Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-fabricated suspended devices were used to measure the in-plane electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity of 304 nm and 516 nm thick InGaAlAs films with 0.3% ErAs nanoparticle inclusions by volume. The suspended device allows comprehensive thermoelectric property measurements from a single thin film or nanowire sample. Both thin film samples have identical material compositions and the sole difference is in the sample thickness. The measured Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity were all larger in magnitude for the thicker sample. While the relative change in values was dependent on the temperature, the thermal conductivity demonstrated the largest decrease for the thinner sample in the measurement temperature range of 325 K to 425 K. This could be a result of the increased phonon scattering due to the surface defects and included ErAs nanoparticles. Similar to the results from other material systems, the combination of the measured data resulted in higher values of the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) for the thinner sample; this result supports the theory that the reduced dimensionality, such as in twodimensional thin films or one-dimensional nanowires, can enhance the thermoelectric figure of merit compared with bulk threedimensional materials. The results strengthen and provide a possible direction in locating and optimizing thermoelectric materials for energy applications.

In this study, a new, relatively simple fabrication method for forming a mesoporous Al(OH)3 film onAl substrates was demonstrated. This method, i.e., alkali surface modification, was simply comprised of dippingthe substrate in a 5×10-3M NaOH solution at 80oC for one minute and then immersing it in boiling waterfor 30 minutes. After alkali surface modification, a mesoporous Al(OH)3 film was formed on the Al substrate,and its chemical state and crystal structure were confirmed by XPS and TEM. According to the results of theXPS analysis, the flake-like morphology after the alkali surface modification was mainly composed of Al(OH)3,with a small amount of Al2O3. The mesoporous Al(OH)3 layer was composed of three regions: an amorphous-rich region, a region of mixed amorphous and crystal domains, and a crystalline-rich region near the Al(OH)3layer surface. It was confirmed that the stabilization process in the alkali surface modification stronglyinfluenced the crystallization of the mesoporous Al(OH)3 layer.

Efforts to reduce noise in industrial application fields, such as automobiles, aircrafts, and plants have been gaining considerable attention while a sound proof wall to protect people from the noise has been intensively investigated by many researchers. In this study, our research group suggested creating a new sound proof wall composed of scrap aluminum chips and perforated plates in a commercial polyester sound proof wall, which was then successfully fabricated. This wall's sound absorption characteristics were measured by an impedance tube method. The sound absorption property was evaluated by measuring the Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) to the standard, ASTM C 423-90a. The noise reduction coefficient of the sound proof wall composed of 3.5 vol.% and 7.5 vol.% of scrap aluminum chips relatively increased to 5% and 8% compared to the commercial polyester sound proof wall. The scrap aluminum perforated plate also relatively increased to 13% compared to the commercial polyester sound proof wall.

To improve the filtration efficiency of porous materials used in filters, an extensive specific surface area is required to serve as a site for adsorption of impurities. In this paper, a method for creating a hybridized porous alloy using a powder metallurgical technique to build macropores in an Al-4 wt.% Cu alloy and subsequent surface modification for a microporous surface with a considerably increased specific surface area is suggested. The macropore structure was controlled by granulation, compacting pressure, and sintering; the micropore structure was obtained by a surface modification using a dilute NaOH solution. The specific surface area of surface-modified specimen increased about 10 times compare to as-sintered specimen that comprised of the macropore structure. Also, the surface-modified specimens showed a remarkable increase in micropores larger than 10 nm. Such a hybridized porous structure has potential for application in water and air purification filters, as well as membrane pre-treatment and catalysis.

ZnS- composite is normally used for sputtering target. In recent years, high sputtering power for higher deposition rate often causes crack formation of the target. Therefore the target material is required that the sintered target material should have high crack resistance, excellent strength and a homogeneous microstructure with high sintered density. In this study, raw ZnS and ZnS- powders prepared by a 3-D mixer or high energy ball-milling were successfully densified by spark plasma sintering, the effective densification method of hard-to-sinter materials in a short time. After sintering, the fracture toughness was measured by the indentation fracture (IF) method. Due to the effect of crack deflection by the residual stress occurred by the second phase of fine , the hardness and fracture toughness reached to 3.031 GPa and , respectively

Various approaches have been proposed to increase the green density. Warm compaction method has been used for the reduction of residual stress, the improvement of magnetic properties and the higher densities. In this work, the effect of warm compaction on green density of Fe powder was investigated. After ball-milling of Fe oxide powder for 30 hours, Fe oxide powder was reduced through the hydrogen reduction process. The pure Fe powder and polymer binder were mixed by 3-D tubular mixer. And then the mixed powder was warm-compacted with various compaction pressure and binder contents. The green density of specimen was added polyvinyl binder was higher than any other specimens.

The structural and magnetic properties of nanostructued alloy powders were investigated. Commercial alloy powders (Hoeganaes Co., USA) with purities were used to fabricate the nanostructure Fe-Si alloy powders through a high-energy ball milling process. The alloy powders were fabricated at 400 rpm for 50 h, resulting in an average grain size of 16 nm. The nanostructured powder was characterized by fcc and hcp phases and exhibited a minimum coercivity of approximately 50 Oe