Chulki Kim

Wearable thermoelectric generator for harvesting human body heat energy

This paper presents the realization of a wearable thermoelectric generator (TEG) in fabric for use in clothing. A TEG was fabricated by dispenser printing of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 and Bi2Se0.3Te2.7 in a polymer-based fabric. The prototype consisted of 12 thermocouples connected by conductive thread over an area of 6 × 25 mm2. The device generated a power of 224 nW for a temperature difference of 15 K. When the TEG was used on the human body, the measured output power was 224 nW in an ambient temperature of 5 °C. The power of the TEG was affected by the movement of the wearer. A higher voltage was maintained while walking than in a stationary state. In addition, the device did not deform after it was bent and stretched several times. The prospect of using the TEG in clothing applications was confirmed under realistic conditions.

Highly sensitive and selective sugar detection by terahertz nano-antennas.

Molecular recognition and discrimination of carbohydrates are important because carbohydrates perform essential roles in most living organisms for energy metabolism and cell-to-cell communication. Nevertheless, it is difficult to identify or distinguish various carbohydrate molecules owing to the lack of a significant distinction in the physical or chemical characteristics. Although there has been considerable effort to develop a sensing platform for individual carbohydrates selectively using chemical receptors or an ensemble array, their detection and discrimination limits have been as high in the millimolar concentration range. Here we show a highly sensitive and selective detection method for the discrimination of carbohydrate molecules using nano-slot-antenna array-based sensing chips which operate in the terahertz (THz) frequency range (0.5–2.5 THz). This THz metamaterial sensing tool recognizes various types of carbohydrate molecules over a wide range of molecular concentrations. Strongly localized and enhanced terahertz transmission by nano-antennas can effectively increase the molecular absorption cross sections, thereby enabling the detection of these molecules even at low concentrations. We verified the performance of nano-antenna sensing chip by both THz spectra and images of transmittance. Screening and identification of various carbohydrates can be applied to test even real market beverages with a high sensitivity and selectivity.

Pattern recognition for selective odor detection with gas sensor arrays.

This paper presents a new pattern recognition approach for enhancing the selectivity of gas sensor arrays for clustering intelligent odor detection. The aim of this approach was to accurately classify an odor using pattern recognition in order to enhance the selectivity of gas sensor arrays. This was achieved using an odor monitoring system with a newly developed neural-genetic classification algorithm (NGCA). The system shows the enhancement in the sensitivity of the detected gas. Experiments showed that the proposed NGCA delivered better performance than the previous genetic algorithm (GA) and artificial neural networks (ANN) methods. We also used PCA for data visualization. Our proposed system can enhance the reproducibility, reliability, and selectivity of odor sensor output, so it is expected to be applicable to diverse environmental problems including air pollution, and monitor the air quality of clean-air required buildings such as a kindergartens and hospitals.

Chemiresistive Electronic Nose toward Detection of Biomarkers in Exhaled Breath

Detection of gas-phase chemicals finds a wide variety of applications, including food and beverages, fragrances, environmental monitoring, chemical and biochemical processing, medical diagnostics, and transportation. One approach for these tasks is to use arrays of highly sensitive and selective sensors as an electronic nose. Here, we present a high performance chemiresistive electronic nose (CEN) based on an array of metal oxide thin films, metal-catalyzed thin films, and nanostructured thin films. The gas sensing properties of the CEN show enhanced sensitive detection of H2S, NH3, and NO in an 80% relative humidity (RH) atmosphere similar to the composition of exhaled breath. The detection limits of the sensor elements we fabricated are in the following ranges: 534 ppt to 2.87 ppb for H2S, 4.45 to 42.29 ppb for NH3, and 206 ppt to 2.06 ppb for NO. The enhanced sensitivity is attributed to the spillover effect by Au nanoparticles and the high porosity of villi-like nanostructures, providing a large surface-to-volume ratio. The remarkable selectivity based on the collection of sensor responses manifests itself in the principal component analysis (PCA). The excellent sensing performance indicates that the CEN can detect the biomarkers of H2S, NH3, and NO in exhaled breath and even distinguish them clearly in the PCA. Our results show high potential of the CEN as an inexpensive and noninvasive diagnostic tool for halitosis, kidney disorder, and asthma.

Electrochemical preparation of polypyrrole colloids using a flow cell

A flow-through electrochemical cell has been used for the production of conducting polymer colloids. The polypyrrole/nitrate system was selected to investigate the effect of electrochemical and hydrodynamic conditions on the amount and quality of the colloids produced. The colloids produced are stable and exhibit small and relatively uniform particles.

Enhancement of hole injection and electroluminescence by ordered Ag nanodot array on indium tin oxide anode in organic light emitting diode

We report the enhancement of hole injection and electroluminescence (EL) in an organic light emitting diode (OLED) with an ordered Ag nanodot array on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) anode. Until now, most researches have focused on the improved performance of OLEDs by plasmonic effects of metal nanoparticles due to the difficulty in fabricating metal nanodot arrays. A well-ordered Ag nanodot array is fabricated on the ITO anode of OLED using the nanoporous alumina as an evaporation mask. The OLED device with Ag nanodot arrays on the ITO anode shows higher current density and EL enhancement than the one without any nano-structure. These results suggest that the Ag nanodot array with the plasmonic effect has potential as one of attractive approaches to enhance the hole injection and EL in the application of the OLEDs.

Tunable wide blue photoluminescence with europium decorated graphene

The current paper describes europium decorated graphene (EuG) which provides high and wide blue emission at 400 nm and 458 nm. The chemical and structural properties of the products are characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and UV–Vis spectrometery are employed to analyze the optical properties. The photoluminescence features are investigated using the excitation/emission spectra and fluorescence microscopy images. The photoluminescence intensity of EuG with the bright fluorescent nature of europium is higher than that of reduced graphene oxide. The transition of trivalent europium (Eu3+) that leads to the radiation of light with a 590 nm wavelength can be turned into a 4f–4f transition of divalent (Eu2+) europium upon heating in the presence of the graphene sheet, which assists the reduction of the europium ion. The enhancement of the blue emission at 458 nm with quenching in the red at 590 nm is affected by the modification of properties (by → via) the europium–graphene composite concentration and external thermal energy. The result suggests a new possibility for the fluorescence characteristics of the lanthanide–graphene nanocomposite that can be applied to the display, optoelectronic devices, and bio-imaging fields. The temperature-tunable photoluminescence characteristics can be used as a non-contact thermal sensor.

Coulomb-Controlled Single Electron Field Emission via a Freely Suspended Metallic Island

We observe Coulomb blockade in the field-emission current of a metallic island between two electrodes freely suspended by thin tunneling barriers. A third electrode serves as a gating contact to trace the Coulomb staircase of the device. Coulomb blockade is revealed at 77 K in conjunction with field emission. The measurements are in very good agreement with a theoretical model, taking into account orthodox Coulomb blockade and field emission.

Ultrasensitive Detection of Residual Pesticides Using THz Near-Field Enhancement

We present a novel type of highly sensitive and selective detection method for residual pesticide molecules including, e.g., methomyl using nanoscale metamaterials based terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS) system. Nanoscale slot-antenna-based metamaterials were designed for the strong THz resonance at a certain frequency, where the specific molecule has intramolecular or intermolecular collective vibrational mode. Enhanced THz near-field via a nano-antenna metamaterial strongly increases absorption cross section, and this leads to the detection sensitivity up to parts-per-billion level even in a solution state of pesticide sample. Measured transmittance and reflectance spectrum results show excellent performances in both sensitivity and selectivity. We also imaged reflected THz signals though our THz nano-metamaterials in a nondestructive manner to simply detect the contained residual pesticide at the surface of an apple as it is, without any treatment. This observation can offer the possibility for further various applications as prompt and accurate molecule sensing tools in real time.

Tunable near white light photoluminescence of lanthanide ion (Dy3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+) doped DNA lattices

For more than two decades, structural DNA nanotechnology has been investigated, yet researchers still have not clearly determined the functional changes and the applicability of DNA structures resulting from the introduction of a variety of ions. Lanthanide ions, such as Dy3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+, are interesting rare earth ions that have unique characteristics applicable to photonics. Here, we have constructed lanthanide ion doped double-crossover DNA lattices, a new class of functional DNA lattices, grown on a silica substrate. Deformation-free lattices were fabricated on a given substrate, and dopant ions were introduced to study their photoluminescence characteristics. The photoluminescence of the lanthanide ion-doped DNA lattices exhibited broad emission spectra in the visible region and a tendency of near white light emission composed of various colours. The intensity of the distinct spectral lines produced by the photoluminescence increased as the doping concentration of the ions reached the critical point, and the intensity then decreased with a further increase in the ions. Photoluminescence quenching was also observed when the excitation wavelength increased. These phenomena are the result of energy transfer between the DNA and the dopant ions. Finally, we make use of chromaticity diagrams to identify the colour coordinates of the luminescence produced by the lanthanide ion-doped DNA lattices, and this information may be useful to construct efficient bio-photonic devices or sensors in the future.