• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.28-28
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• 2010

Photoelectrochemical solar cells such as dye-sensitized cells (DSSCs), which exhibit high performance and are cost-effective, provide an alternative to conventional p-n junction photovoltaic devices. However, the efficiency of such cells plateaus at 11-12%, in contrast to their theoretical value of 33%. Improvements in efficiency can only occur through a fundamental understanding of the underlying physics, materials, and device designs of DSSCs. A photoelectrode consisting of semiconducting oxide nanoparticles and a transparent conducting oxide electrode (TCO) is a key component of DSSC and design of photoelectrode materials is one of promising strategies to improving energy conversion efficiency. We introduce monodisperesed $TiO_2$ nanoparticles prepared by forced hydrolysis method and their superiority as photoelectrode materials was characterized with aids of optical and electrochemical analysis. Multi-layered TCO materials are also introduced and their feasibility for use as photoelectrodes is discussed in terms of optical absorption and charge collecting properties.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 1991

The preparation and characterization of semiconductive electrodes of MgO doped $Fe_2O_3$ were investigated. Pellets of MgO doped $Fe_2O_3$ were sintered at high temperatures between 1300$^{\circ}$C and 1400$^{\circ}$C and quenched rapidly in distilled water. The surfaces were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and scanning Auger electron spectroscopy. The surfaces of pellets contained both corundum structure ($Fe_2O_3$) and spinel structure ($Mg_xFe_{3-x}O_4$). Electrodes made of this material gave comparable anodic and cathodic photocurrents under illumination. The cathodic and anodic photocurrent on these photoelectrodes were verified high at 5-10 wt. percent that is critical doping amounts.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.360-364
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• 2018

A facile method to fabricate freestanding CuO nanoleaves and CuO nanowires-based films was demonstrated. $Cu(OH)_2$ nanoleaves and nanowires were prepared by a hydrolysis reaction in aqueous solution including pyridine and NaOH with the tailored concentrations at room temperature. The films of freestanding CuO nanoleaves and CuO nanowires can be successfully obtained via the simple vacuum infiltration following a thermal dehydration reaction. The morphologies and crystallinity of the $Cu(OH)_2$ nanoleaves/nanowires and CuO nanoleaves/nanowires were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and FT-IR. The films fabricated with freestanding CuO nanoleaves and nanowires in this study may be applicable for building high-efficiency organic binder-free devices, such as gas sensors, batteries, photoelectrodes for water splitting and so on.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.39-45
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• 2020

The Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode has been successfully fabricated by Rapid Thermal Annealing technique. The structural characterization of fabricated photoelectrode was performed using X-Ray diffraction, while elemental composition of the prepared material has been checked with X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. The synthesis parameters are optimized on the basis of photoelectrochemical performance. The best photoelectrochemical performance has been observed for the Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode fabricated at 550 ℃ oxidation temperature and oxidation time of 50 seconds with highest photocurrent density of -3 mA/㎠ at -0.13 V vs. RHE.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.362-366
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• 1987

Modification of n-Si electrodes coated by photogalvanostatically with polyaniline and polypyrrole in aqueous solutions considerably enhanced the stability and the spectral response of the photoelectrodes. A polypyrrole coated electrode incorporated with redox couple $Fe(CN)_{6}^{3-_6}$ / $Fe(CN)_{6}^{4-_6}$ yielded a photocurrent density of 400${\mu}A/cm^2$ for about 120 hours. Broad spectral responses over 300-850 nm were observed for both polymer coated electrodes of which polypyrrole coated one showed better current conversion efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.463-463
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• 2014

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have generated a strong interest in the development of solid-state devices owing to their low cost and simple preparation procedures. Effort has been devoted to the study of electrolytes that allow light-to-electrical power conversion for DSSC applications. Several attempts have been made to substitute the liquid electrolyte in the original solar cells by using (2,2',7,7'-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9-9'-spirobi-fluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) that act as hole conductor [1]. Although efficiencies above 3% have been reached by several groups, here the major challenging is limited photoelectrode thickness ($2{\mu}m$), which is very low due to electron diffusion length (Ln) for spiro-OMeTAD ($4.4{\mu}m$) [2]. In principle, the $TiO_2$ layer can be thicker than had been thought previously. This has important implications for the design of high-efficiency solid-state DSSCs. In the present study, we have fabricated 3-D Transparent Conducting Oxide (TCO) by growing tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanowire (NWs) arrays via a vapor transport method [3] and mesoporous $TiO_2$ nanoparticle (NP)-based photoelectrodes were prepared using doctor blade method. Finally optimized light-harvesting solid-state DSSCs is made using 3-D TCO where electron life time is controlled the recombination rate through fast charge collection and also ITO NWs length can be controlled in the range of over $2{\mu}m$ and has been characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Structural analyses by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) results reveal that the ITO NWs formed single crystal oriented [100] direction. Also to compare the charge collection properties of conventional NPs based solid-state DSSCs with ITO NWs based solid-state DSSCs, we have studied intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy (IMVS), intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy (IMPS) and transient open circuit voltages. As a result, above $4{\mu}m$ thick ITO NWs based photoelectrodes with Z907 dye shown the best performing device, exhibiting a short-circuit current density of 7.21 mA cm-2 under simulated solar emission of 100 mW cm-2 associated with an overall power conversion efficiency of 2.80 %. Finally, we achieved the efficiency of 7.5% by applying a CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite sensitizer.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.2765-2768
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• 2013

The effect of $TiO_2$ nanorods (TNR) and nanoparticles (TNP) composite photoelectrodes and the role of TNR to enhance the energy conversion efficiency in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was investigated. The 5% TNR content into the TNP photoelectrode significantly increased the short-circuit current density ($J_{sc}$) and the open-circuit potential ($V_{oc}$) with the overall energy conversion efficiency enhancement of 13.6% compared to the pure TNP photoelectrode. From the photochemical and impedemetric analysis, the increased $J_{sc}$ and $V_{oc}$ for the 5% TNR/TNP composite photoelectrode was attributed to the scattering effect of TNR, reduced electron diffusion path and the suppression of charge recombination between the composite photoelectrode and electrolyte or dye.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.177-181
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• 2009

Employing statistical design of experiments, we have performed studies on the characterization of electrodes using $TiO_2$ and process variables in the fabrication process of nanocrystalline dye sensitized solar cell. Systematic experiment to identify the effects of process variables on cell's efficiency has based on broad-band absorption of light by tailor made organometallic dye molecules dispersed on a high surface of $TiO_2$. Employing statistical design of experiment on $TiO_2$ photoelectrode forming process, structural characterization of electrodes and process variable have been investigated. Through the statistical analysis we have found that the particle size of $TiO_2$ and the amount of PEG/PEO are significantly affecting on the cell efficiency. In addition, a significant amount of interaction exists between the particle size and the amount of PEG/PEO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.346.1-346.1
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• 2014

Porous nano crystalline $TiO_2$ is currently used as a working electrode in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The conventional working electrode is comprised of absorption layer (particle size:~20 nm) and scattering layer (particle size:~300 nm). We inserted window layer with 10 nm particle size in order to increase transmittance and specific surface area of $TiO_2$. The electrochemical impedance spectroscope analysis was conducted to analysis characterization of the electronic behavior. The Bode phase plot and Nyquist plot were interpreted to confirm the internal resistance caused by the insertion of window layer and carrier lifetime. The photocurrent that occurred in working electrode, which is caused by rise in specific surface area, increased. Accordingly, it was found that insertion of window layer in the working electrode lead to not only effectively transmitting the light, but also increasing of specific surface area. Therefore, it was concluded that insertion of window layer contributes to high conversion efficiency of DSSCs.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.79-81
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• 2013

A novel method of fabricating polythiophene-gold nanoparticle composite film electrodes for photoelectric conversion is demonstrated. The method includes electrodeposition of gold and electropolymerization of 2,2'-bithiophene onto an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode. First, electrodeposition of gold onto the ITO electrode was carried out with various repetition times of pulsed applied potential (0.25 s at -2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl) in an aqueous solution of $HAuCl_4$. Significant progress of the number density of deposited gold nanoparticles was confirmed from scanning electron micrographs, from 4 (1 time) to 25% (15 times). Next, electropolymerization of 2,2'-bithiophene onto the above ITO electrode was performed under controlled charge condition (+1.4 V vs. Ag wire, 15 $mC/cm^2$). Structural characterization of as-fabricated films were carried out by spectroscopic and electron micrographic methods. Photocurrent responses from the sample film electrodes were investigated in the presence of electron acceptors (methyl viologen and oxygen). Photocurrent intensities increased with increasing the density of deposited gold nanoparticles up to ~10%, and tended to decrease above it. It suggests that the surplus gold nanoparticles exhibit quenching effects rather than enhancement effects based on localized electric fields induced by surface plasmon resonance of the deposited gold nanoparticles.