• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.196-200
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• 2011

The formation of niobium oxide microcones on niobium substrates was investigated in NaF to the HF electrolytes. This condition builds on the uniqueness of the microstructures niobium oxide. The dimensions and integrity of the bulk microstructures were found to be strongly dependent on potential, temperature, electrolyte composition, and anodization time. The anodic oxide was initially amorphous at all temperatures, but crystalline oxide nucleated during anodization. From XRD patterns of the anodized specimens, the microcones consisted of crystalline $Nb_2O_5$. We demonstrated niobium oxide microcone structures with nanorods. The anodized niobium oxide microcone texture revealed nanorod bundles. The surface of $Nb_2O_5$ microcones is very regular and has a nano-scale. The surface morphologies of the nanorods were examined using FE-SEM. EDS analyses show that the anodically prepared niobium oxide consists of $Nb_2O_5$. The aim of this study is to find the condition of forming the favorable nanorods by anodization method.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.129-134
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• 1998

Conversion of propane to acrylonitrile via ammoxidation was studied using physically mixed catalysts composed of $Nb_2O_5(10{\sim}30wt%)$ and $V_{0.4}Mo_1Te_{0.1}$. Catalytic activities of ammoxidation were improved by adding strong acidic niobium oxide to $V_{0.4}Mo_1Te_{0.1}$, the selectivities to acrylonitrile+propylene being remained constant. The maximum activity was obtained at the mixing ratio 25wt% niobium oxide in $Nb_2O_5-V_{0.4}Mo_1Te_{0.1}$. Niobium oxide was found to be a selective catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.3679-3683
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• 2010

Niobium oxide ($Nb_2O_5$) and phosphated $Nb_2O_5$ were synthesized and used as catalysts for sorbitol dehydration to isosorbide. The characterization results of $N_2$ adsorption, XRD and $NH_3$-TPD revealed that the phosphoric acid modification could well prevent the crystallization of $Nb_2O_5$. And the amorphous phosphated $Nb_2O_5$ catalysts kept the relatively large surface area and stable acidity at high calcination temperature. The catalytic results showed that the selectivity to isosorbide could be dramatically enhanced over phosphated $Nb_2O_5$. The excellent catalytic performance with 100.0% sorbitol conversion and 62.5% isosorbide selectivity were obtained over the 0.8P/NBO-400 catalyst. Comparing with $Nb_2O_5$ catalysts, phosphated $Nb_2O_5$ catalysts regenerated through a simple calcination process showed no significant activity loss after recycling three runs.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.245-251
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• 2017

Niobium doped zirconium oxide (Nb-Zr-O:NZO) thin films were fabricated on Si substrates by a sol-gel technique with an annealing temperatures of $500{\sim}1000^{\circ}C$ in air ($N_2:O_2=3:1$) for 20 minutes. It was found that the NZO film is based on tetragonal $ZrO_2$ polycrystalline structure with the Nb 5+ ion state and there is almost no diffusion of Nb or Zr to Si substrate. The relative dielectric constant for the NZO film with the Nb composition of 30 mol% and annealed at $800^{\circ}C$ was around 40. The root mean roughness was 1.02 nm. In addition, the leakage current of NZO films was as low as $10^{-6}A/cm^2$ at 4.4 V.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.141-147
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• 2003

Sputter-deposited Nb-Al-Cr alloys. $3-5{\mu}m$ thick, have been prepared on quartz substrates as oxidation-and sulfidation-resistant materials at high temperatures. The oxidation or the alloys in the $Ar-O_2$ atmosphere of an oxygen partial pressure of 20 kPa follows approximately the parabolic rate law, thus being diffusion controlled. Their oxidation rates are almost the same as or even lower than those ofthc typical chromia-forming alloys. The multi-lavered oxide scales are formed on the ternary alloys. The outermost layer is composed of $Cr_2O_3$, which is"mainly responsible for the high oxidation'resistance of these alloys. In contrast to sputter-deposited Cr-Nb binary alloys reported previously, the inner layer is not porous. TEM observation as well as EDX analysis indicates that the innermost layer is a mixture of $Al_2O_3$ and niobium oxide. The dispersion of $Al_2O_3$ in niobium oxide may be attributable to the prevention of the formation of the porous oxide layer. The sulfidation rates of the present ternary alloys arc higher than those of the sputter-deposited Nb-AI binary alloys, but still several orders of magnitude lower than those of conventional high temperature alloys. Two-layered sulfide scales are formed, consisting of an outer $Al_2S_3$ layer containing chromium and an inner layer composed of $NbS_2$ and a small amount of $Cr_2S_3$. The presence of $Cr_2S_3$ in the inner protective $NbS_2$ layer may be attributed to the increase in the sulfidation rates.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.625-629
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• 2011

In this study, we show that by anodization of Nb in NaF electrolytes microcone niobium oxide layers can be formed under a range of experimental conditions. It is found that a single NaF electrolyte leads to the formation of microcones. At 1 M NaF, 40 V, 1 h, well-ordered microcones were generated on Nb discs. XRD results show that the initially formed anodic oxide is amorphous, but an amorphous to crystalline transition occurs during anodization. For the formation of favorable microcones, it is considered that proper parameters such as electrolyte concentration, voltage, anodizing time are necessary according to the kind of electrolytes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.44-48
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• 2013

Niobium oxide($Nb_2O_5$) films were deposited on p-type Si wafers at room temperature using in-line pulsed-DC magnetron sputtering system with various frequencies. The different duty ratios were obtained by varying the frequency of pulsed DC power from 100 to 300 kHz at the fixed reverse time of $1.5{\mu}s$. From the thickness of the sputtered $NbO_x$ films, it was possible to obtain much higher deposition rate in case of pulsed-DC sputtering than RF sputtering. However, the similar leakage currents and structural characteristics were obtained from the metal-insulator-semiconductor(MIS) structure fabricated with the $NbO_x$ films and the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) results in spite of the different deposition rates. From the experimental results, the $NbO_x$ films sputtered by pulsed-DC sputtering are expected to be used in the fabrication process instead of RF sputtering.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.319-319
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• 1999

From isothermal and cyclic oxidation tests on thermomechanically treated Ti-5%Al, Ti47%Al-4%Cr, and Ti-48%Al-2%Cr-2%Nb alloys at 800, 900, 1000℃ in air, it was found that Ti-48%Al-2%Cr-2%Nb and Ti-47%Al-4%Cr had the best and the worst oxidation resistance, respectively. The oxide scales consisted primarily of TiO₂and Al₂O₃, with and without a small amount of dissolved Cr and 7b ions, depending on the alloy composition. These ions were slightly enriched inside the inner oxide layer, and strongly enriched around the scale-matrix interface. The outer TiO₂-rich layer was formed by the outward diffusion of Ti ions, while the inner (TiO₂+A1₂O₃,) mixed layer was formed by the inward transport of oxygen. The outward movement of Al ions farmed the intermediate Al₂O₃-rich Iayer, above talc prepared alloys.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2003

The effects of Niobium on the structure and properties(especially electric properties) of passive film of Zirconium alloys in pH 8.5 buffer solution are examined by the photo-electrochemical analysis. For Zr-xNb alloys (x = 0, 0.45, 1.5, 2.5 wt%), photocurrent began to increase at the incident energy of 3.5 ~ 3.7 eV and exhibited the $1^{st}$ peak at 4.3 eV and the $2^{nd}$ peak at 5.7 eV. From $(i_{ph}hv)^{1/2}$ vs. hv plot, indirect band gap energies $E_g{^1}$= 3.01~3.47 eV, $E_g{^2}$= 4.44~4.91 eV were obtained. With increasing Nb content, the relative photocurrent intensity of $1^{st}$ peak significantly increased. Compared with photocurrent spectrum of thermal oxide of Zr-2.5Nb, It was revealed that $1^{st}$ peak in photocurrent spectrum for the passive film formed on Zr-Nb alloy was generated by two types of electron transitions; the one caused by hydrous $ZrO_2$ and the other created by Nb. Two electron transition sources were overlapped over the same range of incident photon energy. In the photocurrent spectrum for passive film formed on Zr-2.5Nb alloy in which Nb is dissolved into matrix by quenching, the relative photocurrent intensity of $1^{st}$ peak increased, which implies that dissolved Nb act as another electron transition source.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.61 no.8
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• pp.1153-1158
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• 2012

Niobium oxide ($Nb_2O_5$) has a strong chemical coherence and good electrical conductivity. Therefore, this material is helpful to enhance the performance of the dye sensitized solar cells (DSC) by improving the electron mobility. In this study, $Nb_2O_5$ was mixed with $TiO_2$ and this compound was applied to the DSC to improve its performance. As a result, the current density of the DSC using the $Nb_2O_5-TiO_2$ compound on the photoelectrode was increased, because the internal resistance concerned to the electron transfer in the photoelectrode of DSC was decreased. However, large amount of the $Nb_2O_5$ induces the decrease of the efficiency of the DSC because the surface area to attach dye molecules is decreased due to the large particle of $Nb_2O_5$. Therefore, it is important to optimize the mixture ratio of the $Nb_2O_5-TiO_2$ compound for maximizing the performance of the DSC. Finally, the most optimum performance of the DSC was shown in case of the $Nb_2O_5$ concentration of 10 wt% of the $Nb_2O_5-TiO_2$ compound.