• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2004

Cuprous oxide (Cu$_2$O) thin films are cathodically deposited on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) substrate. The as-deposited films were heat-treated at 30$0^{\circ}C$ to obtain Cu$_2$O. After the heat treatment, the film was changed from Cu metal into Cu$_2$O phase. The phase, morphology and photocurrent density of the films were dependent on the preparation conditions of deposition time, applied voltage, and the duration of heat treatment. The Cu$_2$O films were characterized by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The apparent grain size of the films formed by the normal method was larger than those grown by the pulse method. The CU$_2$O film what was deposited at -0.7 V for 300 sec and then, calcined at 30$0^{\circ}C$ for 1 h showed the predominant photocurrent density of 1048 $\mu$A/$\textrm{cm}^2$. And the stability of Cu$_2$O electrodes were improved with chemically deposited TiO$_2$ thin films on Cu$_2$O.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.58 no.12
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• pp.2425-2430
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• 2009

Dye-sensitized solar cell(DSC) is composed of a dye-adsorbed nanoporous $TiO_2$ layer on fluorine-doped tin oxide(FTO) glass substrate, electrolyte, and platinium doped counter electrode. Among these, a dye-absorbed nanoporous $TiO_2$ layer plays an important role in the performance of the DSC because the injected electrons from excited dye molecules move through this layer. And the condition of $TiO_2$ layer such as the morphology and thickness affects on the electron movement. Therefore, the performances and the efficiency of DSC change as the thickness of $TiO_2$ layer is different. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy(EIS) is the powerful analysis method to study the kinetics of electrochemical and photoelectrochemical processes occurring in the DSC especially the injected electron movements. So we analyzed the DSCs with different $TiO_2$ thicknesses by using EIS to understand the influence of the $TiO_2$ thickness to the performance of the DSC clearly. Finally, we got the EIS analysis on the DSC with different $TiO_2$ thickness from the internal resistance of the DSC, the electron life time and the amount of dye molecules.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2013

Excellent electron transport properties with enhanced light scattering ability for light harvesting have made well-ordered one dimensional $TiO_2$ nanotube(TNT) arrays an alternative candidate over $TiO_2$ nanoparticles in the area of solar energy conversion applications. The principal drawback of TNT arrays being activated only by UV light has been addressed by coupling the TNT with secondary materials which are visible light-triggered. As well as extending the absorption region of sunlight, the introduction of these foreign components is also found to influence the charge separation and electron lifetime of TNT. In this study, a novel method to fabricate the TNT-based composite photoelectrodes employing visible responsive $CuInS_2$ (CIS) nanoparticles is presented. The developed method is a square wave pulse-assisted electrochemical deposition approach to wrap the inner and outer walls of a TNT array with CIS nanoparticles. Instead of coating as a dense compact layer of CIS by a conventional non-pulsed-electrochemical deposition method, the nanoparticles pack relatively loosely to form a rough surface which increases the surface area of the composite and results in a higher degree of light scattering within the tubular channels and hence a greater chance of absorption. The excellence coverage of CIS on the tubular $TiO_2$ allows the construction of an effective heterojunction that exhibits enhanced photoelectrochemical performance.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.99.2-99.2
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• 2011

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) supported on glass are widely used as substrates in PEC studies for photovoltaic hydrogen generation applications However, high sheet resistane ($10{\sim}15{\Omega}/cm^2$) and fragileness of glass-supported TCO substrates are the obstacles to produce the large area PEC cells. Such internal sheet resistance is detrimental to efficient collection of photogenerated majority charge carriers at the photoactive material and electrolyte interface. Moreover, these TCO substrates are very expensive and consume about 40~60% cost of the devices. Hence, a low sheet resistance of the substrate is a key point in improving the performance of PEC devices. Metallic substrates coated with a photoactive material would be a good choice for efficient charge collection. Such metal substrates based photanodes are best candidate for large-scale phtoelectrochemical water splitting for hydrogen generation. In this study, we report the enhanced PEC performance of $WO_3$ film on metal(chemical etched, bare) substrate. It is proposed that interface between $WO_3$ and the metal substrate is responsible for efficient charge transfer and demonstrated significant improvement in the photoelectrochmical performance. X-ray diffration and FESEM suduies reveled that $WO_3$ films are monoclinic, porous, polycrystalline with average grain size of ~50nm. Photocurrent of $WO_3$ prepared on metal substrates was measured in 0.5M $H_2SO_4$ electroyte under simulated $100mW/cm^2$ illumination.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.255-262
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• 1994

Arc melted Ti-5Bi alloy was oxidized by thermal oxidation method. In the present study free energy efficiency(${\eta}_e$) of titanium oxide electrode(TOE) was measured as a function of light intensity and light energy. Flat-band potential of TOE was measured as a function of the light intensity and the solution pH. The ${\eta}_e$ of TOE increased with the increase of light intensity and tight energy to maximum value of 3.2% and 13%, respectively, at $0.2W/cm^2$ and 4.0eV. The ${\eta}_e$ was strongly dependent on the magnitude of the bias voltage. Maximum value was found at 0.5V bias. Photocurrent of TOE was controlled by electron-hole pair generation in depletion layer. The flat-band potential of the illuminated TOE shifted to -0.065V/decade with increasing light intensity. With the decrease of pH of electrolyte, flat-band potential shifted to anodic direction. The experimental slope was in good agreement with the Nernstian value of 0.059V/pH decade.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.216-222
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• 2010

Self-standing $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays were fabricated by potentiostatic anodic oxidation method using pure Ti foil as a working electrode and ethylene glycol solution as electrolytes with small addition of $NH_4F$ and $H_2O$. The influences of anodization temperature and time on the morphology and formation of $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays were investigated. The fabricated $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays were applied as a photoelectrode to dye-sensitized solar cells. Regardless of anodizing temperature and time, the average diameter and wall thickness of $TiO_2$ nanotube show a similar value, whereas the thickness show a different trend with reaction temperature. The thickness of $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays anodized at $20^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$ was time-dependent, but on the other hand its at $10^{\circ}C$ are independent of anodization time. The conversion efficiency is low, which is due to a morphology breaking of the $TiO_2$ nanotube arrays in manufacturing process of photoelectrode.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.108-123
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• 2004

Imaging of surfaces and structures by near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) has matured and is routinely used for studies ranging from biology to materials science. Of interest in this review paper is a versatility of modified or multi-functional NSOM (mf-NSOM) to enable high resolution imaging in several modes: (1) Concurrent fluorescence and Topographical Imaging (gases) (2) Microspectroscopy (gases) (3) Concurrent Scanning Electrochemical and Topographical Imaging (SECM) (liquids) (4) Concurrent Photoelectrochemical and Topographical Imaging (PEM) (liquids) The present study will summarize some of the recent advances in mf-NSOM work confirmed and supported by the results from several other imaging techniques of optical, fluorescence, electron and electrochemical microscopy. The studies are directed at providing local information on pitting precursor sites and vulnerable areas on metal and semiconductor surfaces, and at reactive sites on heterogeneous, catalytic substrates, especially on Al 2024 alloy and polycrystalline Ti. In addition, we will introduce some results related to the laser-induced nanometal (Ag) synthesis using mf-NSOM.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.25-33
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• 1992

With the aim to obtain $TiO_2$ films with an increased photorespones and absorbance in the visible region of the solar spectrum, the direct oxidation of titanium alloys were performed. In this study, $Ti-Ga_2O_3$ alloy was prepared by mixing, pressing and arc melting of appropriate amounts of titanium and $Ga_2O_3$ powder. Electrochemical measurements were performed in three electrode cell using electrolyte of 1M NaOH solution. The oxide films on $Ti-Ga_2O_3$ alloy was composed of $Ti_2O$, TiO, $TiO_2$, $Ga_2TiO_5$. The free energy efficiency (${\eta}e$) of $Ti-Ga_2O_3$ oxide films had 0.8~1.3 % and were increased with the increase of $Ga_2O_3$ content up to 10wt %. The onset potential ($V_{on}$) had -0.8V~0.9V ranges and were shifted to anodic direction with the increase of $Ga_2O_3$ content. The spectral response of Ti-$Ga_2O_3$ oxides were similar to the response of the $TiO_2$ and their $E_g$ were observed to 2.90~3.0eV. Variations of onset potential($V_{on}$) associated with electrolyte pH were -59mV/pH. This probably reflects the nature of the bonding of $OH^-$ ion to the $TiO_2$ surface, a common phenomena in the transition-metal oxides.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.2410-2412
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• 2005

In this study, two types of PS substrate were fabricated for sensing of chemical and biological substances. For sensing of the humidity and chemical analyzes such as $CH_3OH$ or $C_2H_5OH$, PS layers are prepared by photoelectrochemical etching of silicon wafer in aqueous hydrofluoric acid solution. To evaluate their sensitivity, we measured the resistance variation of the PS diaphragm. As the amplitude of applied voltage increases from 2 to 6Vpp at constant frequency of 5kHz, the resistance variation for humidity sensor rises from 376.3 to $784.8{\Omega}$/%RH. And the sensitivities for $CH_3OH$ and $C_2H_5OH$ were 0.068 uA/% and 0.212 uA/%, respectively. For biological sensing application, amperometric urea sensors were fabricated based on porous silicon(PS), and planar silicon(PLS) electrode substrates by the electrochemical methods. Pt thin film was sputtered on these substrates which were previously formed by electrochemical anodization. Poly (3-methylthiophene) (P3MT) were used for electron transfer matrix between urease(Urs) and the electrode phase, and Urs also was by electrochemically immobilized. Effective working area of these electrodes was determined for the first time by using $Fe(CN)_6^{3-}/Fe(CN)_6^{4-}$ redox couple in which nearly reversible cyclic voltammograms were obtained. The $i_p$ vs $v^{1/2}$ plots show that effective working electrode area of the PS-based Pt thin film electrode was 1.6 times larger than the PLS-based one and we can readily expect the enlarged surface area of PS electrode would result in increased sensitivity by ca. 1.6 times. Actually, amperometric sensitivity of the Urs/P3MT/Pt/PS electrode was ca 0.91uA/$mM{\cdot}cm^2$, and that of the Urs/P3MT/Pt/PLS electrode was ca. 0.91uA/$mM{\cdot}cm^2$ in a linear range of 1mmol/L to 100mmol/L urea concentrations

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.491-496
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• 2019

In this study, we prepare pure $WO_3$ inverse opal(IO) film with a thickness of approximately $3{\mu}m$ by electrodeposition, and an ultra-thin $TiO_2$ layer having a thickness of 2 nm is deposited on $WO_3$ IO film by atomic layer deposition. Both sets of photoelectrochemical properties are evaluated after developing dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). In addition, morphological, crystalline and optical properties of the developed films are evaluated through field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HR-TEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and UV/visible/infrared spectrophotometry. In particular, pure $WO_3$ IO based DSSCs show low $V_{OC}$, $J_{SC}$ and fill factor of 0.25 V, $0.89mA/cm^2$ and 18.9 %, achieving an efficiency of 0.04 %, whereas the $TiO_2/WO_3$ IO based DSSCs exhibit $V_{OC}$, $J_{SC}$ and fill factor of 0.57 V, $1.18mA/cm^2$ and 50.1 %, revealing an overall conversion efficiency of 0.34 %, probably attributable to the high dye adsorption and suppressed charge recombination reaction.