Transition metal doped nanostructured powders were synthesized by mechanical alloying(MA) to shift the adsorption threshold into the visible light region. The synthesized powders were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and BET for structural analysis, UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectrum for the optical study. Also, photocatalytic abilities were evaluated by decomposition of 4-chlorophenol(4CP) under ultraviolet and visible light irradiations. Optical studies showed that the absorption wavelength of transition metal ions doped powders moved to visible light range, which was believed to be induced by the energy level change due to the doping. Among the prepared powders, doped powders, showed excellent photooxidative ability in 4CP decomposition

A formation of aluminum hydroxide by hydrolysis of nano and micro aluminum powder has been studied. The nano aluminum powder of 80 to 100 nm in diameter was fabricated by a pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method. The micro powder was commercial product with more than in diameter. The hydroxide type and morphology depending on size of the aluminum powder were examined by several analyses such as XRD, TEM, and BET. The hydrolysis procedure of micro aluminum powder was different from that of nano aluminum powder. The nano aluminum powder after immersing in the water was transformed rapidly to a nano fibrous boehmite, accompanying with a remarkable temperature increase, and then further transformed slowly to a stable bayerite. However, the micro powder was changed to the stable bayerite slowly and directly. The formation of fibrous aluminum hydroxide from nano aluminum powder might be due to the fine cracks which were formed by hydrogen gas pressure on the surface hydroxide layer during hydrolysis. The nano powder with large specific surface area and small size reacted more actively and faster than the micro powder, and transformed to meta-stable hydroxide in relatively short reaction time. Therefore, the formation of fibrous boehmite is special characteristic of hydrolysis of nano aluminum powder.

The copper oxide nano powders were synthesized by levitational gas condensation(LGC) method, and their high heterogeneous catalytic effects of oxidation of 2,3,5-trimethyl-1,4- hydroquinone (TMHQ) and catalase activity were studied. The observation of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that most of these nano powders are uniform in size, with the average particle size of 35 nm. The nano powder consists of mainly , but it is aged to CuO phase. The catalytic effect which was clarified by oxidation of TMHQ and catalase depends on the amount of cuprite phase and the particle size.

nano cubes with high catalase activity were synthesized by reduction of freshly prepared Cu in distilled water at and their catalase activities of were studied. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation showed that most of these nanocubes were uniform in size, with the average edge length of 30 nm. Selected area electron diffraction of TEM revealed that the nanocube consisted of single crystalline , but it changed to CuO phase. The catalase activity depends on the amount of both cuprite phase and surface area.

Nano Fe-6.5wt%Si powders have been synthesized by mechano-chemical process (MCP) for an application of soft magnetic core. Owing to hard and brittle characteristics of Fe-6.5Si nano powders having large surface area, it is very difficult to reach high density more than 70% of theoretical density (~7.4 g/) by cold compaction. To overcome such problem a magnetic pulsed compaction (MPC), which is one of dynamic compaction techniques, was applied. The green density was achieved about 78% (~5.8 g/) by MPC at room temperature.

Dispersion stabilities and photocatalytic activities of rutile powders with unique nano-structure synthesized by homogeneous precipitation process at low temperature(HPPLT) have been investigated in the acrylic resin containing fluorostyrene in the range of mole. Isoelectric point of in the acrylic resin placed in the neutral region whereas that of in the water placed in the acidic region, indicating that zeta potential and agglomeration of powder is strongly dependent on the pH and the type of solvent. To prepare an adhesion, an acrylic resin containing fluorostyrene was synthesized by a radical polymerization. The adhesion of coating layer was increased with increasing fluorostyrene's contents without changing the dispersion stabilities and degrading photocatalytic properties

Nanoscale Cu-Ni alloy nanopowders have been produced by a pulsed wire evaporation method in an inert gas. The effect of Cu-Ni alloy nanopowders as additives to motor oil on the tribological properties was studied at room temperature. The worn surfaces were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). Cu-Ni alloy nanopowders as additives lowered coefficient of friction and wear rate. It was found that a copper containing layer on the worn surface was formed, and deposited layers of the metal cladding acted as lubricant on the worn surface, reducing the friction coefficient. It was clearly demonstrated that Cu-Ni alloy nanopowders as additives are able to restore the worn surface and to preserve the friction surfaces from wear

The possibility to decrease agglomeration of Cu nano powders and their separation during pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) process was investigated by controlling the working gas system, i.e., the design of the gas path, the type and pressure of the atmospheric gas. As a result, it was possible to choose the optimal design of the gas path providing large specific surface area and high degree of separation of the synthesized Cu nano powders. It was also shown that an Ar+10∼50 mixture can be used in production of Cu nano powders, which do not react with nitrogen.

A formation of aluminum hydroxide by hydrolysis reaction in the water has been studied by using nano aluminum powder fabricated by pulsed wire evaporation(PWE) method. The hydroxide type and morphology depending on temperature and pH were examined by structural analysis. The Boehmite(. or AIO(OH)) was predominantly formed in high temperature region over 4, while the Bayerite(. or ) below of hydrolysis temperature. The Boehmite formation was preferred to the Bayerite in acidic solution in the same hydrolysis temperature. The slowly formed Bayerite phase showed facet crystalline structure, while the fast formed Boehmite was fine fiber with a large aspect ratio of several nm in diameter and several hundred nm in length, and with much larger specific surface area(SSA) than that of Bayerite. The highest SSA was about /g.

In this study the possibility to obtain a homogeneous mixture and to produce solid solutions and intermetallic compounds of Fe and Al nano particles by simultaneous pulsed wire evaporation (S-PWE) have been investigated. The Fe and Al wires with 0.45 mm in diameter and 35 mm in length were continuously co-fed by a special mechanism to the explosion chamber and simultaneously exploded. The characteristics, e.g., phase composition, particle shape, and specific surface area of Fe-Al nano powders have been analyzed. The synthesized powders, beside for Al and -Fe, contain significant amount of a high-temperature phase of -Fe, Fe Al and traces of other intermetallics. The phase composition of powders could be changed over broad limits by varying initial explosion conditions, e.g. wire distance, input energy, for parallel wires of different metals. The yield of the nano powder is as large as 40 wt ％ and the powder may include up to 46 wt % FeAl as an intermetallic compound.

Pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method is known as the promising production-technique for nanopowders. In this study, we developed and modified the previous single wire explosion equipment to the simultaneous two-wire explosion one for the fabrication of alloy or mixture of nano metallic powder. First of all, both the theoretical and empirical background of pulsed wire explosion of single wire were summarized, and compared with our experimental results for Cu and Al single wlre explosion. After then, the simultaneous wire evaporation equipment was designed, constructed, and tested. The current and voltage behavior were well matched between the calculated ones from the circuit equations, and the experimental results from simultaneous explosion of Cu and Al wire.

Nanoparticles of iron oxides have been prepared by the levitational gas condensation (LGC) method, and their structural and magnetic properties were studied by XRD, TEM and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Fe clusters were evaporated from a surface of the levitated liquid Fe droplet and then condensed into nanoparticles of iron oxide with particle size of 14 to 30 nm in a chamber filled with mixtures of Ar and gases. It was found that the phase transition from both - and -Fe to , which was evaluated from the results of Mossbauer spectra, strongly depended on the flow rate. As a result, - was synthesized under the flow rate of 0.1(Vmin)0.15, whereas was synthesized under the , flow rate of 0.15(Vmin)0.2.

Synthesis and characteristics of Cu nanopowder were considered by in-situ characterization method using SMPS in pulsed wire evaporation process. With increasing pressure in chamber, particle size and degree of agglomeration increased by increase of collision frequency. Also, it was found from the XRD analyses and BET measurements that crystallite size and particle size decreased with elevating applied voltage. However, SMPS measurements and TEM observation revealed the increase of particle size and degree of agglomeration with increase of applied voltage. These results suggested that particle growth and agglomeration depend on overheating factor in chamber at the early stage and thermal coagulation in filtering system during powder formation until collection.

Nanoparticles of with a mean particle size of 4-30 nm have been prepared by a pulsed wire evaporation method, and its structural and magnetic properties were studied by SQUID magnetometer and Mossbauer spectroscopy. From the main peak intensity of XRD and absorption rate of Mossbauer spectrum, the amounts of and in as-prepared sample are about 70% and 30%, respectively. The coercivity (53 Oe) and the saturation magnetization (14 emu/g) are about 20% of those of the bulk . The low value of coercivity and saturation magnetization indicate that the phase nearly shows the spin glass-like behavior. Analysis of the set of Mossbauer spectrum indicates a distribution of magnetic hyperfine fields due to the particle size distribution yielding 20 nm of average particle size. The magnetic hyperfine parameters are consistent with values reported of bulk and . A quadrupole line on the center of spectrum represents of superparamagnetic phase of with a mean particle size of 7 nm or below.