• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.105-110
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• 2009

IZO thin films have been deposited on poly(ethylene terephthalate) flexible substrate under varying radio frequency (rf) power, process pressure and thickness of IZO films using rf magnetron sputtering under $Ar/O_2$ gas mix. As the process pressure increased, the deposition rate was slightly increased and the transmittance showed little change, but the resistivity was increased. With increasing rf power, the great increase in deposition rate was observed but the transmittance showed a slight change only, and the resistivity was decreased. In addition, an attempt was made to find the optimal thickness of IZO films under varying the thickness of IZO films at the process conditions of 1 mTorr pressure and 90 W rf power, which showed lowest resistivity. IZO thin films with the thickness of $1,500{\AA}$ showed lowest resistivity and also showed highest transmittance around the wavelength zone of the maximum absorption. The power conversion efficiency of solar cells fabricated using various transparent electrodes with different thicknesses were measured and the solar cell with IZO electrode of $1,500{\AA}$ showed the maximum conversion-efficiency of 2.88 %.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.599-605
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• 2000

Among the effects of tooth bleaching on composite resins, degree of color change and dye deposition onto composite resins after office bleaching were investigated in vitro. Seventy two disc-shaped resin samples were fabricated with hybrid type composite resin, Z-100 under 3 different environments(24 samples for each environment) characterized by 3 kinds of light-curing intensity and duration($250mW/cm^2$-20sec., $250mW/cm^2$-40sec., $550mW/cm^2$-20sec.). As control, one-third samples of each group were not treated with bleaching agent. The remaining two-thirds samples of each group were treated with bleaching agent(bleaching group). Then, before thermocycling procedure in coffee bath, the half of the samples treated with bleaching agent were polished(polishing group) with polishing system. SofLex, but the other half(not-polishing group) and control group were not polished. Another 72 samples were also made with microfilled type composite resin. Sillux Plus and treated according to the experimental procedures mentioned above. The color of each resin sample was measured before bleaching, after bleaching, and after thermocycling preceded by bleaching. And color difference was evaluated. It was concluded as follows: 1. The amount of color change of resin samples after office bleaching was not statistically significant(p>0.05). But the samples which were treated with bleaching agent showed more color change than that of control group. 2. After thermocycling in coffee bath, the amount of color change of resin samples between control and bleaching group was not statistically significant(p>0.05). 3. After thermocycling in coffee bath, the polishing procedure of resin samples showed no statistically significant difference(p>0.05) between polishing and not-polishing group in the aspect of color change.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.515-520
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• 2008

We fabricated 10 nm-$TiO_2$ thin films for DSSC (dye sensitized solar cell) electrode application using ALD (atomic layer deposition) method at the low temperatures of $150^{\circ}\;and\;250^{\circ}$. We characterized the crosssectional microstructure, phase, chemical binding energy, and absorption of the $TiO_2$ using TEM, HRXRD, XPS, and UV-VIS-NIR, respectively. TEM analysis showed a 10 nm-thick flat and uniform $TiO_2$ thin film regardless of the deposition temperatures. Through XPS analysis, it was found that the stoichiometric $TiO_2$ phase was formed and confirmed by measuring main characteristic peaks of Ti $2p^1$, Ti $2p^3$, and O 1s indicating the binding energy status. Through UV-VIS-NIR analysis, ALD-$TiO_2$ thin films were found to have a band gap of 3.4 eV resulting in the absorption edges at 360 nm, while the conventional $TiO_2$ films had a band gap of 3.0 eV (rutile)${\sim}$3.2 eV (anatase) with the absorption edges at 380 nm and 410 nm. Our results implied that the newly proposed nano-thick $TiO_2$ film using an ALD process at $150^{\circ}$ had almost the same properties as thsose of film at $250^{\circ}$. Therefore, we confirmed that the ALD-processed $TiO_2$ thin film with nano-thickness formed at low temperatures might be suitable for the electrode process of flexible devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.273-273
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• 2014

Quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) are an emerging class of solar cells owing to their easy fabrication, low cost and material diversity. Despite of the fact that the maximum conversion efficiency of QDSCs is still far less than that of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (>12 %), their unique characteristics like Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG), energy band tune-ability and tendency to incorporate multiple co-sensitizers concurrently has made QDs a suitable alternative to expensive dyes for solar cell application. Lead Sulfide (PbS) Quantum dot sensitized solar cells are theoretically proficient enough to have a photo-current density ($J_{sc}$) of $36mA/cm^2$, but practically there are very few reports on photocurrent enhancement in PbS QDSCs. Recently, $Hg^{2+}$ incorporated PbS quantumdots and Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) co-sensitized PbS solarcells are reported to show an improvement in photo-current density ($J_{sc}$). In this study, we explored the efficacy of $In_2S_3$ as an interfacial layer deposited through SILAR process for PbS QDSCs. $In_2S_3$ was chosen as the interfacial layer in order to avoid the usage of hazardous CdS or Mercury (Hg). Herein, the deposition of $In_2S_3$ interfacial layer on $TiO_2$ prior to PbS QDs exhibited a direct enhancement in the photo-current (Isc). Improved photo-absorption as well as interfacial recombination barrier caused by $In_2S_3$ deposition increased the photo-current density ($J_{sc}$) from $13mA/cm^2$ to $15.5mA/cm^2$ for single cycle of $In_2S_3$ deposition. Increase in the number of cycles of $In_2S_3$ deposition was found to deteriorate the photocurrent, however it increased $V_{oc}$ of the device which reached to an optimum value of 2.25% Photo-conversion Efficiency (PCE) for 2 cycles of $In_2S_3$ deposition. Effect of Heat Treatment, Normalized Current Stability, Open Circuit Voltage Decay and Dark IV Characteristics were further measured to reveal the characteristics of device.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.241-241
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• 2010

Recently high and persistent spontaneous buildup of a surface potential (SP) upon vacuum deposition of tris (8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum (III) ($Alq_3$), which is widely used for organic light emitting devices. The removal of the giant surface potential by visible light irradiation has also been reported. In this study, we coated $Alq_3$ on the FTO substrate and raise the capacity for absorbing sun light. The $Alq_3$ which is green light emitting diode emits light at wavelengths between 500 and 550nm. If we apply one's FTO/$Alq_3$ substrate in one's DSSC, we could get higher energy conversion efficiency because the N719 dye that we used for fabricating the DSSC emits light just at near 540nm. The energy conversion efficiency of approximately 4.8 % at the condition of irradiation of AM 1.5 (100 mW/$cm^2$) simulated sunlight, and the $J_{sc}$ is 12.0 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ is 0.71 V, FF is 0.56, respectively.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.1188-1194
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• 2013

Transparent $TiO_2$ thin films have been prepared by sol-gel spin coating method. The sols used for deposition of thin films were prepared with different ethanol content. The effect of ethanol (solvent) concentration and annealing temperature on the performance of $TiO_2$ thin film solar cells has been studied. The results indicate that the as deposited films are amorphous in nature. $TiO_2$ thin films annealed at temperatures above $350^{\circ}C$ exhibited crystalline nature with anatase phase. The results also indicated that the crystallinity of the films improved with increase of annealing temperature. The high resolution transmission electron microscope images showed lattice fringes corresponding to the anatase phase of $TiO_2$. The band gap of the deposited films has been found to decrease with increase in annealing temperature and increase with increase in ethanol concentration. The dependents of photovoltaic efficiency of the dye-sensitized $TiO_2$ thin film solar cells (DSSCs) with the amount of ethanol used to prepare thin films was determined from photocurrent-voltage curves.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.615-616
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• 2005

Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) on flexible indium tin oxide (ITO) PET films were prepared for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). These CNTs were prepared by spray coating method for various amount of light transparency. Also, Pt counter electrode was prepared by electro deposition method. All $TiO_2$ electrodes were deposited on ITO-PET films by spray coating method. Micro structural images show that CNT counter electrodes prepared by spray-coating have more dense structure with increasing spraying time (0 to 60 seconds). DSSC consisting of $TiO_2$ electrode and CNT counter electrode was fabricated with various amount of light absorption. DSSC have higher light energy conversion efficiency with increasing the thickness of CNT counter electrode. CNT counter electrode is at least compatible to that of CNT counter electrode.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.643-650
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• 2018

A self-powered electrochromic device was fabricated on an indium tin oxide-polyethylene naphthalate flexible substrate using a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) as a self-harvesting source; the electrochromic device was naturally bleached and operated under outdoor light conditions. The color of the organic electrochromic polymer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate, was shifted from pale blue to deep blue with an antimony tin oxide film as a charge-balanced material. Electrochromic performance was enhanced by secondary doping using dimethyl sulfoxide. As a result, the device showed stable switching behavior with a high transmittance change difference of 40% at its specific wavelength of 630 nm for 6 hrs. To improve the efficiency of the solar cell, 1.0 wt.% of Ag NWs in the photoanode was applied to the $TiO_2$ photoanode. It resulted in an efficiency of 3.3%, leading to an operating voltage of 0.7 V under xenon lamp conditions. As a result, we built a standalone self-harvesting electrochromic system with the performance of transmittance switching of 29% at 630 nm, by connecting with two solar cells in a device. Thus, a self-harvesting and flexible device was fabricated to operate automatically under the irradiated/dark conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.110-115
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• 2016

We prepared a working electrode (WE) coated with 0 ~ 50 nm-thick indium gallium zinc oxide(IGZO) by using RF sputtering to improve the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to analyze the microstructure and composition of the IGZO layer. UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy was used to determine the transparency of the WE with IGZO layers. A solar simulator and a potentiostat were used to confirm the photovoltaic properties of the DSSC with IGZO layer. From the results of the microstructural analysis, we were able to confirm the successful deposition of an amorphous IGZO layer with the expected thickness and composition. From the UV-VIS-NIR analysis, we were able to verify that the transparency decreased when the thickness of IGZO increased, while the transparency was over 90% for all thicknesses. The photovoltaic results show that the ECE became 4.30% with the IGZO layer compared to 3.93% without the IGZO layer. As the results show that electron mobility increased when an IGZO layer was coated on the $TiO_2$ layer, it is confirmed that the ECE of a DSSC can be enhanced by employing an appropriate thickness of IGZO on the $TiO_2$ layer.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2017

In this work, two different platinum (Pt) counter electrodes have been prepared by spin coating a Pt solution and screen printing a Pt paste on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate followed by sintering at $380^{\circ}C$ for 30 min. Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses of the Pt electrodes showed that the spin coated electrode was catalytically more active than the screen printed electrode. The above result agrees well with the surface morphology of the electrodes studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the photovoltaic performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with the Pt electrodes. Moreover, calculation of current density-voltage (j-V) curves according to diode model with the parameters obtained from the experimental j-V curves and the EIS data of the DSSCs provided a quantitative insight about how the catalytic activity of the counter electrodes affected the photovoltaic performance of the cells. Even though the experimental situations involved in this work are trivial, the method of analyses outlined here gives a strong insight about how the catalytic activity of a counter electrode affects the photovoltaic performance of a DSSC. This work, also, demonstrates how the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs can be improved by tuning the performance of counter electrode materials.