Papers by Author: Won Jun Lee

Abstract: Nanosized hydroxyapatite(HAp) was synthesized hydrothermally and influence of processing parameters, such as reaction temperature and time, pH, and Ca/P ratio, on the phase stability of HAp was evaluated after pressureless sintering at 1250°C in air. The highest stability was achieved from the powder obtained at a processing condition for the lowest solubility of Ca2+, which corresponds to temperature close to 200°C, time <4h, pH>9.0, and Ca/P = 1.67. The stability of nanosized HAp in HAp/3Y-TZP composites was slightly inferior to commercial one, but the involvement of hydrothermally synthesized HAp improved sintered density of the composites and stability of t-ZrO2 phase in the composites.

Abstract: To combine the bioinert titanium with the biological active coating of hydroxyapatite [HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] a new pulsed laser deposition(PLD) method was applied. The initial osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cell response to this thin HA coated(<1μm) surface was compared with non-coated surfaces. Cell responses on four different pure titanium surfaces, such as smooth titanium, HA coated smooth titanium, rough titanium and HA coated rough titanium, were compared. Cell morphology and attachment were examined by scanning electron microscopy after 6, 24 and 72 hrs of culture, cell proliferation by MTS assay after 3, 7 and 14 days. The differentiation of the cells was analyzed by real time PCR up to 21 days. The cells were well spread and attached on all surfaces and showed more irregular shapes on the HA coated specimens. They proliferated continuously on all specimens up to 14 days. Smooth surface specimens showed better cell proliferation than rough ones after 7 days, and the HA coated specimens demonstrated slightly greater MTS activity than the non-coated groups after 14 days. The surface topography affected cell proliferation initially however; there was no significant difference afterwards. Thin HA coating influenced the expression of some genes related with cell differentiation.

Abstract: A hydrothermal method has been used to produce nanoparticles of 3 mol% yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (3Y-TZP) with high fracture toughness. The effects of reaction temperature and pH on crystallite size and sintered density, and the influence of Nb2O5 addition into 3Y-TZP on toughness have been investigated. The particle size increased with increasing the processing parameters and the influence of temperature was more significant than pH. The density of nanosized 3Y-TZP increased with increasing pH up to 9 and then decreased abruptly with further increase. The density increased slightly with the reaction temperature up to 140°C and then changed little with increasing temperature. The toughness increased in proportional to the Nb2O5 content. After sintering for 1 h at 1270°C, the highest relative density of 98% was obtained from nanoparticles of about 17 nm, prepared at 200°C and pH 9, and the toughness of 3Y-TZP was increased from 2.5 to 8.3 MPam1/2 by addition of 1.2 mol% Nb2O5.

Abstract: SiO2 films were prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, and their physical and electrical properties were characterized for being applied as a gate insulator of low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistors. ALD SiO2 films were deposited at 350–400 oC using alternating exposures of SiH2Cl2 and O3/O2, and the characteristics of the deposited films were improved with increasing deposition temperature. The ALD films deposited at 400 oC exhibited integrity, surface roughness and leakage current better than those of the conventional plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) films.

Abstract: The osseointegration rate of a new zirconia/alumina composite ceramic implant material, (Y,Nb)-TZP/ alumina, was compared with conventional titanium implant in the rabbit model. Four different groups of threaded implant were compared after 4 and 6weeks healing period. The bone implant contact ratio and bone volume was evaluated by undecalcified histologic sections. The surface of each implant group was observed under SEM. Within the limitations of this study, Zr/Al composite ceramic implants demonstrated favorable bone response compared to titanium implant. This material demonstrated a possibility of an alternative to titanium dental implant. Further studies are needed to confirm this result.

Abstract: The surface modification of polyimide (PI) by the irradiation of 3 keV He+, Ne+ and Ar+ ions was studied using XPS and AFM at various ion dose ranging from 1􀂯1014 to 1􀂯1017 ions/cm2. The change of surface roughness of PI by 3 keV inert ions was closely connected to the change of surface composition. At low doses below 5􀂯1015 ions/cm2, the surface of polyimide was carbonized by ion irradiations, showing rough surfaces. At higher ion doses, the surface composition was saturated due to the accumulation of damages, and the surface morphology became smoother as compared with the low dose case.

Abstract: By employing the Stroh formalism for plane anisotropic thermoelasticity, closed-form solutions for the orders of stress and heat flux singularities of multi-material wedges have been obtained. Several different boundary conditions are considered in this paper such as insulated or isothermal as well as free-free or fixed-fixed or free-fixed or fixed-free wedge boundaries. The solutions show that the singular orders are influenced by the wedge configurations (n wedge angles), boundary conditions, elastic constants and heat conduction coefficients, but are independent of the thermal moduli.