• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1393-1398
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• 2018

We have investigated Bernal-stacked tetralayer graphene as a function of interlayer distance and perpendicular electric field by using density functional theory calculations. The low-energy band structure was found to be very sensitive to the interlayer distance, undergoing a metal-insulator transition. It can be attributed to the nearest-layer coupling that is more sensitive to the interlayer distance than are the next-nearest-layer couplings. Under a perpendicular electric field above a critical field, six electric-field-induced Dirac cones with mass gaps predicted in tight-binding models were confirmed, however, our density functional theory calculations demonstrate a phase transition to a quantum valley Hall insulator, contrasting to the tight-binding model prediction of an ordinary insulator.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.44-47
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• 2005

The oscillatory interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) has been shown in pinned $[CoFe/Pt(t_{pt})/CoFe]/IrMn$ multi-layers with perpendicular anisotropy. The period of oscillation corresponds to about 2 monolayers of Pt. The oscillatory behavior of IEC depending on the nonmagnetic metallic Pt thickness is thought to be related the antiferromagnetic ordering induced by IrMn layer. Oscillatory IEC as function of insulating NiO thickness has been observed in $[Pt/CoFe]_4/NiO(t_{NiO})/[CoFe/Pt]_4$ multilayers. The effect of N (number of bilayer repeats) upon the magnetic property of [Pt/CoFe]N/IrMn is also studied.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.256-262
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• 2007

Effects of interlayer and the combination of different coating methods on the mechanical and corrosion behaviors of TiN and CrN coated on 420 stainless steel have been studied. STS 420 specimen were tempered at $300^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr in vacuum furnace. The TiN and CrN thin film with 2 ${\mu}m$ thickness were coated by arc ion plating and DC magnetron sputtering following the formation of interlayer for pure titanium and chromium with 0.2 ${\mu}m$ thickness. The microstructure and surface analysis of the specimen were conducted by using SEM, XRD and roughness tester. Mechanical properties such as hardness and adhesion also were examined. XRD patterns of TiN thin films showed that preferred TiN (111) orientation was observed. The peaks of CrN (111) and $Cr_2N$ (300) were only observed in CrN thin films deposited by arc ion plating. Both TiN and CrN deposited by arc ion plating had the higher adhesion and hardness compared to those formed by magnetron sputtering. The specimen of TiN and CrN on which interlayer deposited by magnetron sputtering and thin film deposited by arc ion plating had the highest adhesion with 22.2 N and 19.2 N. respectively. TiN and CrN samples shown the most noble corrosion potentials when the interlayers were deposited by using magnetron sputtering and the metal nitrides were deposited by using arc ion plating. The most noble corrosion potentials of TiN and CrN were found to be approximately -170 and -70 mV， respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.400.1-400.1
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• 2016

Interfacial engineering approaches as an efficient strategy for improving the power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of inverted polymer solar cells (iPSCs) has attracted considerable attention. Recently, polymer surface modifiers, such as poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) and polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE), were introduced to produce low WF electrodes and were reported to have good electron selectivity for inverted polymer solar cells (iPSCs) without an n-type metal oxide layer. To obtain more efficient solar cells, quantum dots (QDs) are used as effective sensitizers across a broad spectral range from visible to near IR. Additionally, they have the ability to efficiently generate multiple excitons from a single photon via a process called carrier multiplication (CM) or multiple exciton generation (MEG). However, in general, it is very difficult to prepare a bilayer structure with an organic layer and a QD interlayer through a solution process, because most solvents can dissolve and destroy the organic layer and QD interlayer. To present a more effective strategy for surpassing the limitations of traditional methods, we studied and fabricated the highly efficient iPSCs with mono-layered QDs as an effective multi-functional layer, to enhance the quantum yield caused by various effects of QDs monolayer. The mono-layered QDs play the multi-functional role as surface modifier, sub-photosensitizer and electron transport layer. Using this effective approach, we achieve the highest conversion efficiency of ~10.3% resulting from improved interfacial properties and efficient charge transfer, which is verified by various analysis tools.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.148-153
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• 2010

Transparent conducting films having a hybrid structure of GZO/Metal/GZO were prepared on glass substrates by sequential deposition using DC magnetron sputtering. Silver, copper, aluminum and zinc thin films were used as the intermediate metal layers in the hybrid structure. The electrical and optical properties of hybrid transparent conducting films were investigated with varying the thickness of metal layer or GZO layers. With increasing the metal thickness, hybrid films showed a noticeable improvement of the electrical conductivity, which is mainly dependent on the electrical property of the metal layer. GZO(40 nm)/Ag(10 nm)/GZO(40 nm) film exhibits a resistivity of $5.2{\times}10^{-5}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ with an optical transmittance of 82.8%. For the films with Zn interlayer, only marginal reduction in the resistivity was observed. Furthermore, unlike other metals, hybrid films with Zn interlayer showed a decrease in the resistivity with increasing the GZO thickness. The optimal thickness of GZO layer for anti-reflection effect at a given thickness of metal (10 nm) was found to be critically dependent on the refractive index of the metal. In addition, x-ray diffraction analysis showed that the insertion of Ag layer resulted in the improvement of crystallinity of GZO films, which is beneficial for the electrical and optical properties of hybrid-type transparent conducting films.

• Carbon letters
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• v.1 no.3_4
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• pp.138-142
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• 2001

The effect of electrochemical surface treatments in KOH chemical solution on microstructures of carbon blacks was investigated in terms of surface functional values and XRD measurements. And their mechanical interfacial properties of the carbon blacks/rubber composites were studied by the composite tearing energy ($G_{IIIC}$). It was found that the development of basic-surface functional groups lead to the significant physical changes of carbon blacks, such as, decrease of the interlayer spacing ($d_{002}$), increase of the crystalline size along c-axis ($L_c$), and increase of degree of crystalline (${\chi}_c$). This treatment is possibly suitable for carbon blacks to be incorporated in a hydrocarbon rubber matrix, resulting in improving the hardness and tearing energy of the resulting composites.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.127-133
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• 2015

Li-bearing muscovite is commonly found along with trioctahedral lepidolite in granitic pegmatites. Structurally, $Li^+$ ions can replace $K^+$ ions in the interlayer (Int) of muscovite or incorporate into vacancies of the dioctahedral sheet (Sub). However, detailed mechanism of the lithium incorporation into muscovite is challenging to investigate using experimental techniques alone. In the current study, density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to examine the crystal structure and energy variation when $Li^+$ resides in the interlayer or the octahedral sheet. Depending on the position of $Li^+$ (i.e., Int vs. Sub), DFT showed significant differences in the mica's structures such as lattice parameters, sheet thickness, interlayer separation, and OH angles with respect to the ab plane. DFT further showed that, in pure muscovite, $Li^+$ has a lower energy when it is located in Int than Sub. By contrast, in the case of $Fe^{2+}$ substitution into the octahedral sheet, $Li^+$ has a lower energy in Sub than in Int. These results imply that $Li^+$ incorporates into the Al octahedral sheets only when the octahedral sheets possess structural charges, suggesting cation substitution in the octahedral sheets plays an important role in the Li incorporation mechanism into muscovite. They can also explain the experimental observation about the positive relationship between $Fe^{2+}$ and $Li^+$ amounts in Li-bearing muscovite.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.2041-2043
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• 2013

A layered perovskite of Dion-Jacobson phase, $RbLaTa_2O_7$, was successfully exfoliated into colloidal suspension via successive ion-exchange and intercalation reaction. The pristine perovskite $RbLaTa_2O_7$ was synthesized by conventional solid-state reaction, and then, it was ion-exchanged with hydrochloric acid to obtain a protonic form of perovskite. The resulting proton-exchanged perovskite was reacted with ethylamine to increase interlayer spaces for further intercalation reaction. Finally, the ethylamine-intercalated form was exfoliated into nanosheets via an intercalation of bulky organic cations (tetrabutylammonium). According to X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the TBA-intercalated form showed remarkably increased interlayer spacing (${\Delta}d$ = 1.67 nm) in comparison with that of the pristine material. Transmission electron microscopic image of exfoliated perovskite clearly revealed that the present exfoliated perovskite were composed of very thin layers. This exfoliated perovskite nanosheets could be applicable as building blocks for fabricating functional nanocomposites.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.336-345
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• 2020

Nickel-doped lanthanum cobalt oxide (LaCo_1-xNi_xO_3-δ, LCN) was investigated as an alternative anode material for solid oxide fuel cells. To improve its catalytic activity for steam methane reforming (SMR) reaction, Ni²⁺ was substituted into Co³⁺ lattice in LaCoO₃. LCN anode, synthesized using the Pechini method, reacts with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte at high temperatures to form an electrochemically inactive phase such as La₂Zr₂O₇. To minimize the interlayer by-products, the LCN was coated via a double-tape casting method on the Ni/YSZ anode as a catalytic functional layer. By increasing the Ni doping amount, oxygen vacancies in the LCN increased and the cell performance improved. CH₄ fuel decomposed to H₂ and CO via SMR reaction in the LCN functional layer. Hence, the LCN-coated Ni/YSZ anode exhibited better cell performance than the Ni/YSZ anode under H₂ and CH₄ fuels. LCN with 12 mol% of Ni (LCN12)-modified Ni/YSZ anode showed excellent long-term stability under H₂ and CH₄ conditions.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.574-581
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• 2022

Nanofibers comprising reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and Mo₂C/Mo₂N nanoparticles (Mo₂C/Mo₂N rGO NFs) were prepared for a functional interlayer of Li-S batteries (LSBs). The well-dispersed Mo₂C and Mo₂N nanoparticles in the nanofiber structure served as active polar sites for efficient immobilization of dissolved lithium polysulfide. The rGO nanosheets in the structure also provide conductive channels for fast ion/electron transport during charging-discharging and ensured reuse of lithium polysulfide during redox reactions through a fast charge transfer process. As a result, the cell assembled with Mo₂C/Mo₂N rGO NFs-coated separator and pure sulfur electrode (70 wt% of sulfur content and 2.1 mg cm^-2 of sulfur loading) showed a stable discharge capacity of 476 mA h g^-1 after 400 charge-discharge cycles at 0.1 C. Furthermore, it exhibited a discharge capacity of 574 mA h g^-1 even at a high current density of 1.0 C. Therefore, we believe that the proposed unique nanostructure synthesis strategy could provide new insights into the development of sustainable and highly conductive polar materials as functional interlayers for high performance LSBs.