Composites of insulating polyethylene and carbon black are widely used in switching elements, conductive paint, and other applications due to the large gap of resistance value. This research addresses the critical exponent of dielectric breakdown strength of polymer matrix composites (PMC) made with carbon black and polyethylene below the percolation threshold (Pt) for the first time. Here, Pt means the volume fraction of carbon black of which the resistance of the PMC is transferred from its sharp decrease to gradual decrease in accordance with the increase of carbon-black-filled content. First, the Pt is determined based on the critical exponents of resistivity and relative permittivity. Although huge cohesive bodies of carbon black are formed in case of being less than the Pt, a percolation path connecting the conducting phases is not formed. The dielectric breakdown strength (Dbs) of the PMC below Pt is measured by using an impulse voltage in the range from 10 kV to 40 kV to avoid the effect of joule heating. Although the observed Dbs data seems to be well fitted to a straight line with a slope of 0.9 on a double logarithm of (Pt-VCB) and Dbs, the least squares method gives a slope of 0.97 for the PMC. It has been found that finite carbon-black clusters play an important role in dielectric breakdown.
La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (LSMO) thin films, which are known as colossal magnetoresistance materials, were prepared on fused silica thin films by conventional RF magnetron sputtering, and the interfacial reactions between them were investigated by rapid thermal processing. Various analyses, namely, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy combined with energy adispersive X-ray spectrometry, and secondary ion mass spectrometry, were performed to explain the mechanism of the interfacial reactions. In the case of an LSMO film annealed at 800˚C, the layer distinction against the underplayed SiO2 was well preserved. However, when the annealing temperature was raised to 900˚C, interdiffusion and interreaction occurred. Most of the SiO2 and part of the LSMO became amorphous silicate that incorporated La, Sr, and Mn and contained a lot of bubbles. When the annealing temperature was raised to 950˚C, the whole stack became an amorphous silicate layer with expanded bubbles. The thermal instability of LSMO on fused silica should be an important consideration when LSMO is integrated into Si-based solid-state devices.
Nano-indium-coated ZnO:In thick films were prepared by a hydrothermal method. ZnO:In gas sensors were fabricated by a screen printing method on alumina substrates. The gas sensing properties of the gas sensors were investigated for hydrocarbon gas. The effects of the indium concentration of the ZnO:In gas sensors on the structural and morphological properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. XRD patterns revealed that the ZnO:In with wurtzite structure was grown with (1 0 0), (0 0 2), and (1 0 1) peaks. The quantity of In coating on the ZnO surface increased with increasing In concentration. The sensitivity of the ZnO:In sensors was measured for 5 ppm CH4 gas and CH3CH2CH3 gas at room temperature by comparing the resistance in air with that in target gases. The highest sensitivity to CH4 gas and CH3CH2CH3 gas of the ZnO:In sensors was observed at the In 6 wt%. The response and recovery times of the 6 wt% indiumcoated ZnO:In gas sensors were 19 s and 12 s, respectively.
Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) used in the antireflection layer and current spreading layer of heterojunction solar cells should have excellent optical and electrical properties. Furthermore, TCOs need a high work function over 5.2 eV to prevent the effect of emitter band-bending caused by the difference in work function between emitter and TCOs. Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) film is a highly promising material as a TCO due to its excellent optical and electrical properties. However, ITO films have a low work function of about 4.8 eV. This low work function of ITO films leads to deterioration of the conversion efficiency of solar cells. In this work, ITO films with various Zn contents of 0, 6.9, 12.7, 28.8, and 36.6 at.% were fabricated by a co-sputtering method using ITO and AZO targets at room temperature. The optical and electrical properties of Zn-doped ITO thin films were analyzed. Then, silicon heterojunction solar cells with these films were fabricated. The 12.7 at% Zn-doped ITO films show the highest hall mobility of 35.71 cm2/Vsec. With increasing Zn content over 12.7, the hall mobility decreases. Although a small addition of Zn content increased the work function, further addition of Zn content over 12.7 at.% led to decreasing electrical properties because of the decrease in the carrier concentration and hall mobility. Silicon heterojunction solar cells with 12.7 at% Zn-doped ITO thin films showed the highest conversion efficiency of 15.8%.
The CdS thin film used as a window layer in the CdTe thin film solar cell transports photo-generated electrons to the front contact and forms a p-n junction with the CdTe layer. This is why the electrical, optical, and surface properties of the CdS thin film influence the efficiency of the CdTe thin film solar cell. When CdTe thin film solar cells are fabricated, a heat treatment is done to improve the qualities of the CdS thin films. Of the many types of heat treatments, the CdCl2 heat treatment is most widely used because the grain size in CdS thin films increases and interdiffusion between the CdS and the CdTe layer is prevented by the heat treatment. To investigate the changes in the electrical, optical, and surface properties and the crystallinity of the CdS thin films due to heat treatment, CdS thin films were deposited on FTO/glass substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering technique, and then a CdCl2 heat treatment was carried out. After the CdCl2 heat treatment, the clustershaped grains in the CdS thin film increased in size and their boundaries became faint. XRD results show that the crystallinity improved and the crystalline size increased from 15 to 42 nm. The resistivity of the CdS single layer decreased from 3.87 to 0.26 Ωcm, and the transmittance in the visible region increased from 64% to 74%.
The goal of the present work was to investigate the development of a geopolymeric ceramic material from a mixture of mine residue, coal fly ash, blast furnace slag, and alkali activator solution by the geopolymer technique. The results showed that the higher compressive strength of geopolymeric ceramic material increased with an increase in active filler (blast furnace slag + coal fly ash) contents and with a reduction of mine residue contents. The geopolymeric ceramic had very high early age strength. The compressive strength of the geopolymeric ceramic depended on the added active filler content. The maximum compressive strength of the geopolymeric ceramic containing 20 wt.% mine residue was 141.2 MPa. The compressive strength of geopolymeric ceramic manufactured by adding mine residue was higher than that of portland cement mortar, which is 60 MPa, when cured for 28 days. SEM observation showed the possibility of having amorphous aluminosilicate gel within geopolymeric ceramic. XRD patterns indicate that the geopolymeric ceramic was composed of amorphous aluminosilicate, calcite, quartz, and muscovite. The Korea Standard Leaching Test (KSLT) was used to determine the leaching potential of the geopolymeric ceramic. The amounts of heavy metals were noticeably reduced after the solidification of mine residue with active filler.
In this study, optical emission spectroscopy was used to monitor the plasma produced during the RF magnetron sputtering of a BaTiO3 target. The intensities of chemical species were measured by real time monitoring with various discharge parameters such as RF power, pressure, and discharge gas. The emission lines of elemental and ionized species from BaTiO3 and Ti targets were analyzed to evaluate the film composition and the optimized growth conditions for BaTiO3 films. The emissions from Ar(I, II), Ba(I, II) and Ti(I) were found during sputtering of the BaTiO3 target in Ar atmosphere. With increasing RF power, all the line intensities increased because the electron density increased with increasing RF power. When the Ar pressure increased, the Ba(II) and Ti(I) line intensity increased, but the Ar+ line intensity decreased with increasing pressure. This result shows that high pressure is of greater benefit for the ionization of Ba than for that of Ar. Oxygen depressed the intensity of the plasma more than Ar did. When the Ar/O2 ratio decreased, the intensity of Ba decreased more sharply than that of Ti. This result indicates that the plasma composition strongly depends on the discharge gas atmosphere. When the oxygen increased, the Ba/Ti ratio and the thickness of the films decreased. The emission spectra showed consistent variation with applied power to the Ti target during co-sputtering of the BaTiO3 and Ti targets. The co-sputtered films showed a Ba/Ti ratio of 1.05 to 0.73 with applied power to the Ti target. The films with different Ba/Ti ratios showed changes in grain size. Ti excess films annealed at 600˚C did not show the second phase such as BaTi2O5 and TiO2.
The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal firing condition and composition for Al2TiO5 crystal, which is suitable for stable coloration in glazes at high temperatures, using Cr2O3 as chromophore for the synthesis of Al2TiO5 system pigments. Al2TiO5 has a high refractive index and good solubility of chromophore in the Al2TiO5 lattice, making this structure a good candidate for the development of new ceramic pigments. Pigments were synthesized by using Al2O3 and TiO2 mainly. Various amounts of Cr2O3 such as 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05 mole were also added. Each compound was synthesized at 1300˚C, 1400˚C, and 1500˚C for 2 hours and cooled naturally. The crystal structure, solubility limit, and color of the synthesized pigments were analyzed by XRD, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, UV and UV-vis. The changes in color as the result of applying 6 wt% of the synthesized pigments to lime barium glaze were expressed as CIE-L*a*b* values. A Cr2O3 0.03 mole doped Al2TiO5 brown pigment was successfully synthesize at 1400˚C, and the values of CIE-L*a*b* parameters were L* = 44.62, a* = 3.10, and b* = 17.25. In the case of the pigment synthesized at 1500˚C, the brown color was obtained at 0.01 mole and 0.02 mole Cr2O3, and the CIE-L*a*b* values were 55.34, 1.73, 28.64, and 49.39, 0.51, 21.33, respectively. At 1500˚C, the maximum limit of solid solution was 0.03 mole Cr2O3. The glazed sample showed green color, and the values of the CIEL* a*b* parameters were L* = 45.69, a* = -0.98, and b* = 20.38.
Porous W with controlled pore characteristics was fabricated by a freeze-drying process. WO3 powder and camphene were used as the source materials of W and sublimable vehicles, respectively. Camphene slurries with WO3 contents of 10 and 15 vol% were prepared by milling at 50˚C with a small amount of oligomeric polyester dispersant. Freezing of a slurry was done in a Teflon cylinder attached to a copper bottom plate cooled at -25˚C while the growth direction of the camphene was unidirectionally controlled. Pores were generated subsequently by sublimation of the camphene during drying in air for 48 h. The green body was hydrogen-reduced at 800˚C for 30 min and sintered in a furnace at 900˚C for 1 h under a hydrogen atmosphere. Microstructural observation revealed that all of the sintered samples were composed of only W phase and showed large pores which were aligned parallel to the camphene growth direction. The porosity and pore size increased with increasing camphene content. The difference in the pore characteristics depending on the slurry concentration may be explained by the degree of powder rearrangement in the slurry. The results strongly suggest that a porous metal with the required pore characteristics can be successfully fabricated by a freeze-drying process using metal oxide powders.