The demand for energy is steadily rising because of rapid population growth and improvements in living standards. Consequently, extensive research is being conducted worldwide to enhance the energy supply. Transpiration power generation technology utilizes the vast availability of water, which encompasses more than 70% of the Earth's surface, offering the unique advantage of minimal temporal and spatial constraints over other forms of power generation. Various principles are involved in water-based energy harvesting. In this study, we focused on explaining the generation of energy through the streaming potential within the generator component. The generator was fabricated using sugar cubes, PDMS, carbon black, CTAB, and DI water. In addition, a straightforward and rapid manufacturing method for the generator was proposed. The PDMS generator developed in this study exhibits high performance with a voltage of 29.6 mV and a current of 8.29 μA and can generate power for over 40h. This study contributes to the future development of generators that can achieve high performance and long-term power generation.

The effect of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) as a freezing solvent on the pore structure of a porous tungsten body prepared by freeze-drying is analyzed. TBA slurries with a WO3 content of 10 vol% are prepared by mixing with a small amount of dispersant and binder at 30oC. The slurries are frozen at -25oC, and pores are formed in the frozen specimens by the sublimation of TBA during drying in air. After hydrogen reduction at 800oC and sintering at 1000oC, the green body of WO3 is completely converted to porous W with various pore structures. Directional pores from the center of the specimen to the outside are observed in the sintered bodies because of the columnar growth of TBA. A decrease in pore directionality and porosity is observed in the specimens prepared by long-duration drying and sintering. The change in pore structure is explained by the growth of the freezing solvent and densification.

To meet the current demand in the fields of permanent magnets for achieving a high energy density, it is imperative to prepare nano-to-microscale rare-earth-based magnets with well-defined microstructures, controlled homogeneity, and magnetic characteristics via a bottom-up approach. Here, on the basis of a microstructural study and qualitative magnetic measurements, optimized reduction conditions for the preparation of nanostructured Sm-Co magnets are proposed, and the elucidation of the reduction-diffusion behavior in the binary phase system is clearly manifested. In addition, we have investigated the microstructural, crystallographic, and magnetic properties of the Sm-Co magnets prepared under different reduction conditions, that is, H2 gas, calcium, and calcium hydride. This work provides a potential approach to prepare high-quality Sm-Co-based nanofibers, and moreover, it can be extended to the experimental design of other magnetic alloys.

Tin dioxide nanoparticles are prepared using a newly developed synthesis method of plasma-assisted electrolysis. A high voltage is applied to the tin metal plate to apply a high pressure and temperature to the synthesized oxide layer on the metal surface, producing nanoparticles in a low concentration of sulfuric acid. The particle size, morphology, and size distribution is controlled by the concentration of electrolytes and frequency of the power supply. The as-prepared powder of tin dioxide nanoparticles is used to fabricate a gas sensor to investigate the potential application. The particle-based gas sensor exhibits a short response and recovery time. There is sensitivity to the reduction gas for the gas flowing at rates of 50, 250, and 500 ppm of H2S gas.

Bi2Te3 powders are recovered by wet chemical reduction for waste n-type thermoelectric chips, and the recovered particles with different morphologies are prepared using various surfactants such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). When citric acid is added as the surfactant, the shape of the aggregated particles shows no distinctive features. On the other hand, rod-shaped particles are formed in the sample with CTAB, and sheet-like particles are synthesized with the addition of SDBS. Further, particles with a tripod shape are observed when EDTA is added as the surfactant. The growth mechanism of the particle shapes depending on the surfactant is investigated, with a focus on the nucleation and growth phenomena. These results help to elucidate the intrinsic formation mechanism of the rod, plate, and tripod structures of the Bi2Te3 recovered by the wet reduction process.

Noncontact direct-printed conductive silver patterns with an enhanced electrical resistivity are fabricated using a silver ink with a mixture of silver nanoparticles and nanoplates. The microstructure and electrical resistivity of the silver pattern are systematically investigated as a function of the mixing ratio of the nanoparticles and nanoplates. The pattern, which is fabricated using a mixture with a mixing ratio of 3(nanoparticles):7(nanoplates) and sintered at 200oC shows a highly dense and well-sintered microstructure and has a resistivity of 7.60 μΩ·cm. This originates a mutual synergistic effect through a combination of the sinterability of the nanoparticles and the packing ability of the nanoplates. This is a conductive material that can be used to fabricate noncontact direct-printed conductive patterns with excellent electrical conductivity for various flexible electronics applications, including solar cells, displays, RFIDs, and sensors.

The deposition process for the gap-filling of sub-micrometer trenches using DMDMOS, (CH3)2Si(OCH3)2, and CxHyOz by flowable chemical vapor deposition (F-CVD) is presented. We obtained low-k films that possess superior gap-filling properties on trench patterns without voids or delamination. The newly developed technique for the gap-filling of submicrometer features will have a great impact on IMD and STI for the next generation of microelectronic devices. Moreover, this bottom up gap-fill mode is expected to be universal in other chemical vapor deposition systems.

A multi-step deposition process for the gap-filling of submicrometer trenches using dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMOS), (CH3)2Si(OCH3)2, and CxHyOz by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is presented. The multistep process consisted of pre-treatment, deposition, and post-treatment in each deposition step. We obtained low-k films with superior gap-filling properties on the trench patterns without voids or delamination. The newly developed technique for the gapfilling of submicrometer features will have a great impact on inter metal dielectric (IMD) and shallow trench isolation (STI) processes for the next generation of microelectronic devices. Moreover, this bottom up gap-fill mode is expected to be universally for other chemical vapor deposition systems.

High-quality colloidal CdSe/ZnS (core/shell) is synthesized using a continuous microreactor. The particle size of the synthesized quantum dots (QDs) is a function of the precursor flow rate; as the precursor flow rate increases, the size of the QDs decreases and the band gap energy increases. The photoluminescence properties are found to depend strongly on the flow rate of the CdSe precursor owing to the change in the core size. In addition, a gradual shift in the maximum luminescent wave (λmax) to shorter wavelengths (blue shift) is found owing to the decrease in the QD size in accordance with the quantum confinement effect. The ZnS shell decreases the surface defect concentration of CdSe. It also lowers the thermal energy dissipation by increasing the concentration of recombination. Thus, a relatively high emission and quantum yield occur because of an increase in the optical energy emitted at equal concentration. In addition, the maximum quantum yield is derived for process conditions of 0.35 ml/min and is related to the optimum thickness of the shell material.

BaTiO3-coated Fe nanofibers are synthesized via a three-step process. α-Fe2O3 nanofibers with an average diameter of approximately 200 nm are first prepared using an electrospinning process followed by a calcination step. The BaTiO3 coating layer on the nanofiber is formed by a sol-gel process, and a thermal reduction process is then applied to the core-shell nanofiber to selectively reduce the α-Fe2O3 to Fe. The thickness of the BaTiO3 shell is controlled by varying the reaction time. To evaluate the electromagnetic (EM) wave-absorbing abilities of the BaTiO3@Fe nanofiber, epoxy-based composites containing the nanofibers are fabricated. The composites show excellent EM wave absorption properties where the power loss increases to the high frequency region without any degradation. Our results demonstrate that the BaTiO3@Fe nanofibers obtained in this work are attractive candidates for electromagnetic wave absorption applications.

Vertically oriented nickel nanowire arrays with a different diameter and length are synthesized in porous anodic aluminium oxide templates by an electrodeposition method. The pore diameters of the templates are adjusted by controlling the anodization conditions and then they are utilized as templates to grow nickel nanowire arrays. The nickel nanowires have the average diameters of approximately 25 and 260 nm and the crystal structure, morphology and microstructure of the nanowires are systematically investigated using XRD, FE-SEM and TEM analysis. The nickel nanowire arrays show a magnetic anisotropy with the easy axis parallel to the nanowires and the coercivity and remanence enhance with decreasing a wire diameter and increasing a wire length.