• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.130.2-130.2
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• 2013

Today, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of hydrocarbon gases has been demonstrated as an attractive method to synthesize large-area graphene layers. However, special care should be taken to precisely control the resulting graphene layers in CVD due to its sensitivity to various process parameters. Therefore, a facile synthesis to grow graphene layers with high controllability will have great advantages for scalable practical applications. In order to simplify and create efficiency in graphene synthesis, the graphene growth by thermal annealing process has been discussed by several groups. However, the study on growth mechanism and the detailed structural and optoelectronic properties in the resulting graphene films have not been reported yet, which will be of particular interest to explore for the practical application of graphene. In this study, we report the growth of few-layer, large-area graphene films using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) without the use of intentional carbon-containing precursor. The instability of nickel films in air facilitates the spontaneous formation of ultrathin (<2~3 nm) carbon- and oxygen-containing compounds on a nickel surface and high-temperature annealing of the nickel samples results in the formation of few-layer graphene films with high crystallinity. From annealing temperature and ambient studies during RTA, it was found that the evaporation of oxygen atoms from the surface is the dominant factor affecting the formation of graphene films. The thickness of the graphene layers is strongly dependent on the RTA temperature and time and the resulting films have a limited thickness less than 2 nm even for an extended RTA time. The transferred films have a low sheet resistance of ~380 ${\Omega}/sq$, with ~93% optical transparency. This simple and potentially inexpensive method of synthesizing novel 2-dimensional carbon films offers a wide choice of graphene films for various potential applications.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.221-233
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• 2024

Lignin, a prominent constituent of woody biomass, is abundant in nature, cost-effective, and contains various functional groups, including hydroxyl groups. Owing to these characteristics, they have the potential to replace petroleum-based polyols in the polyurethane industry, offering a solution to environmental problems linked to resource depletion and CO₂ emissions. However, the structural complexity and low reactivity of lignin present challenges for its direct application in polyurethane materials. In this study, Kraft lignin (KL), a representative technical lignin, was fractionated with ethanol, an eco-friendly solvent, and mixed with conventional polyols in varying proportions to produce polyurethane films. The results of ethanol fractionation showed that the polydispersity of ethanol-soluble lignin (ESL) decreased from 3.71 to 2.72 and the hydroxyl content of ESL increased from 4.20 mmol/g to 5.49 mmol/g. Consequently, the polyurethane prepared by adding ESL was superior to the KL-based film, exhibiting improved miscibility with petrochemical-based polyols and reactivity with isocyanate groups. Consequently, the films using ESL as the polyol exhibited reduced shrinkage and a more uniform structure. Optical microscope and scanning electron microscope observations confirmed that lignin aggregation was lower in polyurethane with ESL than in that with KL. When the hydrophobicity of the samples was measured using the water contact angle, the addition of ESL resulted in higher hydrophobicity. In addition, as the amount of ESL added increased, an increase of 7.4% in the residual char was observed, and a 4.04% increase in Tmax the thermal stability of the produced polyurethane was effectively improved.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.204-210
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• 2020

ZnO thin films are of considerable interest because they can be customized by various coating technologies to have high electrical conductivity and high visible light transmittance. Therefore, ZnO thin films can be applied to various optoelectronic device applications such as transparent conducting thin films, solar cells and displays. In this study, ZnO rod and thin films are fabricated using aqueous chemical bath deposition (CBD), which is a low-cost method at low temperatures, and environmentally friendly. To investigate the structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO for the presence of citrate ion, which can significantly affect crystal form of ZnO, various amounts of the citrate ion are added to the aqueous CBD ZnO reaction bath. As a result, ZnO crystals show a nanorod form without citrate, but a continuous thin film when citrate is above a certain concentration. In addition, as the citrate concentration increases, the electrical conductivity of the ZnO thin films increases, and is almost unchanged above a certain citrate concentration. Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cell substrates are used to evaluate whether aqueous CBD ZnO thin films can be applicable to real devices. The performance of aqueous CBD ZnO thin films shows performance similar to that of a sputter-deposited ZnO:Al thin film as top transparent electrodes of CIGS solar cells.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.241-246
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• 2012

$Yb^{3+}$, $Er^{3+}$ co-doped $SrMoO_4$ ($SrMoO_4$ : $Yb^{3+}/Er^{3+}$) specimens have been successfully synthesized via the complex citrate-gel method and their structural and optical properties were investigated in detail. Under 980 nm excitation, $SrMoO_4$ : $Yb^{3+}/Er^{3+}$ UC phosphors have been emitted strong green luminescence at 530 and 550 nm with weak red emission around 670 nm corresponding to the intra 4f transitions of $Er^{3+}$ ($^4F_{9/2}$, $^2H_{11/2}$, $^4S_{3/2}$) ${\rightarrow}$ $Er^{3+}$ ($^4I_{15/2}$). The optimal doping concentrations of $Er^{3+}$ and $Yb^{3+}$ ions were verified to 2/16 mol% and a possible upconversion mechanism depending on pump power dependence is studied in detail.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2013

ZnO thin films co-doped with Mg and Ga (MxGyZzO, x + y + z = 1, x = 0.05, y = 0.02 and z = 0.93) were prepared on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering with different sputtering powers ranging from 100W to 200W at a substrate temperature of $350^{\circ}C$. The effects of the sputtering power on the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of MGZO thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that all the MGZO thin films were grown as a hexagonal wurtzite phase with the preferred orientation on the c-axis without secondary phases such as MgO, $Ga_2O_3$, or $ZnGa_2O_4$. The intensity of the diffraction peak from the (0002) plane of the MGZO thin films was enhanced as the sputtering power increased. The (0002) peak positions of the MGZO thin films was shifted toward, a high diffraction angle as the sputtering power increased. Cross-sectional field emission scanning electron microscopy images of the MGZO thin films showed that all of these films had a columnar structure and their thickness increased with an increase in the sputtering power. MGZO thin film deposited at the sputtering power of 200W showed the best electrical characteristics in terms of the carrier concentration ($4.71{\times}10^{20}cm^{-3}$), charge carrier mobility ($10.2cm^2V^{-1}s^{-1}$) and a minimum resistivity ($1.3{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$). A UV-visible spectroscopy assessment showed that the MGZO thin films had high transmittance of more than 80 % in the visible region and that the absorption edges of MGZO thin films were very sharp and shifted toward the higher wavelength side, from 270 nm to 340 nm, with an increase in the sputtering power. The band-gap energy of MGZO thin films was widened from 3.74 eV to 3.92 eV with the change in the sputtering power.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.39 no.1 s.119
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• pp.38-47
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• 2007

This study was carried out to develop a new application field and obtain the basic data of citrus peel as waste in Jeju island and traditional Hanji for producing functional Hanji. The results measuring physical and optical properties, water vapor permeance and antibacterial activity are as follows. It was revealed that apparent density go as down but bulk raise up in the structural view of Hanji with increasing of the addition various Korean citrus peel (citrus unshiu, cheonggyun and hanrabong peel, and citrus unshiu peel powder) percentages, and that the density of Hanji added citrus unshiu peel was higher, but bulk was lower in compared with Hanji added other kinds of peel. Those Hanji added citrus unshiu peel, cheonggyun peel, hanrabong peel and citrus unshiu powder were very great not only in the strength (breaking length, burst index, tear index and folding endurance) but also in water vapor permeant rate in comparison with Hanji. The pHs of Hanji were neutrality (7 to 8). The brightness of the Hanji added various citrus peel percentages was low in compared to Hanji, and the 40% addition of hanrabong peel was the lowest. When 40% hanrabong peel was added to Hanji, it was very yellow in the color degree. When cheonggyun peel was added to Hanji manufacture, water vapor permeant rate was highly effective. It is known that vacant space of intrafiber was reduced by image analysis of Hanji and the additions of peel of citrus unshiu, cheonggyun and hanrabong were distributed equally in the interior of Hanji. The antibacterial activity of Hanji added citrus unshiu peel is more than 98%. After all, it would be able to increase utilization of Hanji, extensively. Namely, production of high quality Hanji added functional materials is expected for new valuable industry of citrus peel and Hanji.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.231-240
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• 2018

Bamboo is one of the major biomass resources that have many advantages such as fast growing, easy cultivation, short rotation, and a relatively lower price. In this study, the anatomical characteristics of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) by age from one-year-old to five-year-old were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Also, the crystalline properties such as relative crystallinity and crystallite width were investigated by an X-ray diffraction method. In one-year-old bamboo xylem, a few vascular bundles showed missing bundle sheath in near the intercellular space. Moreover, one-year-old bamboo had the shortest fiber length and the smallest values in vessel diameter, width of vascular bundle, and thickness of inner layer. One-year-old bamboo also showed the smallest values in the crystallinity and crystallite width. Near epidermis samples had longer fiber length and greater vascular bundle spacing than near pith samples. Relative crystallinity and crystallite width near the epidermis were also higher than near the pith. This study revealed significant differences in qualitative and quantitative anatomical characteristics between one-year-old and two-year- or more old Moso bamboos. It is concluded that the structural differences by bamboo age can be used to differentiate the characteristics of juvenile and mature bamboo.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.11
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• pp.631-635
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• 2017

We report facile solution processing of mesoporous hematite (${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$) thin films for high efficiency solar-driven water splitting. $Fe_2O_3$ thin films were prepared on fluorine doped tin oxide(FTO) conducting substrates by spin coating of a precursor solution followed by annealing at $550^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. in air ambient. Specifically, the precursor solution was prepared by dissolving non-toxic $FeCl_3$ as an Fe source in highly versatile dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO) as a solvent. The as-deposited and annealed thin films were characterized for their morphological, structural and optical properties using field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The photoelectrochemical performance of the precursor (${\alpha}-FeOOH$) and annealed (${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$) films were characterized and it was found that the ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ film exhibited an increased photocurrent density of ${\sim}0.78mA/cm^2$ at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which is about 3.4 times higher than that of the ${\alpha}-FeOOH$ films ($0.23mA/cm^2$ at 1.23 V vs. RHE). The improved performance can be attributed to the improved crystallinity and porosity of ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ thin films after annealing treatment at higher temperatures. Detailed electrical characterization was further carried out to elucidate the enhanced PEC performance of ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ thin films.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.260-270
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• 2017

Zirconia has white color and physical, chemical stability, also using in high temperature materials and various industrial structural ceramics such as heat insulating materials and refractories due to their low thermal conductivity, excellent strength, toughness, and corrosion resistance. If hydrophobically modified zirconia is introduced into a hydrophobic acrylate coating solution, the hardness, chemical, electrical, and optical properties will be improved due to the better dispersibility of inorganic particle in organic coating media. Thus, we introduced $-CH_3$ group through silylation reaction using either trimethylchlorosilane(TMCS) or hexamethyldisilazane(HMDZ) on zirconia surface. The $Si-CH_3$ peaks derived from TMCS and HMDZ on hydrophobically modified zirconia surface was confirmed by FT-IR ATR spectroscopy, and introduction of silicon was confirmed by FE-SEM/EDS and ICP-AES. In addition, the sedimentation rate result in acrylate monomer of the modified zirconia showed the improved dispersibility. Comparison of the sizes of a pristine and the modified zirconia particles, which were clearly measured not by the normal microscope but by particle size analysis, provided a pulverizing was occurred by physical force during the silylation process. From the BET analysis data, the specific surface area of zirconia was approximately $18m^2/g$ and did not significantly change during modification process.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.140-144
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• 2014

Co-(0.7 wt%) and Pr-(2.0, 3.5 or 5.0 wt%) doped cubic zirconia ($ZrO_2:Y_2O_3=50:50wt%$) single crystals grown by a skull melting method were heat-treated in $N_2$ at $1150^{\circ}C$ for 5 hrs. The brown colored as-grown single crystals were changed into either dark brownish green, greenish blue and light green color after the heat treatment. Before and after the heat treatment, the YSZ (yttria-stabilized zirconia) single crystals were cut for wafer form (${\phi}7.5mm{\times}t3mm$). The optical and structural properties were examined by UV-VIS spectrophotometer and X-ray diffraction. Absorption by $Co^{2+}$(${\fallingdotseq}589nm$: ${\Gamma}_8[^4A_2(^4F)]{\rightarrow}{\Gamma}_8+{\Gamma}_7[^4T_1(^4F)]$, ${\fallingdotseq}610nm$: ${\Gamma}_8[^4A_2(^4F)]{\rightarrow}{\Gamma}_8[^4T_1(^4F)]$], ${\fallingdotseq}661nm$: ${\Gamma}_8[^4A_2(^4F)]{\rightarrow}{\Gamma}_6[^4T_1(^4F)]$]) and $Pr^{3+}$(${\fallingdotseq}450nm$: ${^3}H{_4}-{^3}P{_2}$, ${\fallingdotseq}473nm$: ${^3}H{_4}{\rightarrow}{^3}P{_1}$, ${\fallingdotseq}484nm$: ${^3}H{_4}{\rightarrow}{^3}P{_0}$), change of ionization energy and lattice parameter were confirmed.