fabricated by inducing a thin-film dewetting through two different processes-furnace annealing and pulsed-laser annealing. The effects of annealing temperature, film thickness and laser energy density on dewetting morphology and mechanism were investigated. Co thinfilms with thicknesses between 3 to 15 nm were deposited using ion-beam sputtering, and then, in order to induce dewetting, thermally annealed in furnace at temperatures between 600 and $900^{\circ}C$. Some as-deposited films were irradiated using a Nd-YAG pulsed-laser of 266 nm wavelength to induce dewetting in liquid-state. Films annealed in furnace agglomerated to form nanoparticles above $700^{\circ}C$, and those average particle size and spacing were increased with an increase of film thickness. On the laser annealing process, above the energy density of $100mJ/cm^2$, metal films were completely dewetted and the agglomerated particles exhibited greater size uniformity than those on the furnace annealing process. A detailed dewetting mechanism underlaying both processes were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.406-410
• /
• 2011

ZnO nanorods were prepared by the electrodeposition route on conductive Au/Si substrates. The effects of deposition time on the microstructural evolution and optical properties of ZnO nanorods were investigated. With increasing deposition time from 1 h to 20 h, the diameter and length of the ZnO nanorods increased gradually to about 328 nm and 6.55${\mu}m$, respectively. The ZnO nanorods were dense and vertically well-aligned. The photoluminescence (PL) peaks corresponding to the near band edge of ZnO were observed. With increasing deposition time, the intensity of PL peaks increased with nanorod growth up to 4 h and then decreased. This might be due to the degradation of crystal quality caused by merging of nanorods.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.175-179
• /
• 2010

We investigated the thermal conductivity of individual single-crystalline PbTe nanowires grown by chemical vapor transport method. Suspended MEMS was utilized to precisely measure the thermal conductivity of an individual nanowire. The thermal conductivity of a PbTe nanowire with diameter of 292 nm was measured to be $1.8W/m{\cdot}K$ at 300 K, which is about two thirds of that of bulk PbTe. This result indicates that the thermal conduction through a PbTe nanowire is effectively suppressed by the enhanced phonon boundary scattering. As the diameter of a PbTe nanowire decreases, the corresponding thermal conductivity linearly decreases.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
• /
• v.49 no.7
• /
• pp.557-564
• /
• 2011

This paper reports the relationship between the surface roughness and thermal emissivity of graphite (IG-11) in nuclear reactors. The roughness was controlled by changing the oxidization time, resulting in 0, 6, and 11% losses of mass. The levels of roughness were 0.40, 0.72 and 1.09${\mu}m$ for the weight loss of 0, 6 and 11%, respectively. The binders and graphite fillers were found to have sequentially oxidized with a higher thermal emission for the highly oxidized sample, but with a lower emission when measured at a higher temperature. Our study suggests a method for predicting the thermal emission rate of graphite in a nuclear reactor based on roughness measurement.