Can Artificial Intelligence Boost Developing Electrocatalysts for Efficient Water Splitting to Produce Green Hydrogen?

Jaehyun Kim,Ho Won Jang Materials Research Society of Korea 2023 한국재료학회지 Vol.33 No.5

Water electrolysis holds great potential as a method for producing renewable hydrogen fuel at large-scale, and to replace the fossil fuels responsible for greenhouse gases emissions and global climate change. To reduce the cost of hydrogen and make it competitive against fossil fuels, the efficiency of green hydrogen production should be maximized. This requires superior electrocatalysts to reduce the reaction energy barriers. The development of catalytic materials has mostly relied on empirical, trial-and-error methods because of the complicated, multidimensional, and dynamic nature of catalysis, requiring significant time and effort to find optimized multicomponent catalysts under a variety of reaction conditions. The ultimate goal for all researchers in the materials science and engineering field is the rational and efficient design of materials with desired performance. Discovering and understanding new catalysts with desired properties is at the heart of materials science research. This process can benefit from machine learning (ML), given the complex nature of catalytic reactions and vast range of candidate materials. This review summarizes recent achievements in catalysts discovery for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The basic concepts of ML algorithms and practical guides for materials scientists are also demonstrated. The challenges and strategies of applying ML are discussed, which should be collaboratively addressed by materials scientists and ML communities. The ultimate integration of ML in catalyst development is expected to accelerate the design, discovery, optimization, and interpretation of superior electrocatalysts, to realize a carbon-free ecosystem based on green hydrogen.

Morphological Variation and Luminescence Properties of ZnO Micro/Nanocrystals Synthesized by Thermal Evaporation Method

Lee, Won-Jae,Lee, Geun-Hyoung Materials Research Society of Korea 2017 한국재료학회지 Vol.27 No.10

ZnO micro/nanocrystals with different morphologies were synthesized by thermal evaporation of various zinc source materials in an air atmosphere. Zinc acetate, zinc carbonate and zinc iodide were used as the source materials. No catalysts or substrates were used in the synthesis of the ZnO crystals. The scanning electron microscope(SEM) image showed that the morphology of ZnO crystals was strongly dependent on the source materials, which suggests that source material is one of the key factors in controlling the morphology of the obtained ZnO crystals. Tetrapods, nanogranular shaped crystals, spherical particles and crayon-shaped crystals were obtained using different source materials. The X-ray diffraction(XRD) pattern revealed that the all the ZnO crystals had hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structures. An ultraviolet emission was observed in the cathodoluminescence spectrum of the ZnO crystals prepared via thermal evaporation of Zn powder. However, a strong green emission centered at around 500 nm was observed in the cathodoluminescence spectra of the ZnO crystals prepared using zinc salts as the source materials.

A Simulated Study of Silicon Solar Cell Power Output as a Function of Minority-Carrier Recombination Lifetime and Substrate Thickness

Choe, Kwang Su Materials Research Society of Korea 2015 한국재료학회지 Vol.25 No.9

In photovoltaic power generation where minority carrier generation via light absorption is competing against minority carrier recombination, the substrate thickness and material quality are interdependent, and appropriate combination of the two variables is important in obtaining the maximum output power generation. Medici, a two-dimensional semiconductor device simulation tool, is used to investigate the interdependency in relation to the maximum power output in front-lit Si solar cells. Qualitatively, the results indicate that a high quality substrate must be thick and that a low quality substrate must be thin in order to achieve the maximum power generation in the respective materials. The dividing point is $70{\mu}m/5{\times}10^{-6}sec$. That is, for materials with a minority carrier recombination lifetime longer than $5{\times}10^{-6}sec$, the substrate must be thicker than $70{\mu}m$, while for materials with a lifetime shorter than $5{\times}10^{-6}sec$, the substrate must be thinner than $70{\mu}m$. In substrate fabrication, the thinner the wafer, the lower the cost of material, but the higher the cost of wafer fabrication. Thus, the optimum thickness/lifetime combinations are defined in this study along with the substrate cost considerations as part of the factors to be considered in material selection.

The Model and Experiment for Heat Transfer Characteristics of Nanoporous Silica Aerogel

Mingliang, Zheng Materials Research Society of Korea 2020 한국재료학회지 Vol.30 No.4

Nanoporous silica aerogel insulation material is both lightweight and efficient; it has important value in the fields of aerospace, petrochemicals, electric metallurgy, shipbuilding, precision instruments, and so on. A theoretical calculation model and experimental measurement of equivalent thermal conductivity for nanoporous silica aerogel insulation material are introduced in this paper. The heat transfer characteristics and thermal insulation principle of aerogel nano are analyzed. The methods of SiO₂ aerogel production are compared. The pressure range of SiO₂ aerogel is 1Pa-atmospheric pressure; the temperature range is room temperature-900K. The pore diameter range of particle SiO₂ aerogel is about 5 to 100 nm, and the average pore diameter range of about 20 ~ 40 nm. These results show that experimental measurements are in good agreement with theoretical calculation values. For nanoporous silica aerogel insulation material, the heat transfer calculation method suitable for nanotechnology can precisely calculate the equivalent thermal conductivity of aerogel nano insulation materials. The network structure is the reason why the thermal conductivity of the aerogel is very low. Heat transfer of materials is mainly realized by convection, radiation, and heat transfer. Therefore, the thermal conductivity of the heat transfer path in aerogel can be reduced by nanotechnology.

Physical Characterization of GaAs/$\textrm{Al}_{x}\textrm{Ga}_{1-x}\textrm{As}$/GaAs Heterostructures by Deep Level transient Spectroscopy

이원섭,최광수,Lee, Won-Seop,Choe, Gwang-Su Materials Research Society of Korea 1999 한국재료학회지 Vol.9 No.5

The deep level electron traps in AP-MOCVD GaAs/undoped Al\ulcornerGa\ulcornerAs/n-type GaAs heterostructures have been investigated by means of Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy DLTS). In terms of the experimental procedure, GaAs/undoped Al\ulcornerGa\ulcornerAs/n-type GaAs heterostructures were deposited on 2" undoped semi-insulating GaAs wafers by the AP-MOCVD method at $650^{\circ}C$ with TMGa, AsH3, TMAl, and SiH4 gases. The n-type GaAs conduction layers were doped with Si to the target concentration of about 2$\times$10\ulcornercm\ulcorner. The Al content was targeted to x=0.5 and the thicknesses of Al\ulcornerGa\ulcornerAs layers were targeted from 0 to 40 nm. In order to investigate the electrical characteristics, an array of Schottky diodes was built on the heterostructures by the lift-off process and Al thermal evaporation. Among the key results of this experiment, the deep level electron traps at 0.742~0.777 eV and 0.359~0.680 eV were observed in the heterostructures; however, only a 0.787 eV level was detected in n-type GaAs samples without the Al\ulcornerGa\ulcornerAs overlayer. It may be concluded that the 0.787 eV level is an EL2 level and that the 0.742~0.777 eV levels are related to EL2 and residual oxygen impurities which are usually found in MOCVD GaAs and Al\ulcornerGa\ulcornerAs materials grown at $630~660^{\circ}C$. The 0.359~0.680 eV levels may be due to the defects related with the al-O complex and residual Si impurities which are also usually known to exist in the MOCVD materials. Particularly, as the Si doping concentration in the n-type GaAs layer increased, the electron trap concentrations in the heterostructure materials and the magnitude of the C-V hysteresis in the Schottky diodes also increased, indicating that all are intimately related.ated.

Residue Free Fabrication of Suspended 2D Nanosheets for in-situ TEM Nanomechanics

Sharbidre, Rakesh Sadanand,Byen, Ji Cheol,Yun, Gyeong Yeol,Ryu, Jae-Kyung,Lee, Chang Jun,Hong, Seong-Gu,Bramhe, Sachin,Kim, Taik Nam Materials Research Society of Korea 2018 한국재료학회지 Vol.28 No.11

Two dimensional(2D) crystals, composed of a single layer or a few atomic layers extracted from layered materials are attracting researchers' interest due to promising applications in the nanoelectromechanical systems. Worldwide researchers are preparing devices with suspended 2D materials to study their physical and electrical properties. However, during the fabrication process of 2D flakes on a target substrate, contamination occurs, which makes the measurement data less reliable. We propose a dry transfer method using poly-methyl methacrylate(PMMA) for the 2D flakes to transfer onto the targeted substrate. The PMMA is then removed from the device by an N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone solution and a critical point dryer, which makes the suspended 2D flakes residue free. Our method provides a clean, reliable and controllable way of fabricating micrometer-sized suspended 2D nanosheets.

Mechanical Synthesis and Rapid Consolidation of Nanostructured W-Al₂O₃ Composite

Lee, BooRak,Jeong, GeolChae,Park, GeunO,Shon, In-Jin Materials Research Society of Korea 2018 한국재료학회지 Vol.28 No.6

Recently, the properties of nanostructured materials as advanced engineering materials have received great attention. These properties include fracture toughness and a high degree of hardness. To hinder grain growth during sintering, it is necessary to fabricate nanostructured materials. In this respect, a high-frequency induction-heated sintering method has been presented as an effective technique for making nanostructured materials at a lower temperature in a very short heating period. Nanopowders of W and $Al_2O_3$ are synthesized from $WO_3$ and Al powders during high-energy ball milling. Highly dense nanostructured $W-Al_2O_3$ composites are made within three minutes by high-frequency induction-heated sintering method and materials are evaluated in terms of hardness, fracture toughness, and microstructure. The hardness and fracture toughness of the composite are $1364kg/mm^2$ and $7.1MPa{\cdot}m^{1/2}$, respectively. Fracture toughness of nanostructured $W-Al_2O_3$ is higher than that of monolithic $Al_2O_3$. The hardness of this composite is higher than that of monolithic W.

Fabrication of Micro Conductor Pattern on Polymer Material by Laser Induced Surface Activation Technology

Lee, Sung-Hyung,Yashiro, Hitoshi,Kure-Chu, Song-Zhu Materials Research Society of Korea 2020 한국재료학회지 Vol.30 No.7

Laser induced surface activation (LISA) technology requires refined selection of process variables to fabricate conductive microcircuits on a general polymer material. Among the process variables, laser mode is one of the crucial factors to make a reliable conductor pattern. Here we compare the continuous wave (CW) laser mode with the pulse wave (PW) laser mode through determination of the surface roughness and circuit accuracy. In the CW laser mode, the surface roughness is pronounced during the implementation of the conductive circuit, which results in uneven plating. In the PW laser mode, the surface is relatively smooth and uniform, and the formed conductive circuit layer has few defects with excellent adhesion to the polymer material. As a result of a change of laser mode from CW to PW, the value of Ra of the polymer material decreases from 0.6 ㎛ to 0.2 ㎛; the value of Ra after the plating process decreases from 0.8 ㎛ to 0.4 ㎛, and a tight bonding force between the polymer source material and the conductive copper plating layer is achieved. In conclusion, this study shows that the PW laser process yields an excellent conductive circuit on a polymeric material.

Fabrication and Characterization of Spherical Carbon-Coated Li₃V₂(PO₄)₃ Cathode Material by Hydrothermal Method with Reducing Agent

Moon, Jung-In,Song, Jeong-Hwan Materials Research Society of Korea 2019 한국재료학회지 Vol.29 No.9

Spherical $Li_3V_2(PO_4)_3$ (LVP) and carbon-coated LVP with a monoclinic phase for the cathode materials are synthesized by a hydrothermal method using $N_2H_4$ as the reducing agent and saccharose as the carbon source. The results show that single phase monoclinic LVP without impurity phases such as $LiV(P_2O_7)$, $Li(VO)(PO_4)$ and $Li_3(PO_4)$ can be obtained after calcination at $800^{\circ}C$ for 4 h. SEM and TEM images show that the particle sizes are $0.5{\sim}2{\mu}m$ and the thickness of the amorphous carbon layer is approximately 3~4 nm. CV curves for the test cell are recorded in the potential ranges of 3.0~4.3 V and 3.0~4.8 V at a scan rate of $0.01mV\;s^{-1}$ and at room temperature. At potentials between 3.0 and 4.8 V, the third $Li^+$ ions from the carbon-coated LVP can be completely extracted, at voltages close to 4.51 V. The carbon-coated LVP exhibits an initial specific discharge capacity of $118mAh\;g^{-1}$ in the voltage region of 3.0 to 4.3 V at a current rate of 0.2 C. The results indicate that the reducing agent and carbon source can affect the crystal structure and electrochemical properties of the cathode materials.

Design Optimization of Dental Implants Using Finite Element Analysis for Injecting Bioactive Materials

Lee, Kang-Soo,Lee, Yong-Keun Materials Research Society of Korea 2012 한국재료학회지 Vol.22 No.6

In order to improve osseointegration of dental implants with bone we studied an implant with holes inside its body to deliver bioactive materials based on a proposed patent. Bioactive materials can be selectively applied through holes to a patient according to diagnosis and the integration progress. After the bioactive material is applied, bone can grow into the holes to increase implant bonding and also enhance surface integration. In order to improve the concept and study the effect of bioactive material injection on implant integration, design optimization and integration research were undertaken utilizing the finite element method. A 2-dimensional simulation study showed that when bone grew into the holes after the bioactive material was injected, stress vertically distributed in the upper part of the implant was relieved and mild stress appeared at the opening of the injection holes. This confirmed the effect of the bioactive material and the contribution of the injection holes, but the maximum stress increased ten-fold at the opening. In order to reduce the maximum stress, the size, location, and the number of holes were varied and the effects were studied. When bioactive materials formed an interface layer between the implant and the mandible and four holes were filled with cortical and cancellous bones all the stress concentrated opposite to the loading side without holes disappeared. The stresses at the four outlets of the holes was mildly elevated but the maximum stress value was ten-fold greater compared to the case without the bioactive material.