Self-assembled monolayers(SAM) of microspheres such as silica and polystyrene(PS) beads have found widespread application in photonic crystals, sensors, and lithographic masks or templates. From a practical viewpoint, setting up a highthroughput process to form a SAM over large areas in a controllable manner is a key challenging issue. Various methods have been suggested including drop casting, spin coating, Langmuir Blodgett, and convective self-assembly(CSA) techniques. Among these, the CSA method has recently attracted attention due to its potential scalability to an automated high-throughput process. By controlling various parameters, this process can be precisely tuned to achieve well-ordered arrays of microspheres. In this study, using a restricted meniscus CSA method, we systematically investigate the effect of the processing parameters on the formation of large area self-assembled monolayers of PS beads. A way to provide hydrophilicity, a prerequisite for a CSA, to the surface of a hydrophobic photoresist layer, is presented in order to apply the SAM of the PS beads as a mask for photonic nanojet lithography.
The development of glucose biosensors has been attracting much attention because of their importance in monitoring glucose in the human body; such sensors are used to diagnose diabetes and related human diseases. Thanks to the high selectivity, sensitivity to glucose detection, and relatively low-cost fabrication of enzyme-immobilized electrochemical glucose sensors, these devices are recognized as one of the most intensively investigated glucose sensor types. In this work, ZnO nanofibers were synthesized using an electrospinning method with polyvinyl alcohol zinc acetate as precursor material. Using the synthesized ZnO nanofibers, we fabricated glucose biosensors in which glucose oxidase was immobilized on the ZnO nanofibers. The sensors were used to detect a wide range of glucose from 10 to 700 M with a sensitivity of 10.01 nA/cm2- μM, indicating that the ZnO nanofiber-based glucose sensor can be used for the detection of glucose in the human body. The control of nanograins in terms of the size and crystalline quality of the individual nanofibers is required for improving the glucose-sensing abilities of the nanofibers.
The self-propagating high temperature synthesis approach was applied to synthesize amorphous boron nanopowders in argon atmospheres. For this purpose, we investigated the characteristics of a thermally induced combustion wave in the B2O3 + α Mg system(α = 1.0-8.0) in an argon atmospheres. In this study, the exothermic nature of the B2O3-Mg reaction was investigated using thermodynamic calculations. Experimental study was conducted based on the calculation data and the SHS products consisting of crystalline boron and other compounds were obtained starting with a different initial molar ratio of Mg. It was found that the B2O3 and Mg reaction system produced a high combustion temperature with a rapid combustion reaction. In order to regulate the combustion reaction, NaCl, Na2B4O7 and H3BO3 additives were investigated as diluents. In an experimental study, it was found that all diluents effectively stabilized the reaction regime. The final product of the B2O3 + α Mg system with 0.5 mole Na2B4O7 was identified to be amorphous boron nano-powders(< 100 nm).
In this study, we investigated the effect of the residual carbides and tempered carbides precipitated by tempering treatment after quenching on the pitting corrosion of mod. 440A martensitic stainless steel. In quenched specimens and tempered specimens after quenching of mod. 440A martensitic stainless steel, the volume fraction of the residual carbides and total carbides decreased with the increase of the austenitizing temperature. Pitting resistance increased with the increase of austenitizing temperature. With the increase of the volume fraction of the residual and total carbides, the pitting resistance of mod. 440A martensitic stainless steel was decreased. The pitting resistance of mod. 0.5C-17Cr-0.5Ni 440A martensitic stainless steel had stronger affected by residual carbides than precipitated carbides produced by tempering.
Co-embedded graphitic porous carbon nanofibers(Co-GPCNFs) are synthesized by using an electrospinning method. Their morphological, structural, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties are investigated. To obtain the optimum condition of Co-GPCNFs for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs), the amount of cobalt precursor in an electrospinning solutuion are controlled to be 0 wt%(conventional CNFs), 1 wt%(sample A), and 3 wt%(sample B). Among them, sample B exhibited a high degree of graphitization and porous structure compared to conventional CNFs and sample A, which result in the performance improvement of DSSCs. Therefore, sample B showed a high current density(JSC, 12.88 mA/cm2) and excellent power conversion efficiency(PCE, 5.33 %) than those of conventional CNFs(12.00 mA/cm2, 3.78 %). This result can be explained by combined effects of the increased contact area between the electrode and elecytolyte caused by improved porosity and the increased conductivity caused by the formation of a high degree of graphitization. Thus, the Co-GPCNFs may be used as a promising alternative of Pt-free counter electrode in DSSCs.
The electrical property of polymer matrix composites with added carbon powder is studied based on the temperature dependency of the conduction mechanism. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the polymer matrix composites below the percolation threshold (x) changed from negative to positive at 0.20 < x < 0.21; this trend decreased with increasing of the percolation threshold. The temperature dependence of the electrical property(resistivity) of the polymer matrix composites below the percolation threshold can be explained by using a tunneling conduction model that incorporates the effect of the thermal expansion of the polymer matrix composites into the tunneling gap. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the polymer matrix composites above the percolation threshold has a positive value; its absolute value increased with increasing volume fraction of carbon powder. By assuming that the electrical conduction through the percolating paths is a thermally activated process and by incorporating the effect of thermal expansion into the volume fraction of the carbon power, the temperature dependency of the resistivity above the percolation threshold can be well explained without violating the universal law of conductivity.
In this study, the properties of Ag-coated TiO2 nanoparticles were observed, while varying the molar ratio of water and Ag+ for the surfactant and TiO2. According to the XRD results, each nanoparticle showed a distinctive diffraction pattern. The intensity of the respective peaks and the sizes of the nanoparticles increased in the order of AT1(R1 = 5)(33.3 nm), AT2 (R1 = 10)(38.1 nm), AT3(R1 = 20)(45.7 nm), AT4(R1 = 40)(48.6 nm) as well as AT5(R2 = 0.2, R3 = 0.5)(41.4 nm), AT6(R2 = 0.3, R3 = 1)(45.1 nm), AT7(R2 = 0.5, R3 = 1.5)(49.3 nm), AT8(R2 = 0.7, R3 = 2)(57.2 nm), which values were consistent with the results of the UV-Vis. spectrum. The surface resistance of the conductive pastes fabricated using the prepared Ag-coated TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited a range 7.0~9.0(274~328 μΩ/cm2) times that of pure silver paste(ATP)(52 μΩ/cm2).
Fatigue crack growth experiments were carried out on a 304 L stainless steel compact-tension(CT) specimen under load control mode. Neutron diffraction was employed to quantitatively measure the residual strains/stresses and the evolution of stress fields in the vicinity of a propagating fatigue-crack tip. Three principal stress components (i.e. crack growth, crack opening, and through-thickness direction stresses) were examined in-situ under loading as a function of distance from the crack tip along the crack-propagation path. The stress/strain fields, measured both at the mid-thickness and near the surface of the CT specimen, were compared. The results show that much higher compressive residual stress fields developed in front of the crack tip near the surface than developed at the mid-thickness area. The change of the stresses ahead of the crack tip under loading is more significant at the mid-thickness area than it is near the surface.
Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets have been used in a wide variety of applications because of their high magnetic flux density. So, demand for neodymium has been increasing in worldwide. In this study, an electrowinning process was performed in LiF-NdF3-Nd2O3 high temperature molten salts. However, a corrosion resistant material for use in the molten salt must be found for stable operation because of the harsh corrosion environment of the electrowinning process. Therefore, for this paper, boron nitride(BN), aluminum nitride(AlN), and silicon nitride(Si3N4) were selected as protective and structural materials in the high temperature electrolyte. To investigate the characteristics of BN, AlN, and Si3N4, in molten salts, materials were immersed in the molten salts for 24, 72, 120, and 192 hours. Also, surface condition and stability were investigated by SEM and EDS and corrosion products were calculated by HSC chemistry. As a result, among BN, AlN, and Si3N4, AlN was found to show the best protective material properties.
In this study, we investigated the effect of annealing conditions on the ferromagnetic resonance(FMR) of yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12, YIG) thin film prepared on gadolinium gallium garnet (Gd3Ga5O12, GGG) substrate. The YIG thin films were grown by rf magnetron sputtering at room temperature and were annealed at various temperatures from 700 to 1000 ˚C. FMR characteristics of the YIG thin films were investigated with a coplanar waveguide FMR measurement system in a frequency range from 5 to 20 GHz. X-ray diffraction(XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) were used to characterize the phase formation, crystal structure and composition of the YIG thin films. Field dependent magnetization curves at room temperature were obtained by using a vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM). The FMR measurements revealed that the resonance magnetic field was highly dependent on the annealing condition: the lowest FMR linewidth can be observed for the 800 ˚C annealed sample, which agrees with the VSM results. We also found that the Fe and O composition changes during the annealing process play important roles in the observed magnetic properties.
This study reports the effects of H2S gas concentration on the properties of Cu2ZnSnS4(CZTS) thin films. Specifically, sulfurization process with low H2S concentrations of 0.05% and 0.1%, along with 5% H2S gas, was studied. CZTS films were directly synthesized on Mo/Si substrates by chemical bath deposition method using copper sulfate, zinc sulfate heptahydrate, tin chloride dihydrate, and sodium thiosulfate pentahydrate. Smooth CZTS films were grown on substrates at optimized chemical bath deposition condition. The CZTS films sulfurized at low H2S concentrations of 0.05 % and 0.1% showed very rough and porous film morphology, whereas the film sulfurized at 5% H2S yielded a very smooth and dense film morphology. The CZTS films were fully crystallized in kesterite crystal form when they were sulfurized at 500 oC for 1 h. The kesterite CZTS film showed a reasonably good room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum that peaked in a range of 1.4 eV to 1.5 eV, consistent with the optimal bandgap for CZTS solar cell applications.
A new method is proposed for the calculation of the unrelaxed surface energy of spinel ferrite. The surface energy calculation consists of (1) setting the central and computational domains in the semi-infinite real lattice, having a specific surface, and having an infinite real lattice; (2) calculation of the lattice energies produced by the associated portion of each ion in the relative domain; and (3) dividing the difference between the semi-infinite lattice energy and the infinite lattice energy on the exposed surface area in the central domain. The surface energy was found to converge with a slight expansion of the domain in the real lattice. This method is superior to any other so far reported due to its simple concept and reduced computing burden. The unrelaxed surface energies of the (100), (110), and (111) of ZnFe2O4 and Fe3O4 were evaluated by using in the semi-infinite real lattices containing only one surface. For the normal spinel ZnFe2O4, the(100), which consisted of tetrahedral coordinated Zn2+ was electrostatically the most stable surface. But, for the inverses pinel Fe3O4, the(111), which consisted of tetrahedral coordinated Fe3+and octahedral coordinated Fe2+ was electrostatically the most stable surface.
For a decade, solution-processed functional materials and various printing technologies have attracted increasingly the significant interest in realizing low-cost flexible electronics. In this study, Cu nanoparticles are synthesized via the chemical reduction of Cu ions under inert atmosphere. To prevent interparticle agglomeration and surface oxidation, oleic acid is incorporated as a surface capping molecule and hydrazine is used as a reducing agent. To endow water-compatibility, the surface of synthesized Cu nanoparticles is modified by a mixture of carboxyl-terminated anionic polyelectrolyte and polyoxylethylene oleylamine ether. For reducing the surface tension and the evaporation rate of aqueous Cu nanoparticle inks, the solvent composition of Cu nanoparticle ink is designed as DI water:2-methoxy ethanol:glycerol:ethylene glycol = 50:20:5:25 wt%. The effects of poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) as an adhesion promoter(AP) on rheology of aqueous Cu nanoparticle inks and adhesion of Cu pattern printed on polyimid films are investigated. The 40 wt% aqueous Cu nanoparticle inks with 0.5 wt% of Poly(styrene-co-maleic acid) show the “Newtonian flow” and has a low viscosity under 10 mPa·S, which is applicable to inkjet printing. The Cu patterns with a linewidth of 50~60 μm are successfully fabricated. With the addition of Poly(styrene-co-maleic acid), the adhesion of printed Cu patterns on polyimid films is superior to those of patterns prepared from Poly(styrene-comaleic acid)-free inks. The resistivities of Cu films are measured to be 10~15 μΩ·cm at annealing temperature of 300 ˚C.