• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.1195-1201
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• 2014

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of $TiO_2$ thin film from $TiCl_4$ and $H_2O$ has been intensively studied since the invention of ALD method to grow thin films via chemical adsorptions of two precursors. However the role of HCl which is a gaseous byproduct in ALD chemistry for $TiO_2$ growth is still intriguing in terms of the growth mechanism. In order to investigate the role of HCl in $TiO_2$ ALD, HCl pulse and its purging steps are inserted in a typical sequence of $TiCl_4$ pulse-purge-$H_2O$ pulse-purge. When they are inserted after the first-half reaction (chemisorption of $TiCl_4$), the grown thickness of $TiO_2$ becomes thinner or thicker at lower or higher growth temperatures than $300^{\circ}C$, respectively. However the insertion after the second-half reaction (chemisorption of $H_2O$) results in severely reduced thicknesses in all growth temperatures. By using the result, we explain the growth mechanism and the role of HCl in $TiO_2$ ALD.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.299-305
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• 2000

In order to increase the thermal stability at high temperatures, new hybrid ceramic percursors were synthesized by chemical modification of polycarbosilane (PCS). The structure of hybrid ceramic percursors were investigated by using FT-IR and $^1$H-NMR spectrometers. The syntheses of hybrid ceramic precursors were confirmed by monitoring the change of the adsorption peaks appearing at 0893, 1092, 609 $cm^{-1}$ / on the FT-IR spectra, and also by the presence of peaks at 3.8, 2.0, 0.6 ppm on the $^1$H-NMR spectra. The conversion of hybrid ceramic percursor was around 74 and 10 wt% higher than that of the pure PCS. After the heat-treatment at 150$0^{\circ}C$, the crystalline peaks for $\beta$-SiC were observed at 2$\theta$=35.7, 42.2, 61.0$^{\circ}$ on the X-ray powder diffractogram. It showed the conversion of hybrid ceramic percursor to crystalline $\beta$-SiC.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2019

Current synthesis processes for titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) nanoparticles require expensive precursors or templates as well as complex steps and long reaction times. In addition, these processes produce highly agglomerated nanoparticles. In this study, we demonstrate a simple and continuous approach to synthesize $TiO_2$ nanoparticles by a salt-assisted ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. We also investigate the effect of salt content in a precursor solution on the morphology and size of synthesized products. The synthesized $TiO_2$ nanoparticles are systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron micrograph, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. These nanoparticles appear to have a single anatase phase and a uniform particle-size distribution with an average particle size of approximately 10 nm. By extrapolating the plots of the transformed Kubelka-Munk function versus the absorbed light energy, we determine that the energy band gap of the synthesized $TiO_2$ nanoparticles is 3.25 eV.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.498-504
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• 2011

We examined the microstructure and optical properties of crystallized ~30 nm-ZnO/~10 nm amorphous $TiO_2$ nano bilayered films as nano electrodes were deposited at extremely low substrate temperatures of $150-210^{\circ}C$. The bilayered films were deposited on silicon substrates with 10 cm diameters by ALD (atomic layer deposition) using DEZn (diethyl zinc(Zn(C2H5)2)) and TDMAT (tetrakis dimethyl-amid $titanium(Ti(N(CH_3)_2)_4)$ as the ZnO and $TiO_2$ precursors, respectively, and $H_2O$ as the oxidant. The microstructure, phase, and optical properties of the bilayered films were examined by FE-SEM, TEM, XRD, AES, and UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. FE-SEM and TEM showed that all bilayered films were deposited very uniformly and showed crystallized ZnO and amorphous $TiO_2$ layers. AES depth profiling showed that the ZnO and $TiO_2$ films had a stoichiometric composition of 1:1 and 1:2, respectively. These bilayered films have optical absorption properties in a wide range of ultraviolet wavelengths, 250-390 nm, whereas the single ZnO and $TiO_2$ films showed an absorption range of 350-380nm.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.8.1-8.1
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• 2011

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) materials have been widely used as an electron collector in DSSC. This is required to have an extremely high porosity and surface area such that the dye can be sufficiently adsorbed and be electronically interconnected, resulting in the generation of a high photocurrent within cells. In particular, their geometrical structures and crystalline phase have been extensively investigated as important issues in improving its photovoltaic efficiency. In this study, we present a new strategy to fabricate a photoelectrode having a periodic structured $TiO_2$ film templated from 1D or 3D polystyrene (PS) microspheres array. Monodisperse PS spheres of various radiuses were used for colloidal array on FTO glasses and two types of photoelectrode structures with different $TiO_2$ materials were investigated respectively. One is the igloo-shaped electrode prepared by $TiO_2$ deposition by RF-sputtering onto 2D microsphere-templated substrates. At the interface between the film and substrate, there are voids formed by the decomposition of PS microspheres during the calcination step. These holes might be expected to play the predominant roles as scattering spherical voids to promote a light harvesting effect, a spacious structure for electrolytes with higher viscosity and effective paths for electron transfer. Additionally the nanocrystalline $TiO_2$ phase prepared by the RF-sputtering method was previously reported to improve the electron drift mobility within $TiO_2$ electrodes. This yields solar cells with a cell efficiency of 2.45% or more at AM 1.5 illumination, which is a very remarkable result, considering its $TiO_2$ electrode thickness (<2 ${\mu}m$). This study can be expanded to obtain higher cell efficiency by higher dye loading through the increase of surface area or multi-layered stacking. The other is the inverse opal photonic crystal electrode prepared by titania particles infusion within 3D colloidal arrays. To obtain the enlargement of ordered area and high quality of crystallinity, the synthesis of titania particles coated with a organic thin layer were applied instead of sol-gel process using the $TiO_2$ precursors. They were dispersed so well in most solvents without aggregates and infused successfully within colloidal array structures. This ordered mesoporous structure provides the large surface area leading to the enough adsorption of dye molecules and have an light harvesting effect due to the photonic band gap properties (back-and-forth reflection effects within structures). A major advantage of this colloidal array template method is that the pore size and its distribution within $TiO_2$ photoelectrodes are determined by those of latex beads, which can be controlled easily. These materials may have promising potentials for future applications of membrane, sensor and so on as well as solar cells.