• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.639-645
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• 2012

Embossed $TiO_2$ thin films with high surface areas are achieved using soft-templates composed of monolayer polystyrene beads. The form of links between the beads in the templates is controlled by varying the $O_2$ plasma etching time on the templates, resulting in various templates with close-linked, nano-linked, and isolated beads. Room-temperature deposition of $TiO_2$ on the plasma-treated templates and calcination at $550^{\circ}C$ result in embossed films with tailored links between anatase $TiO_2$ hollow hemispheres. Although all the embossed films have similar surface areas, the sensitivity of films with nano-linked $TiO_2$ hollow hemispheres to 500 ppm CO and ethanol gases are much higher than that of films with close-linked and isolated hollow hemispheres, and the detection limits of them are as low as 0.6 ppm for CO and 0.1 ppm for ethanol. The strong correlation of sensitivity with the form of links between hollow hemispheres reveals the critical role of potential barriers formed at the links. The facile, large-scale, and on-chip fabrication of embossed $TiO_2$ films with nano-linked hollow hemispheres on Si substrate and the high sensitivity without the aid of additives give us a sustainable competitive advantage over various methods for the fabrication of highly sensitive $TiO_2$-based sensors.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.16.1-16.1
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• 2011

$TiO_2$ is a promising material for gas sensors. To achieve high sensitivities, the material should exhibit a large surface-to-volume ratio and possess the high accessibility of the gas molecules to the surface. Accordingly, a wide variety of porous $TiO_2$ nanomaterials synthesized by wet-chemical methods have been reported for gas sensor applications. Nonetheless, achieving the large-area uniformity and comparability with well-established semiconductor production processes of the methods is still challenging. An alternative method is soft-templating which utilizes nanostructured inorganic or organic materials as sacrificial templates for the preparation of porous materials. Fabrication of macroporous $TiO_2$ films and hollow $TiO_2$ tubes by soft-templating and their gas sensing applications have been reported recently. In these porous materials composed of assemblies of individual micro/nanostructures, the form of links or necks between individual micro/nanostructures is a critical factor to determine gas sensing properties of the material. However, a systematic study to clarify the role of links between individual micro/nanostructures in gas sensing properties of a porous metal oxide matrix is thoroughly lacking. In this work, we have demonstrated a fabrication method to prepare highly-ordered, embossed $TiO_2$ films composed of anatase $TiO_2$ hollow hemispheres via soft-templating using polystyrene beads. The form of links between hollow hemispheres could be controlled by $O_2$ plasma etching on the bead templates. This approach reveals the strong correlation of gas sensitivity with the form of the links. Our experimental results highlight that not only the surface-to-volume ratio of an ensemble material composed of individual micro/nanostructures but also the links between individual micro/nanostructures play a critical role in evaluating the sensing properties of the material. In addition to this general finding, the facileness, large-scale productivity, and compatability with semiconductor production process of the proposed fabrication method promise applications of the embossed $TiO_2$ films to high-quality sensors.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.847-855
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• 2014

We developed a highly refractive index planarization layer showing a very smooth surface for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) light extraction, and we successfully prepared a highly efficient white OLED device with an embossed nano-structure and highly refractive index planarization layers. White OLEDs act as an internal out-coupling layer. We used a spin-coating method and two types of $TiO_2$ solutions for a planarization of the embossed nano-structure on a glass substrate. The first $TiO_2$ solution was $TiO_2$ sol, which consists of $TiO_2$ colloidal particles in an acidic aqueous solution and several organic additives. The second solution was an organic and inorganic hybrid solution of $TiO_2$. The surface roughness ($R_a$) and refractive index of the $TiO_2$ planarization films on a flat glass were 0.4 nm and 2.0 at 550 nm, respectively. The J-V characteristics of the OLED including the embossed nano-structure and the $TiO_2$ planarization film were almost the same as those of an OLED with a flat glass, and the luminous efficacy of the aforementioned OLED was enhanced by 34% compared to that of an OLED with a flat glass.