• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.239-245
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• 2020

Synthesizing one-dimensional nanostructures of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highefficiency photoelectrodes for hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays are successfully synthesized on fluorine-doped-tin-oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which is formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal thin film. The structural, optical and PEC properties of the ZnO nanorod arrays synthesized at varying levels of Zn sputtering power are examined to reveal that the optimum ZnO nanorod array can be obtained at a sputtering power of 20 W. The photocurrent density and the optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency obtained for the optimum ZnO nanorod array photoanode are 0.13 mA/㎠ and 0.49 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.85 V vs. RHE. These results provide a promising avenue to fabricating earth-abundant ZnO-based photoanodes for PEC water oxidation using facile hydrothermal synthesis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.126-126
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• 2011

수직으로 정렬된 1차원 ZnO nanorod arrays (NRAs)는 효율적인 반사방지 특성의 기하학적 구조를 갖고 있어, 크기와 모양 그리고 정렬형태의 다양한 설계를 통해 빛의 흡수율과 광 추출효율을 증가시켜 광전소자 및 태양광 소자의 성능을 향상시킬 수 있으며, 최근 이러한 연구에 대한 관심이 집중되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 ZnO NRAs의 넓은 표면적과 불연속적인 독특한 표면을 활용하여 광학적 특성을 효과적으로 개선하였다. 실험을 위해, thermal evaporator를 사용하여 Au와 Ag 그리고 e-beam evaporator를 사용하여 $SiO_2$를 ZnO NRAs 표면에 여러 가지 조건으로 증착하여, 독특한 계층 나노구조의 형성과 광학적 특성을 관찰하였다. 표면 roughness가 큰 FTO/glass 위에 수열합성법을 통해 끝이 뾰족하고, 비스듬히 정렬된 ZnO nano-tip array에 Au를 증착할 경우 ZnO/Au core/shell 구조가 형성되며, Au의 광 흡수율이 매우 크게 증가함을 관찰할 수 있었다. 반면 flat한 표면위에 빽빽하게 수직으로 정렬된 ZnO NRAs를 성장시켜 그 위에 Ag를 증착할 경우, evaporated Ag flux가 ZnO nanorod의 사이에 scattered 되어 ZnO nanorod 기둥의 측면에 직경이 50 nm 이하인 nanoparticles이 decorated 되어 국소표면플라즈몬 현상이 관찰되었으며, 이러한 효과를 통해 입사되는 빛의 흡수율을 효과적으로 증가시킬 수 있었다. 또한, ZnO NRAs의 표면에 $SiO_2$를 e-beam evaporator를 이용하여 증착할 경우, 자연적으로 vapor flux와 ZnO nanorod 사이에 oblique angle이 $80^{\circ}$ 이상으로 증가하여 $SiO_2$ nanorods가 자발적으로 형성되어 ZnO/$SiO_2$ branch 계층형태의 나노구조를 제작할 수 있었다. 이러한 구조는 유효 graded refractive index profile로 인해 기존의 ZnO NRAs보다 개선된 반사방지 특성을 나타냈다. 이러한 계층 나노구조의 광학적 특성을 시뮬레이션을 통해 이론적으로 분석을 통해 광전자 소자의 성능의 개선에 대한 적용 가능성을 조사하였다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.196-203
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• 2019

We report on the fabrication and characterization of an oxide photoanode with a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod array embedded in cuprous oxide ($Cu_2O$) thin film, namely a $ZnO/Cu_2O$ oxide p-n heterostructure photoanode, for enhanced efficiency of visible light driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. A vertically oriented n-type ZnO nanorod array is first prepared on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via a seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method and then a p-type $Cu_2O$ thin film is directly electrodeposited onto the vertically oriented ZnO nanorod array to form an oxide p-n heterostructure. The introduction of $Cu_2O$ layer produces a noticeable enhancement in the visible light absorption. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior under visible light illumination, the photoconversion efficiency of this $ZnO/Cu_2O$ p-n heterostructure photoanode is found to reach 0.39 %, which is seven times that of a pristine ZnO nanorod photoanode. In particular, a significant PEC performance is observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs $Hg/Hg_2Cl_2$, which makes the device self-powered. The observed improvement in the PEC performance is attributed to some synergistic effect of the p-n bilayer heterostructure on the formation of a built-in potential including the light absorption and separation processes of photoinduced charge carriers, which provides a new avenue for preparing efficient photoanodes for PEC water splitting.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.386-386
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• 2011

sol-gel 및 hydrothermal growth method를 이용한 zinc oxide nanorod는 제작 시 고가의 장비가 필요치 않기에 저비용 대면적 박막을 제작하는데 적합하지만 rod들의 array 및 density 조절에서 어려움을 가지고 있다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 nanorod array 형상 조절을 위하여 zinc oxide seed layer 형성 과정 중 precursor solution에 이종 나노 입자를 첨가하였다. 첨가한 seed precursor solution을 spin coating한 이후에 후처리 하여 hydrothermal method를 이용해 성장시켰다. 합성한 rod들을 optic과 FE-SEM으로 측정해 rod들의 density 변화를 확인할 수 있었다.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.227-229
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.401-401
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• 2016

Although vertically aligned one-dimensional (1D) structure has been considered as efficient forms for photoelectrode, development of efficient 1D nanostructured photocathode are still required. In this sense, we recently demonstrated a simple fabrication route for CuInS2 (CIS) nanorod arrays from aqueous solution by template-assisted growth-and-transfer method and their feasibility as a photoelectrode for water splitting. In this study, we further evaluated the photoelectrochemical properties surface-modified CIS nanorod arrays. Surface modification with CdS and ZnS was performed by successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method, which is well known as suitable technique for conformal coating throughout nanoporous structure. With surface modification of CdS and ZnS, both photoelectrochemical performance and stability of CuInS2 nanorod arrays were improved by shifting of the flat-band potential, which was analyzed both onset potential and Mott-schottky plot.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2008.08a
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• pp.335-335
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• 2008

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.237-242
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• 2018

We report on the fabrication and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties of a ZnO nanorod array structure as an efficient photoelectrode for hydrogen production from sunlight-driven water splitting. Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were grown on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which was formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal thin film. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesized ZnO nanorods were examined using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, as well as Raman scattering. The PEC properties of the fabricated ZnO nanorod photoelectrode were evaluated by photocurrent conversion efficiency measurements under white light illumination. From the observed PEC current density versus voltage (J-V) behavior, the vertically aligned ZnO nanorod photoelectrode was found to exhibit a negligible dark current and high photocurrent density, e.g., $0.65mA/cm^2$ at 0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl in a 1 mM $Na_2SO_4$ electrolyte. In particular, a significant PEC performance was observed even at an applied bias of 0 V vs Ag/AgCl, which made the device self-powered.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.295-298
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• 2006

• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.80.3-80.3
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• 2004