Changes in surface morphology and roughness of dc sputtered ZnO:Al/Ag back reflectors by varying the deposition temperature and their influence on the performance of flexible silicon thin film solar cells were systematically investigated. By increasing the deposition temperature from 25˚C to 500˚C, the grain size of Ag thin films increased from 100 nm to 1000 nm and the grain size distribution became irregular, which resulted in an increment of surface roughness from 6.6 nm to 46.6 nm. Even after the 100 nm thick ZnO:Al film deposition, the surface morphology and roughness of the ZnO:Al/Ag double structured back reflectors were the same as those of the Ag layers, meaning that the ZnO:Al films were deposited conformally on the Ag films without unnecessary changes in the surfacefeatures. The diffused reflectance of the back reflectors improved significantly with the increasing grain size and surface roughness of the Ag films, and in particular, an enhanced diffused reflectance in the long wavelength over 800 nm was observed in the Ag back reflectors deposited at 500˚C, which had an irregular grain size distribution of 200-1000 nm and large surface roughness. The improved light scattering properties on the rough ZnO:Al/Ag back reflector surfaces led to an increase of light trapping in the solar cells, and this resulted in a noticeable improvement in the Jsc values from 9.94 mA/cm2 for the flat Ag back reflector at 25˚C to 13.36 mA/cm2 for the rough one at 500˚C. A conversion efficiency of 7.60% (Voc = 0.93, Jsc = 13.36 mA/cm2, FF = 61%) was achieved in the flexible silicon thin film solar cells at this moment.
The optimum route to fabricate nano-sized Fe-50 wt% Co and hydrogen-reduction behavior of calcined Fe-/Conitrate was investigated. The powder mixture of metal oxides was prepared by solution mixing and calcination of Fe-/Co-nitrate. A DTA-TG and microstructural analysis revealed that the nitrates mixture by the calcination at 300˚C for 2 h was changed to Fe-oxide/Co3O4 composite powders with an average particle size of 100 nm. The reduction behavior of the calcined powders was analyzed by DTA-TG in a hydrogen atmosphere. The composite powders of Fe-oxide and Co3O4 changed to a Fe-Co phase with an average particle size of 40 nm in the temperature range of 260-420˚C. In the TG analysis, a two-step reduction process relating to the presence of Fe3O4 and a CoO phase as the intermediate phase was observed. The hydrogen-reduction kinetics of the Fe-oxide/Co3O4 composite powders was evaluated by the amount of peak shift with heating rates in TG. The activation energies for the reduction, estimated by the slope of the Kissinger plot, were 96 kJ/mol in the peak temperature range of 231-297˚C and 83 kJ/mol of 290-390˚C, respectively. The reported activation energy of 70.4-94.4 kJ/mol for the reduction of Fe- and Co-oxides is in reasonable agreement with the measured value in this study.
There have been many efforts to modify and improve the properties of functional thin films by hybridization with nano-sized materials. For the fabrication of electronic circuits, micro-patterning is a commonly used process. For photochemical metal-organic deposition, photoresist and dry etching are not necessary for microscale patterning. We obtained direct-patternable SnO2 thin films using a photosensitive solution containing Ag nanoparticles and/or multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The optical transmittance of direct-patternable SnO2 thin films decreased with introduction of nanomaterials due to optical absorption and optical scattering by Ag nanoparticles and MWNTs, respectively. The crystallinity of the SnO2 thin films was not much affected by an incorporation of Ag nanoparticles and MWNTs. In the case of mixed incorporation with Ag nanoparticles and MWNTs, the sheet resistance of SnO2 thin films decreased relative to incorporation of either single component. Valence band spectral analyses of the nano-hybridized SnO2 thin films showed a relation between band structural change and electrical resistance. Direct-patterning of SnO2 hybrid films with a line-width of 30 μm was successfully performed without photoresist or dry etching. These results suggest that a micro-patterned system can be simply fabricated, and the electrical properties of SnO2 films can be improved by incorporating Ag nanoparticles and MWNTs.
In this study, partially stabilized zirconia was synthesized using a chemical Y2O3 stabilizer and hydrothermal method. First, YCl3-6H2O and ZrCl2O-8H2O was dissolved in distilled water. Y-TZP (a Y2O3-doped toughened zirconia polycrystalline precursor) was also prepared by conventional co-precipitates in the presence of an excess amount of NH4OH solution under a fixed pH of 12. The Y-TZP precursors were filtered and repeatedly washed with distilled water to remove Cl- ions. ZrO2-Xmol%Y2O3 powder was synthesized by a hydrothermal method using Teflon Vessels at 180˚C for 6 h of optimized condition. The powder added with the Xmol%- Y2O3 (X = 0,1,3,5 mol%) stabilizer of the ZrO2 was synthesized. The crystal phase, particle size, and morphologies were analyzed. Rectangular specimens of 33mm×8mm×3 mm for three-point bend tests were used in the mechanical properties evaluation. A teragonal phase was observed in the samples, which contains more than 3 mol% Y2O3. The 3Y-ZrO2 agglomerated particle size was measured at 7.01μm. The agglomerated particle was clearly observed in the sample of 5 mol % Y2O3-ZrO2, and and the agglomerated particle size was measured at 16.4 um. However, a 20 nm particle was specifically observed by FE-SEM in the sample of 3 mol% Y2O3-ZrO2. The highest bending fracture strength was measured as 321.3 MPa in sample of 3 mol% Y2O3-ZrO2.
Glass was fabricated using refused coal ore obtained from the Dogye coal mine in Samcheok. We additionally used soda ash and calcium carbonate to make a glass with the chemical composition of soda-lime glass, and we also used white, brown, and green glass cullet to make various kinds of colored glass. Transparent glass was fabricated by melting batch materials including refused coal ore at 1550˚C for 1 hr in an electrical furnace. The light transmittance and color chromaticity were measured by a UV/VIS/NIR spectrometer. Transparent glass with a light transmittance of over 80% was fabricated using normal refused coal ore and white glass cullet. Various kinds of colored glass with a light transmittance of 30-80% were fabricated using refused coal ore and brown or green glass cullet. The light transmittance of the mixed color glass samples, fabricated using normal refused coal ore and brown glass cullet and green glass cullet, indicated 30-47%, a relatively low value, in the condition of a cullet ratio of 20-50%. The characteristics of the color chromaticity of the glass samples were indicated in a chromaticity diagram by x-coordinates, y-coordinates, Y (lightness). The values of x-coordinates and y-coordinates were moved with a regular directional property according to the kind and amount of glass cullet. Therefore, we concluded that refused coal ore can be used for raw materials of color glass products like art glass and glass tile.
In this study, we used coal-based activated carbons and charcoal as startingmaterials, phenolic resin (PR) as a binder, and TOS as a titanium source to prepare TiO2 combining spherical shaped activated carbon photocatalysts. The textural properties of the activated carbon photocatalysts (SACP) were characterized by specific surface area (BET), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), iodine adsorption, strength intensity, and pressure drop. The photocatalytic activities of the SACPs were characterized by degradation of the organic dyes Methylene Blue (MB), Methylene Orange (MO), and Rhodamine B (Rh. B) and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) experiment. The surface properties are shown by SEM. The XRD patterns of the composites showed that the SACP composite contained a typical single, clear anatase phase. The EDX spectro for the elemental indentification showed the presence of C and O with Ti peaks. According to the results, the spherical activated carbon photocatalysts sample of AOP prepared with activated carbon formed the best spherical shape, a high BET surface area, iodine adsorption capability and strength value, and the lowest pressure drop, and the photocatalytic activity was better than samples prepared with charcoal. We compared the degradation effects among three kinds of dyes. MB solution degraded with the SACP is better than any other dye solutions.
The hydrogen energy had recognized clean and high efficiency energy source. The research field of hydrogen energy was production, storage, application and transport. The commercial storage method was using high pressure tanks but it was not safety. However metal hydride was very safety due to high chemical stability. Mg and Mg alloys are attractive as hydrogen storage materials because of their lightweight and high absorption capacity (about 7.6 wt%). Their range of applications could be further extended if their hydrogenation properties and degradation behavior could be improved. The main emphasis of this study was to find an economical manufacturing method for Mg-Ti-Ni-H systems, and to investigate their hydrogenation properties. In order to examine their hydrogenation behavior, a Sievert's type automatic pressure-compositionisotherm (PCI) apparatus was used and experiments were performed at 423, 473, 523, 573, 623 and 673 K. The results of the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the absorbed hydrogen contents were around 2.5wt.% for (Mg8Ti2)-10 wt.%Ni. With an increasing Ni content, the absorbed hydrogen content decreased to 1.7 wt%, whereas the dehydriding starting temperatures were lowered by some 70-100 K. The results of PCI on (Mg8Ti2)-20 wt.%Ni showed that its hydrogen capacity was around 5.5 wt% and its reversible capacity and plateau pressure were also excellent at 623 K and 673 K.
This work presents a fabrication procedure to make large-area, size-tunable, periodically different shape metal arrays using nanosphere lithography (NSL) combined with ashing and annealing. A polystyrene (PS, 580 μm) monolayer, which was used as a mask, was obtained with a mixed solution of PS in methanol by multi-step spin coating. The mask morphology was changed by oxygen RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) ashing and temperature processing by microwave heating. The Au or Pt deposition resulted in size tunable nano patterns with different morphologies such as hole and dots. These processes allow outstanding control of the size and morphology of the particles. Various sizes of hole patterns were obtained by reducing the size of the PS sphere through the ashing process, and by increasing the size of the PS sphere through annealing treatment, which resulted in tcontrolling the size of the metallic nanoparticles from 30 nm to 230 nm.
This study examined the effect of current density on the surface morphology and physical properties of copper plated on a polyimide (PI) film. The morphology, crystal structure, and electric characteristics of the electrodeposited copper foil were examined by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and a four-point probe, respectively. The surface roughness, crystal growth orientation and resistivity was controlled using current density. Large particles were observed on the surface of the copper layer electroplated onto a current density of 25 mA/cm2. However, a uniform surface and lower resistivity were obtained with a current density of 10 mA/cm2. One of the important properties of FCCL is the flexibility of the copper foil. High flexibility of FCCL was obtained at a low current density rather than a high current density. Moreover, a reasonable current density is 20 mA/cm2 considering the productivity and mechanical properties of copper foil.