• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.32-40
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• 2009

In this study, we have prepared three kinds of carbon nanometer tube $CNT/TiO_{2}$ electrodes through impregnation with different concentration titanium n-butoxide (TNB) solution. The prepared electrodes were characterized with surface properties, structural crystallinity, elemental identification and photoelectrocatalytic activity. The $N_2$ adsorption data showed that the composites had decreased surface area compared with the pristine CNT. This indicated the blocking of micropores on the surface of CNT, which was further supported by observation via SEM. XRD results showed patterns for the composites and a typical single and clear anatase crystal structure. The main elements such as C, O and Ti were existed for all samples from the EDX data. The catalytic efficiency of the developed electrode was evaluated by the photoelectrodegradation of methylene blue (MB). The positive potential applied in photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation was studied. It was found that photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) decomposition of MB solution could be attributed to combination effects between $TiO_2$ photocatalytic and CNT electro-assisted. Through the comparison between photocatalytic (PC) oxidation and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation, it was found that the PEC oxidation efficiency for MB is higher than that of PC oxidation.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.441-446
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• 2020

Synthesizing nanostructured thin films of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highly efficient photoelectrodes for hydrogen production via photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, we investigate the feasibility as an efficient photoanode for PEC water oxidation of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured thin films synthesized via a simple method combined with sputtering Zn metallic films on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate and subsequent thermal oxidation of the sputtered Zn metallic films in dry air. Characterization of the structural, optical, and PEC properties of the ZnO nanostructured thin film synthesized at varying Zn sputtering powers reveals that we can obtain an optimum ZnO nanostructured thin film as PEC photoanode at a sputtering power of 40 W. The photocurrent density and optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency for the optimum ZnO nanostructured thin film photoanode are found to be 0.1 mA/㎠ and 0.51 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.72 V vs. RHE. Our results illustrate that the ZnO nanostructured thin film has promising potential as an efficient photoanode for PEC water splitting.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.70-70
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• 2013

As the costs of carbon-footprinetd fuels grow continuously and simultaneously atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases, solar fuels are receiving growing attention as alternative clean energy carriers. These fuels include molecular hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide produced from water, and hydrocarbons converted from carbon dioxide. For high efficiency solar fuel production, not only light absorbers (oxide semiconductors, Si, inorganic complexes, etc) should absorb most sunlight, but also charge separation and interfacial charge transfers need to occur efficiently. With this in mind, this talk will introduce the fundamentals of solar fuel production and artificial photosynthesis, and then discuss in detail on photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting and CO2 conversion. This talk largely divides into two section: PEC water oxidation and PEC CO2 reduction. The former is very important for proton-coupled electron transfer to CO2. For this oxidation, a variety of oxide semiconductors have been tested including TiO2, ZnO, WO3, BiVO4, and Fe2O3. Although they are essentially capable of oxidizing water into molecular oxygen, the efficiency is very low primarily because of high overpotentials and slow kinetics. This challenge has been overcome by coupling with oxygen evolving catalysts (OECs) and/or doping donor elements. In the latter, surface-modified p-Si electrodes are fabricated to absorb visible light and catalyze the CO2 reduction. For modification, metal nanoparticles are electrodeposited on the p-Si and their PEC performance is compared.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.258-264
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• 2019

Assembling heterostructures by combining dissimilar oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to enhance charge separation and transfer in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, the CuO nanorods array/$Cu_2O$ thin film bilayered heterostructure was successfully fabricated by a facile method that involved a direct electrodeposition of the $Cu_2O$ thin film onto the vertically oriented CuO nanorods array to serve as the photoelectrode for the PEC water oxidation. The resulting copper-oxide-based heterostructure photoelectrode exhibited an enhanced PEC performance compared to common copper-oxide-based photoelectrodes, indicating good charge separation and transfer efficiency due to the band structure realignment at the interface. The photocurrent density and the optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency obtained on the CuO nanorods/$Cu_2O$ thin film heterostructure were $0.59mA/cm^2$ and 1.10% at 1.06 V vs. RHE, respectively. These results provide a promising route to fabricating earth-abundant copper-oxide-based photoelectrode for visible-light-driven hydrogen generation using a facile, low-cost, and scalable approach of combining electrodeposition and hydrothermal synthesis.

• Rapid Communication in Photoscience
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.35-37
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• 2014

PEC (photoelectrochemical) water splitting for $O_2/H_2$ production is one of the promising but difficult way to utilize solar energy. Among photocatalytic materials for PEC water oxidation, $BiVO_4$ (Eg = 2.4 eV) has been recently intensively studied since it has various advantageous properties. But its maximum efficiency has not been realized owing to kinetic factors - slow water oxidation at surface & insufficient stability. These problems can be simultaneously solved by application of oxygen evolution catalyst (OEC) such as $CoO_x$, Co-Pi, $IrO_x$ etc. Herein we report the first successful application of $NiFeO_x$ OEC on $BiVO_4$, showing good performance compared to other effective OEC applied on $BiVO_4$ under basic conditions. The enhanced activity of OEC loaded $BiVO_4$ has been supported by the surface charge separation efficiency and electrochemical impedance studies.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.239-245
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• 2020

Synthesizing one-dimensional nanostructures of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highefficiency photoelectrodes for hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays are successfully synthesized on fluorine-doped-tin-oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which is formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal thin film. The structural, optical and PEC properties of the ZnO nanorod arrays synthesized at varying levels of Zn sputtering power are examined to reveal that the optimum ZnO nanorod array can be obtained at a sputtering power of 20 W. The photocurrent density and the optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency obtained for the optimum ZnO nanorod array photoanode are 0.13 mA/㎠ and 0.49 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.85 V vs. RHE. These results provide a promising avenue to fabricating earth-abundant ZnO-based photoanodes for PEC water oxidation using facile hydrothermal synthesis.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.63-69
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• 2022

Preparing various types of thin films of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate efficient photoanodes and photocathodes for hydrogen production via photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of an efficient photocathode for PEC water reduction of a p-type oxide semiconductor cupric oxide (CuO) thin film prepared via a facile method combined with sputtering Cu metallic film on fluorine-doped thin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate and subsequent thermal oxidation of the sputtered Cu metallic film in dry air. Characterization of the structural, optical, and PEC properties of the CuO thin film prepared at various Cu sputtering powers reveals that we can obtain an optimum CuO thin film as an efficient PEC photocathode at a Cu sputtering power of 60 W. The photocurrent density and the optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency for the optimum CuO thin film photocathode are found to be -0.3 mA/cm² and 0.09% at 0.35 V vs. RHE, respectively. These results provide a promising route to fabricating earth-abundant copper-oxide-based photoelectrode for sunlight-driven hydrogen generation using a facile method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.131-132
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• 2007

An AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor(HEMT) was fabricated and the effect of photoelectrochemical oxidation of AlGaN/GaN surface was investigated. The oxidation of AlGaN surface was done in water at the bias of 10 V under the deep UV light illumination. The sheet resistance of the AlGaN/GaN structure was increased and gate leakage current of the HEMT was decreased by the oxidation. However, the transconductance of the HEMT was not degraded by the oxidation.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2010

In this paper, three types of CNT/$TiO_2$ composite electrodes were prepared with different methods. The changes in XRD patterns showed that the Electrode A contained a mixed phase of anatase and rutile while the Electrode B and Electrode C contained a typical single and clear anatase crystal structure. From SEM micrographs, $TiO_2$ particles were adhered on the surface of the CNT network in the forms of small clusters. The results of chemical elemental analysis indicated that the main elements such as C, O and Ti were existed. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation for methylene blue (MB) was higher than that of photocatalytic (PC) oxidation. There was a clear enhancement trend of the MB degradation using the prepared CNT/$TiO_2$ composite electrodes with an increase of applied potential. Finally, the prominent PEC activities of the CNT/$TiO_2$ composites could be attributed to combination effects of photo-degradation of $TiO_2$, electron assistant of CNT and function of applied potential.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.31 no.4 s.85
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• pp.241-245
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• 2005

Laccase catalyzes the oxidation and polymerization of aromatic compounds in the presence of molecular oxygen. Studies were conducted to characterize the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an additive to keep up the enzymatic stability. The enzymatic activities highly remained and bisphenol A (BPA) was rapidly converted in the presence of 5 mg/l of PEC. These effects were accomplished with PEG of molecular weight 3,350. A linear relationship was found between the quantity of BPA to be converted $(10-120\;{\mu}M)$ and the optimum dose of PEC required for greater than $95\%$ conversion. This result suggests that it is the interaction between the PEG and the reaction products. In the optimum dose of PEG, the aeration of reaction mixture neither enhanced the conversion of BPA nor retarded the inactivation of the enzyme.