• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.689-696
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• 2010

The Because of its high thermal efficiency, the direct injection (DI) diesel engine has emerged as a promising potential candidate in the field of transportation. However, the amount of nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$) increases in the local high-temperature regions and that of particulate matter (PM) increases in the diffusion flame region during diesel combustion. In the de-$NO_x$ system the Lean $NO_x$ Trap (LNT) catalyst is used, which absorbs $NO_x$ under lean exhaust gas conditions and releases it in rich conditions. This technology can provide a high $NO_x$-conversion efficiency, but the right amount of reducing agent should be supplied to the catalytic converter at the right time. In this research, the emission characteristics of a diesel engine equipped with a micro-reformer that acts as a reductants-supplying equipment were investigated using an LNT system, and the effects of the exhaust-gas temperature were also studied.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.278.1-278.1
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• 2014

Organic materials have been explored as the gate dielectric layers in thin film transistors (TFTs) of backplane devices for flexible display because of their inherent mechanical flexibility. However, those materials possess some disadvantages like low dielectric constant and thermal resistance, which might lead to high power consumption and instability. On the other hand, inorganic gate dielectrics show high dielectric constant despite their brittle property. In order to maintain advantages of both materials, it is essential to develop the alternative materials. In this work, we manufactured nanocomposite gate dielectrics composed of organic material and inorganic nanoparticle and integrated them into organic TFTs. For synthesis of nanocomposite gate dielectrics, polyimide (PI) was explored as the organic materials due to its superior thermal stability. Candidate nanoprticles (NPs) of halfnium oxide, titanium oxide and aluminium oxide were considered. In order to realize NP concentration dependent electrical characteristics, furthermore, we have synthesized the different types of nanocomposite gate dielectrics with varying ratio of each inorganic NPs. To analyze gate dielectric properties like the capacitance, metal-Insulator-metal (MIM) structures were prepared together with organic TFTs. The output and transfer characteristics of organic TFTs were monitored by using the semiconductor parameter analyzer (HP4145B), and capacitance and leakage current of MIM structures were measured by the LCR meter (B1500, Agilent). Effects of mechanical cyclic bending of 200,000 times and thermally heating at $400^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour were investigated to analyze mechanical and thermal stability of nanocomposite gate dielectrics. The results will be discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.49.1-49.1
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• 2010

The particle generation during the plasma enhanced process is highly considered as serious problem in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The material for the plasma processing chamber requires the plasma etching characteristics which are homogeneously etched surface and low plasma etching depth for preventing particulate contamination and high durability. We found that the materials without grain boundaries can prevent the particle generation. Therefore, the amorphous material with the low plasma etching rate may be the best candidate for the plasma processing chamber instead of the polycrystalline materials such as yttria and alumina. Three glasses based on $SiO_2$ and $Al_2O_3$ were prepared with various rare-earth elements (Gd, Y and La) which are same content in the glass. The glasses were plasma etched in the same condition and their plasma etching rate was compared including reference materials such as Si-wafer, quartz, yttria and alumina. The mechanical and thermal properties of the glasses were highly related with cationic field strength (CFS) of the rare-earth elements. We assumed that the plasma etching resistance may highly contributed by the thermal properties of the fluorine byproducts generated during the plasma exposure and it is expected that the Gd containing glass may have the highest plasma etching resistance due to the highest sublimation temperature of $GdF_3$ among three rare-earth elements (Gd, Y and La). However, it is found that the plasma etching results is highly related with the mechanical property of the glasses which indicates the cationic field strength. From the result, we conclude that the glass structure should be analyzed and the plasma etching test should be conducted with different condition in the future to understand the plasma etching behavior of the glasses perfectly.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.299-303
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• 2013

In this study, a micro gas sensor for $NO_x$ was fabricated using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology and sol-gel process. The membrane and micro heater of the sensor platform were fabricated by a standard MEMS and CMOS technology with minor changes. The sensing electrode and micro heater were designed to have a co-planar structure with a Pt thin film layer. The size of the gas sensor device was about $2mm{\times}2mm$. Indium oxide as a sensing material for the $NO_x$ gas was synthesized by a sol-gel process. The particle size of synthesized $In_2O_3$ was identified as about 50 nm by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The maximum gas sensitivity of indium oxide, as measured in terms of the relative resistance ($R_s=R_{gas}/R_{air}$), occurred at $300^{\circ}C$ with a value of 8.0 at 1 ppm $NO_2$ gas. The response and recovery times were within 60 seconds and 2 min, respectively. The sensing properties of the $NO_2$ gas showed good linear behavior with an increase of gas concentration. This study confirms that a MEMS-based gas sensor is a potential candidate as an automobile gas sensor with many advantages: small dimension, high sensitivity, short response time and low power consumption.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2013

The $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) thin film solar cell is a candidate next generation thin film solar cell. For the application of an absorption layer in solar cells, CZTS thin films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at substrate temperature of $300^{\circ}C$ without post annealing process. Deposition time was carefully adjusted as the main experimental variable. Regardless of deposition time, single phase CZTS thin films are obtained with no existence of secondary phases. Irregularly-shaped grains are densely formed on the surface of CZTS thin films. With increasing deposition time, the grain size increases and the thickness of the CZTS thin films increases from 0.16 to $1{\mu}m$. The variation of the surface morphology and thickness of the CZTS thin films depends on the deposition time. The stoichiometry of all CZTS thin films shows a Cu-rich and S-poor state. Sn content gradually increases as deposition time increases. Secondary ion mass spectrometry was carried out to evaluate the elemental depth distribution in CZTS thin films. The optimal deposition time to grow CZTS thin films is 150 min. In this study, we show the effect of deposition time on the structural properties of CZTS thin film deposited on soda lime glass (SLG) substrate using PLD. We present a comprehensive evaluation of CZTS thin films.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.192-198
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• 2017

Carbon nanofiber (CNF) is used as an electrode material for electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs), and is being consistently researched to improve its electrochemical performance. However, CNF still faces important challenges due to the low mesopore volume, leading to a poor high-rate performance. In the present study, we prepared the unique architecture of the activated mesoporous CNF with a high specific surface area and high mesopore volume, which were successfully synthesized using PMMA as a pore-forming agent and the KOH activation. The activated mesoporous CNF was found to exhibit the high specific surface area of $703m^2g^{-1}$, total pore volume of $0.51cm^3g^{-1}$, average pore diameter of 2.9 nm, and high mesopore volume of 35.2 %. The activated mesoporous CNF also indicated the high specific capacitance of $143F\;g^{-1}$, high-rate performance, high energy density of $17.9-13.0W\;h\;kg^{-1}$, and excellent cycling stability. Therefore, this unique architecture with a high specific surface area and high mesopore volume provides profitable synergistic effects in terms of the increased electrical double-layer area and favorable ion diffusion at a high current density. Consequently, the activated mesoporous CNF is a promising candidate as an electrode material for high-performance EDLCs.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.351-356
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• 2014

A spherical $Sr_4Al_{14}O_{25}:Eu^{2+}$ phosphor for use in white-light-emitting diodes was synthesized using a liquid-state reaction with two precipitation stages. For the formation of phosphor from a precursor, the calcination temperature was $1,100^{\circ}C$. The particle morphology of the phosphor was changed by controlling the processing conditions. The synthesized phosphor particles were spherical with a narrow size-distribution and had mono-dispersity. Upon excitation at 395 nm, the phosphor exhibited an emission band centered at 497 nm, corresponding to the $4f^65d{\rightarrow}4f^7$ electronic transitions of $Eu^{2+}$. The critical quenching-concentration of $Eu^{2+}$ in the synthesized $Sr_4Al_{14}O_{25}:Eu^{2+}$ phosphor was 5 mol%. A phosphor-converted LED was fabricated by the combination of the optimized spherical phosphor and a near-UV 390 nm LED chip. When this pc-LED was operated under various forward-bias currents at room temperature, the pc-LED exhibited a bright blue-green emission band, and high color-stability against changes in input power. Accordingly, the prepared spherical phosphor appears to be an excellent candidate for white LED applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.280-280
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• 2007

Lead oxide-based ferroelectrics are the most widely used materials for piezoelectric actuators, sensors and transducers due to their excellent piezoelectric properties. Considering lead toxicity, there is great interest in developing lead-free piezoelectric materials, which are biocompatible and environmentally friendlier. Recently alkali oxide materials, including sodium - potassium niobate (NKN), have been given attention in view of their ultrasonic application and also as promising candidates for piezoelectric lead-free system. However, it is difficult to sinter such NKN-based materials via conventional sintering process. In this reason, many researchers have investigated hot press, hot isostatic press or spark-plasma sintering of NKN-based ceramics. In this study, as candidates for lead-free piezoelectric materials, dense (Na,K,Li)(Nb,Sb)$O_3$ systems were developed by conventional sintering process. The microstructures and piezoelectric properties of the (Na,K,Li)(Nb,Sb)$O_3$ systems were investigated as a function of variable compositions. The excellent piezoelectric and electromechanical properties indicate that this system is potentially good candidate as lead-free material for a wide range of electro-mechanical transducer applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.640-645
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• 2018

The design of non-precious electrocatalysts with low-cost, good stability, and an improved oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) to replace the platinium-based electrocatalyst is significant for application of fuel cells and metal-air batteries with high energy density. In this study, we synthesize iron-carbide($Fe_3C$) embedded nitrogen(N) doped carbon nanofiber(CNF) as electrocatalysts for ORRs using electrospinning, precursor deposition, and carbonization. To optimize electrochemical performance, we study the three stages according to different amounts of iron precursor. Among them, $Fe_3C$-embedded N doped CNF-1 exhibits the most improved electrochemical performance with a high onset potential of -0.18 V, a high $E_{1/2}$ of -0.29 V, and a nearly four-electron pathway (n = 3.77). In addition, $Fe_3C$-embedded N doped CNF-1 displays exellent long-term stabillity with the lowest ${\Delta}E_{1/2}=8mV$ compared to the other electrocatalysts. The improved electrochemical properties are attributed to synergestic effect of N-doping and well-dispersed iron carbide embedded in CNF. Consequently, $Fe_3C$-embedded N doped CNF is a promising candidate for non-precious electrocatalysts for high-performance ORRs.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.646-651
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• 2008

The electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuel involves the liberation of oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which results in a chemically aggressive environment that is too corrosive for typical structural materials. It is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment handling molten salt. IN713LC is one of the candidate materials proposed for application in electrolytic reduction process. In this study, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) top coat was applied to a surface of IN713LC with an aluminized metallic bond coat by an optimized plasma spray process, and were investigated the corrosion behavior at $675^{\circ}C$ for 216 hours in the molten salt $LiCl-Li_2O$ under an oxidizing atmosphere. The as-coated and tested specimens were examined by OM, SEM/EDS and XRD, respectively. The bare superalloy reveals obvious weight loss, and the corrosion layer formed on the surface of the bare superalloy was spalled due to the rapid scale growth and thermal stress. The top coatings showed a much better hot-corrosion resistance in the presence of $LiCl-Li_2O$ molten salt when compared to those of the uncoated superalloy and the aluminized bond coatings. These coatings have been found to be beneficial for increasing to the hot-corrosion resistance of the structural materials for handling high temperature lithium molten salts.