• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.394-408
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• 2002

Nanostructured high strength metastable Al-, Mg- and Ti-based alloys containing different amorphous, quasicrystalline and nanocrystalline phases are synthesized by non-equilibrium processing techniques. Such alloys can be prepared by quenching from the melt or by powder metallurgy techniques. This paper focuses on one hand on mechanically alloyed and ball milled powders containing different volume fractions of amorphous or nano-(quasi)crystalline phases, consolidated bulk specimens and, on the other hand. on cast specimens containing different constituent phases with different length-scale. As one example. $Mg_{55}Y_{15}Cu_{30}$- based metallic glass matrix composites are produced by mechanical alloying of elemental powder mixtures containing up to 30 vol.% $Y_2O_3$ particles. The comparison with the particle-free metallic glass reveals that the nanosized second phase oxide particles do not significantly affect the glass-forming ability upon mechanical alloying despite some limited particle dissolution. A supercooled liquid region with an extension of about 50 K can be maintained in the presence of the oxides. The distinct viscosity decrease in the supercooled liquid regime allows to consolidate the powders into bulk samples by uniaxial hot pressing. The $Y_2O_3$ additions increase the mechanical strength of the composites compared to the $Mg_{55}Y_{15}Cu_{30}$ metallic glass. The second example deals with Al-Mn-Ce and Al-Cu-Fe composites with quasicrystalline particles as reinforcements, which are prepared by quenching from the melt and by powder metallurgy. $Al_{98-x}Mn_xCe_2$ (x =5,6,7) melt-spun ribbons containing a major quasicrystalline phase coexisting with an Al-matrix on a nanometer scale are pulverized by ball milling. The powders are consolidated by hot extrusion. Grain growth during consolidation causes the formation of a micrometer-scale microstructure. Mechanical alloying of $Al_{63}Cu_{25}Fe_{12}$ leads to single-phase quasicrystalline powders. which are blended with different volume fractions of pure Al-powder and hot extruded forming $Al_{100-x}$$(Al_{0.63}Cu_{0.25}Fe_{0.12})_x$ (x = 40,50,60,80) micrometer-scale composites. Compression test data reveal a high yield strength of ${\sigma}_y{\geq}$700 MPa and a ductility of ${\varepsilon}_{pl}{\geq}$5% for than the Al-Mn-Ce bulk samples. The strength level of the Al-Cu-Fe alloys is ${\sigma}_y{\leq}$550 MPa significantly lower. By the addition of different amounts of aluminum, the mechanical properties can be tuned to a wide range. Finally, a bulk metallic glass-forming Ti-Cu-Ni-Sn alloy with in situ formed composite microstructure prepared by both centrifugal and injection casting presents more than 6% plastic strain under compressive stress at room temperature. The in situ formed composite contains dendritic hcp Ti solid solution precipitates and a few $Ti_3Sn,\;{\beta}$-(Cu, Sn) grains dispersed in a glassy matrix. The composite micro- structure can avoid the development of the highly localized shear bands typical for the room temperature defor-mation of monolithic glasses. Instead, widely developed shear bands with evident protuberance are observed. resulting in significant yielding and homogeneous plastic deformation over the entire sample.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.2329-2337
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• 2009

Three heteroleptic ruthenium sensitizers, Ru(L)($L^1)(NCS)_2$ [L = 4,4'-dicarboxylic acid-2,2'-bipyridine, Ru-T1: $L^1$ = (E)-2-(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4-yl)-3-(thiophen-2-yl)acrylonitrile, Ru-T2: $L^2$ = (E)-3-(5'-hexyl-2,2'-bithiophen-5- yl)-2-(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4-yl)acrylonitrile, and Ru-T3: $L^3$ = (E)-3-(5"-hexyl-2,2':5',2"-terthiophen-5-yl)-2- (4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridin-4-yl)acrylonitrile)], were synthesized and used as photosensitizers in nanocrystalline dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The introduction of the 3-(5-hexyloligothiophen-5-yl)acrylonitrile group increased the conjugation length of the bipyridine donor ligand and thus improved their molar absorption coefficient and light harvesting efficiency. DSSCs with the configuration of Sn$O_2$: F/Ti$O_2$/ruthenium dye/liquid electrolyte/Pt devices were fabricated using these Ru-$T1{\sim}T3$ as a photosensitizers. Among the devices, the DSSCs composed of Ru-T2 exhibited highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.84% under AM 1.5 G illumination (100 mW/$cm^2$).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.43 no.2 s.285
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• pp.106-113
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• 2006

PMN-PZT films with thickness of $5\;{\mu}m$ were deposited on $Pt/Ti/SiO_2/Si$ substrate at room temperature using aerosol deposition process. The films showed fairly dense microstructure without any crack. XRD and TEM analysis revealed that the films consisted of randomly oriented nanocrystalline and amorphous phases. Post-annealing process was employed to induce crystallization and grain growth of the as-deposited films and to improve the electrical properties. The annealed film showed markedly improved electrical properties in comparison with as-deposited film. The film after annealing at $700^{\circ}C$ for 1h exhibited the best electrical properties. Dielectric constant $(\varepsilon_r)$, remanent polarization $(P_r)$ and piezoelectric constant $(d_{33})$ were 1050, $13\;{\mu}C/cm^2$ and 120 pC/N, respectively.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.963-968
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• 2009

Liquid crystal (LC; E7 and/or ML-0249)-embedded, poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-co-HFP)-based, polymer electrolytes were prepared for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The electrolytes contained 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (PMII), tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI), and iodine ($I_2$), which participate in the $I_3^-/I^-$ redox couple. The incorporation of photochemically stable PVdF-co-HFP in the DSSCs created a stable polymer electrolyte that resisted leakage and volatilization. DSSCs, with liquid crystal(LC)-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolytes between the amphiphilic ruthenium dye N719 absorbed to the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ photoanode and the Pt counter electrode, were fabricated. These DSSCs displayed enhanced redox couple reduction and reduced charge recombination in comparison to that fabricated from the conventional PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte. The behavior of the polymer electrolyte was improved by the addition of optimized amounts of plasticizers, such as ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). The significantly increased short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$, $14.60\;mA/cm^2$) and open-circuit voltage ($V_{oc}$, 0.68 V) of these DSSCs led to a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42% and a fill factor of 0.65 under a standard light intensity of $100\;mW/cm^2$ irradiation of AM 1.5 sunlight. A DSSC fabricated by using E7-embedded PVdF-co-HFP-based polymer electrolyte exhibited a maximum incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 50%.