Young Soo Lim

Unoxidized Graphene/Alumina Nanocomposite: Fracture- and Wear-Resistance Effects of Graphene on Alumina Matrix

It is of critical importance to improve toughness, strength, and wear-resistance together for the development of advanced structural materials. Herein, we report on the synthesis of unoxidized graphene/alumina composite materials having enhanced toughness, strength, and wear-resistance by a low-cost and environmentally benign pressure-less-sintering process. The wear resistance of the composites was increased by one order of magnitude even under high normal load condition (25 N) as a result of a tribological effect of graphene along with enhanced fracture toughness (KIC) and flexural strength (σf) of the composites by ~75% (5.60 MPa·m1/2) and ~25% (430 MPa), respectively, compared with those of pure Al2O3. Furthermore, we found that only a small fraction of ultra-thin graphene (0.25–0.5 vol%, platelet thickness of 2–5 nm) was enough to reinforce the composite. In contrast to unoxidized graphene, graphene oxide (G-O) and reduced graphene oxide (rG-O) showed little or less enhancement of fracture toughness due to the degraded mechanical strength of rG-O and the structural defects of the G-O composites.

Thermoelectric properties of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films

Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films were synthesized by a sol-gel process and an evaporation-induced self-assembly process. In this work, the effects of Al doping concentration on the electrical conductivity and characterization of mesoporous ZnO thin films were investigated. By changing the Al doping concentration, ZnO grain growth is inhibited, and the mesoporous structure of ZnO is maintained during a relatively high temperature annealing process. The porosity of Al-doped mesoporous ZnO thin films increased slightly with increasing Al doping concentration. Finally, as electrical conductivity was increased as electrons were freed and pore structure was maintained by inhibiting grain growth, the thermoelectric property was enhanced with increasing Al concentration.

Density of state effective mass and related charge transport properties in K-doped BiCuOSe

We report the enhanced p-type conduction properties in BiCuOSe by doping of monovalent ions (K+). As compared with undoped BiCuOSe, simultaneous increase in both the carrier concentration and the Hall mobility was achieved in the K-doped BiCuOSe. The origin of the enhancement was discussed in terms of the two-band structure in the valence band of the BiCuOSe, and the density of state effective masses of the heavy (∼1.1 me) and light hole (∼0.18 me) were estimated by using Pisarenko relation.

High-temperature charge transport and thermoelectric properties of a degenerately Al-doped ZnO nanocomposite

2 mol% Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles were consolidated into a ZnO nanocomposite with ZnAl2O4 nanoprecipitates by spark plasma sintering and its high-temperature charge transport and thermoelectric properties were investigated up to 1073 K. The carrier concentration in the nanocomposite was not dependent on the temperature, while the Hall mobility showed positive temperature-dependence due to grain boundary scattering. The negative Seebeck coefficient of the nanocomposite was linearly proportional to the temperature, and the density of the state effective mass (md*) was evaluated to be 0.33me by using the Pisarenko relation. Drastic reduction of thermal conductivity (k < 2 W m−1 K−1) was achieved in the nanocomposite, and the maximum ZT of 0.34 was obtained at 1073 K.

Synthesis of silver nanoplates by two-dimensional oriented attachment.

Synthesis of silver nanoplates was studied in the modified polyol method, where the nucleation and seed stage occurred in a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-water mixture solution, and the growth stage happened in the PEG environment. The morphological evolution of nanoplates was characterized using UV, SEM, and TEM. Interestingly, plane nanostructures with unusual jagged edges were finally formed in our modified polyol method. Using TEM, we observed the medium state of fusion between two nanoplates, resulting in generating unusual jagged edges. Therefore, a novel two-dimensional oriented attachment occurred in our modified polyol method, which involves smaller nanoplates as the building blocks. Further control experiments showed that the presence of water could break this kinetic preferred reactivity, leading to the formation of nanoparticles.

Structurally Nanocrystalline-Electrically Single Crystalline ZnO-Reduced Graphene Oxide Composites

ZnO, a wide bandgap semiconductor, has attracted much attention due to its multifunctionality, such as transparent conducting oxide, light-emitting diode, photocatalyst, and so on. To improve its performances in the versatile applications, numerous hybrid strategies of ZnO with graphene have been attempted, and various synergistic effects have been achieved in the ZnO-graphene hybrid nanostructures. Here we report extraordinary charge transport behavior in Al-doped ZnO (AZO)-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites. Although the most challenging issue in semiconductor nanocomposites is their low mobilities, the AZO-RGO nanocomposites exhibit single crystal-like Hall mobility despite the large quantity of nanograin boundaries, which hinder the electron transport by the scattering with trapped charges. Because of the significantly weakened grain boundary barrier and the proper band alignment between the AZO and RGO, freely conducting electrons across the nanograin boundaries can be realized in the nanocomposites. This discovery of the structurally nanocrystalline-electrically single crystalline composite demonstrates a new route for enhancing the electrical properties in nanocomposites based on the hybrid strategy.

Crystal-to-crystal conversion of Cu2O nanoparticles to Cu crystals and applications in printed electronics

In order to realize copper-based electrode materials for printed electronics applications, it is necessary to control the oxidation reaction during the sintering process. Here we report a novel approach based on the conversion process of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticle aggregates (NPAs) to metallic copper crystals. The NPAs undergo crystal conversion to copper crystals in air with the help of surfactants and a reducing agent. This crystal conversion is a very unique phenomenon which has not been observed previously. The detailed mechanism for this conversion, including the role of the surfactant and crystal growth, was proposed. Furthermore, we tried to realize oxidation free copper electrode formation in air by using the crystal conversion of Cu2O NPAs.

Facile synthesis and size control of spherical aggregates composed of Cu2O nanoparticles

The secondary structures of Cu(2)O nanoparticles were prepared in aqueous solution utilizing self-assembled aggregation process. By introducing polyacrylamide (PAM) as a secondary surfactant, the colloidal nanoparticle aggregates (CNAs) become uniform in size and exhibit spherical shape compared to the random aggregates without PAM. The size of CNA can be systematically controlled from 300nm to 1000nm by varying PAM concentration. The formation mechanism was explained based on a conventional colloidal particle formation mechanism. These control methods may generally be applied to the preparation of secondary nanoparticle structures.

Nanograined thermoelectric Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 with ultralow phonon transport prepared from chemically exfoliated nanoplatelets

Herein, we report on a scalable synthesis of surfactant-free Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 nanocrystals by chemical exfoliation and subsequent spark plasma sintering to fabricate nanostructured thermoelectric bulk materials. The exfoliated n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 nanoplatelets were shown to transform into nanoscroll-type crystals (∼5 nm in diameter, ∼50 nm in length) by ultrasonication. The thermoelectric performance of the Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 nanocrystals was found to be recoverable by minimizing surface oxides by chemical reduction of the exfoliated suspensions. Nanostructured bulk materials, composed of plate-like grains with ∼50 nm thickness, were prepared by sintering of the ultrasonicated sample using a spark plasma sintering technique. The resulting compound showed drastic reduction of lattice thermal conductivity (0.31 W m−1 K−1 @ 400 K) due to enhanced phonon scattering at highly dense grain boundaries without deterioration of the power factor (21.0 × 10−4 W m−1 K−2 @ 400 K). The peak ZT value of the present compound (∼0.8 @400 K) is comparable to that of n-type single crystalline Bi2(Te,Se)3, which is one of the highest among the reported values for n-type materials synthesized by a soft chemical route.

Point defect-assisted doping mechanism and related thermoelectric transport properties in Pb-doped BiCuOTe

In this article we report point defect-assisted doping mechanism and related thermoelectric transport properties in Pb-doped BiCuOTe compounds. The substitution of trivalent Bi3+ with divalent Pb2+ led to the generation of more than one hole per single Pb atom. The origin of the extra charge carrier was discussed in terms of the formation energy of p-type native point defects, and it could be evidenced by the density functional theory calculations. Related charge transport properties indicated that control of the native point defect is critical to achieve high thermoelectric performance in BiCuOTe material system.