Papers by Author: Sang Kuk Woo

Abstract: Hydrophobic thin film silica aerogels were synthesized by ambient pressure drying method from silicic acid which was prepared from sodium silicate (water glass) solution. The pH value of the silica precursor sol was adjusted to make a spinable sol, and gel films were coated on a glass substrate by dip coating technique. Aerogel-like thin films with the thickness of about 1 μm could be successfully fabricated by repeating the dip coating process three times.

Abstract: Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) films with the thickness of up to 12 μm were prepared on alumina and NiO-YSZ substrates by electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). The films showed nano-scaled columnar structures depending on the substrate temperature. Electrical conductivity of the YSZ films on alumina was also investigated at the temperature between 700 and 1000oC in oxidizing atmosphere. High activation energy of the conductivity (>1.03eV) indicated that the conduction via grain boundary controlled the ionic conduction in the films prepared by EB-PVD. La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-δ as a cathode was applied on the YSZ/NiO-YSZ in order to evaluate the performance of the YSZ electrolyte.

Abstract: This paper presents the work on the development of ceramic coating processing. Nano-structured zirconia coating has been developed with functions; substrate temperature and oxygen gas change in chamber by electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD). The microstructure of the coating layer has been characterized with FE-SEM, and SEM. The crystalline phase of the coating layer has been also characterized with XRD. The zirconia coating by EB-PVD had not monoclinic zirconia phase as shown in XRD pattern and Raman spectra and the thickness of coating were quite homogeneous. The fracture microstructure of the coating layer for a thickness of ~15 μm showed columnar or non-columnar structure and had nano-structure with nano scaled grain as shown in micrograph by FE-SEM.

Abstract: Silicon nitride ceramics were prepared by new nitrided pressureless sintering (NPS) process in this study. The microstructures, strengths and thermal properties of the NPS silicon nitride ceramics containing three types of Al2O3 and Y2O3 sintering additives were investigated. Additionally, we have investigated the effect of silicon metal contents changing with 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% in each composition. The silicon nitride was successfully densified using NPS process, particularly at the starting composition of 5 wt.% Al2O3, 5 wt.% Y2O3, and 5 wt.% Si addition. The maximum flexural strengths and relative densities of these specimens were 500 MPa and 98%, respectively. The flexural strength of sintered specimens after the thermal shock test between 30oC and 1300oC for 20,000 cycles was maintained with the original laboratory strength of 500MPa by low thermal expansion coefficient, 2.9 × 10-6/oC, and high thermal conductivity, 28 W/m⋅oC.

Abstract: Two different types of carbon fibre bundles were used for filament winding to obtain C/C preforms. C/C-SiC composites were produced from the C/C preforms by a silicon melt infiltration technique. The effect of the type of carbon fibre bundle on the mechanical and thermal properties of the resultant C/C-SiC composites was compared. The spun fiber preform yields C/C-SiC composites of better mechanical properties than the unidirectional continuous fiber preform. The strength of the composites from the SFP was 1.8 times higher than that from the CFP. The flexural strength and the O-ring strength of the composites from the SFP with a density of 2.35 g/cm3 were about 160 MPa and 170 MPa, respectively.

Abstract: Hydrophobic silica aerogels were synthesized by an ambient pressure drying method from silicic acid with a different pH value, which was prepared from sodium silicate solution (water glass). In this study we chose various hydrocarbon class solvents such as pentane, hexane, heptane, and toluene, and performed surface modification in TMCS (trimethylchlorosilane)/solvent solutions in order to improve reproducibility in aerogel production. Densities of the aerogels were about 0.1 ~ 0.3 g/cm3 , and apparent porosities were 88 ~ 96 %, depending on the processing conditions. Specific surface area was approximately 730 ~ 950 m2/g, and average pore size around 10 nm.

Abstract: Porous ceramic fiber composites were coated with pyrolytic carbon by the decomposition of propane in a nitrogen atmosphere at 900°C. The amount of carbon coating was varied through adjusting deposition time to tailor the electrical conductivity of the carbon-coated composites. The electrical and thermal conductivity of the composites were measured at room temperature using a two-point method and a hot-wire method, respectively. Up to 7 wt% pyrolytic carbon, the electrical conductivity σ is linearly increased to 0.02 S/cm and well fitted by the effective conductivity according to the parallel rule of a mixture σ eff = Σ Χ i ·σ i with a conductivity of pyrolytic carbon σ c= 20 S/cm .The thermal conductivity of the uncoated and coated composites is in the range 0.065-0.075 W/mK and little affected by carbon coating presumably owing to the small amount of coated carbon in this work.

Abstract: Hardness and wear resistant characteristics of reaction-bonded silicon carbides with boron carbide additions are evaluated relative to those of reaction bonded silicon carbide (RBSC). The reaction-bonded SiC-B4C composites exhibit a distinctive improvement of hardness and wear resistance, indicative of high resistance against wear environment. Removal rates for the wear tests are decisively reduced by the addition of boron carbide in the composites. Controlling the amount of carbon content in the starting composition more enhances the hardness of the reaction-bonded composites. Implications concerning the partial decomposition of B4C during reaction process are considered.

Abstract: A layer consisting of La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-d particles with inner nano-pores is coated on the La0.7Sr0.3Ga0.6Fe0.4O3-d oxide to improve the surface reaction resulting in high oxygen permeability. The La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-d particles with inner nano-pores are synthesized by an ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. The permeated oxygen contents from air to helium gas were measured using gas chromatography after the synthesized particles were coated on the La0.7Sr0.3Ga0.6Fe0.4O3-d oxide by the conventional screen-printing. The results demonstrated that the reactive free surfaces of the nano-pores are an important factor in determining the oxygen permeation for application such as gas separation membrane and ceramic fuel cell.