Aluminum (Al) - based powders have attracted attention as key materials for 3D printing because of their excellent specific mechanical strength, formability, and durability. Although many studies on the fabrication of 3Dprinted Al-based alloys have been reported, the influence of the size of raw powder materials on the bulk samples processed by selective laser melting (SLM) has not been fully investigated. In this study, AlSi10Mg powders of 65 μm in average particle size, prepared by a gas atomizing process, are additively manufactured by using an SLM process. AlSi10Mg powders of 45 μm average size are also fabricated into bulk samples in order to compare their properties. The processing parameters of laser power and scan speed are optimized to achieve densified AlSi10Mg alloys. The Vickers hardness value of the bulk sample prepared from 45 μm-sized powders is somewhat higher than that of the 65 μm-sized powder. Such differences in hardness are analyzed because the reduction in melt pool size stems from the rapid melting and solidification of small powders, compared to those of coarse powders, during the SLM process. These results show that the size of the powder should be considered in order to achieve optimization of the SLM process.

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• Laser Soldering Process Optimization of MEMS Probe of Probe Card for Semiconductor Wafer Test
  Myeongin Kim, Won Sik Hong, Mi-Song Kim
  Journal of Welding and Joining.2022; 40(3): 271.     CrossRef
• Investigation on Interfacial Microstructures of Stainless Steel/Inconel Bonded by Directed Energy Deposition of alloy Powders
  Yeong Seong Eom, Kyung Tae Kim, Soo-Ho Jung, Jihun Yu, Dong Yeol Yang, Jungho Choe, Chul Yong Sim, Seung Jun An
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2020; 27(3): 219.     CrossRef

The convergence of artificial intelligence with smart factories or smart mechanical systems has been actively studied to maximize the efficiency and safety. Despite the high improvement of artificial neural networks, their application in the manufacturing industry has been difficult due to limitations in obtaining meaningful data from factories or mechanical systems. Accordingly, there have been active studies on manufacturing components with sensor integration allowing them to generate important data from themselves. Additive manufacturing enables the fabrication of a net shaped product with various materials including plastic, metal, or ceramic parts. With the principle of layer-bylayer adhesion of material, there has been active research to utilize this multi-step manufacturing process, such as changing the material at a certain step of adhesion or adding sensor components in the middle of the additive manufacturing process. Particularly for smart parts manufacturing, researchers have attempted to embed sensors or integrated circuit boards within a three-dimensional component during the additive manufacturing process. While most of the sensor embedding additive manufacturing was based on polymer material, there have also been studies on sensor integration within metal or ceramic materials. This study reviews the additive manufacturing technology for sensor integration into plastic, ceramic, and metal materials.

One of the promising candidates for accident-tolerant fuel (ATF), a ceramic microcell fuel, which can be distinguished by an unusual cell-like microstructure (UO₂ grain cell surrounded by a doped oxide cell wall), is being developed. This study deals with the microstructural observation of the constituent phases and the wetting behaviors of the cell wall materials in three kinds of ceramic microcell UO₂ pellets: Si-Ti-O (STO), Si-Cr-O (SCO), and Al-Si-Ti-O (ASTO). The chemical and physical states of the cell wall materials are estimated by HSC Chemistry and confirmed by experiment to be mixtures of Si-O and Ti-O for the STO; Si-O and Cr-O for SCO; and Si-O, Ti-O, and Al-Si-O for the ASTO. From their morphology at triple junctions, UO₂ grains appear to be wet by the Si-O or Al-Si-O rather than other oxides, providing a benefit on the capture-ability of the ceramic microcell cell wall. The wetting behavior can be explained by the relationships between the interface energy and the contact angle.

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• Thermal diffusion kinetics of cesium in ceramic microcell UO2 fuels for accident-tolerant fuel
  Sang-Chae Jeon, Dong-Joo Kim, Dong Seok Kim, Jae-Hwan Yang, Kyoung-Seok Moon
  Journal of the European Ceramic Society.2021; 41(13): 6784.     CrossRef
• Compositional design of an amphoteric chemical trap for the capturing of gaseous cesium and iodine in UO2 nuclear fuel
  Sang-Chae Jeon, Dong-Joo Kim, Dong Seok Kim, Jae-Hwan Yang, Kyoung-Seok Moon
  Journal of the European Ceramic Society.2021; 41(4): 2892.     CrossRef

The grain growth behavior of M-type Sr hexaferrite (SrM) grains is investigated with the addition of MnCO₃. First, the SrM powder is synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction. The powder compacts of SrM are sintered at 1250°C for 2 h with various amounts of MnCO₃ (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 4.0 mol%). There is no secondary solid phase in any of the sintered samples. Relative density increases when MnCO₃ is added to the SrM. Obvious abnormal grain growth does not appear in any of the SrM samples with MnCO₃. The average grain size increases when 0.5 mol% MnCO₃ is added to the SrM. However, as the amount of MnCO₃ increase to over 0.5 mol%, the average grain size decreases. These observations allow us to conclude that the growth of SrM grains is governed by the two-dimensional nucleation grain growth mechanism, and the critical driving force for the growth of a grain decreases as the amount of MnCO₃ increases.

A facile one-pot wet chemical process to prepare pure anatase TiO₂ hollow structures using ammonium hexafluorotitanate as a precursor is developed. By defining the formic acid ratio, we fabricate TiO₂ hollow structures containing fluorine on the surface. The TiO₂ hollow sphere is composed of an anatase phase containing fluorine by various analytical techniques. A possible formation mechanism for the obtained hollow samples by self-transformation and Ostwald ripening is proposed. The TiO₂ hollow structures containing fluorine exhibits 1.2 - 2.7 times higher performance than their counterparts in photocatalytic activity. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of the TiO₂ hollow structures is attributed to the combined effects of high crystallinity, specific surface area (62 m²g^-1), and the advantage of surface fluorine ions (at 8%) having strong electron-withdrawing ability of the surface ≡ Ti-F groups reduces the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes.

The powder manufacturing process using the gas atomizer process is easy for mass production, has a fine powder particle size, and has excellent mechanical properties compared to the existing casting process, so it can be applied to various industries such as automobiles, electronic devices, aviation, and 3D printers. In this study, a modified A4032-xSn (x = 0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 wt.%) alloy with low melting point properties is investigated. After maintaining an argon (Ar) gas atmosphere, the main crucible is tilted; containing molten metal at 1,000°C by melting the master alloy at a high frequency, and Ar gas is sprayed at 10 bar gas pressure after the molten metal inflow to the tundish crucible, which is maintained at 800°C. The manufactured powder is measured using a particle size analyzer, and FESEM is used to observe the shape and surface of the alloy powder. DSC is performed to investigate the change in shape, according to the melting point and temperature change. The microstructure of added tin (Sn) was observed by heat treatment at 575°C for 10 min. As the content of Sn increased, the volume fraction increased to 1.1, 3.1, 6.4, and 10.9%.

The co-doping effect of aliovalent metal ions such as Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Sr²⁺, Ba²⁺, and Zn²⁺ on the photoluminescence of the Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ red phosphor, prepared by spray pyrolysis, is analyzed. Mg²⁺ metal doping is found to be helpful for enhancing the luminescence of Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺. When comparing the luminescence intensity at the optimum doping level of each Mg²⁺ ion, the emission enhancement shows the order of Zn²⁺ ≈ Ba²⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Sr³⁺> Mg²⁺. The highest emission occurs when doping approximately 1.3% Zn²⁺, which is approximately 127% of the luminescence intensity of pure Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺. The highest emission was about 127% of the luminescence intensity of pure Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ when doping about 1.3% Zn²⁺. It is determined that the reason (Y, M)2O3:Eu³⁺ has improved luminescence compared to that of Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ is because the crystallinity of the matrix is improved and the non-luminous defects are reduced, even though local lattice strain is formed by the doping of aliovalent metal. Further improvement of the luminescence is achieved while reducing the particle size by using Li₂CO₃ as a flux with organic additives.

Fluorescent nanoparticles are characterized by their unique properties such as luminescence, optical transparency, and sensitivity to various chemical environments. For example, semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots), which are nanophosphors doped with transition metal or rare earth ions, can be classified as fluorescent nanoparticles. Tuning their optical and physico-chemical properties can be carried out by considering and taking advantage of nanoscale effects. For instance, quantum confinement causes a much higher fluorescence with nanoparticles than with their bulk counterparts. Recently, various types of fluorescent nanoparticles have been synthesized to extend their applications to other fields. In this study, State-of-the-art fluorescent nanoparticles are reviewed with emphasis on their analytical and anti-counterfeiting applications and synthesis processes. Moreover, the fundamental principles behind the exceptional properties of fluorescent nanoparticles are discussed.

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• Preparation and Analysis of High Functional Silicone Hydrogel Lens Containing Metal Oxide Nanoparticles by Photopolymerizaion
  Ji-Won Heo, A-Young Sung
  Korean Journal of Materials Research.2022; 32(4): 193.     CrossRef

Metal matrix composites (MMCs), which are a combination of two or more constituents with different physical or chemical properties, are today receiving great attention in various areas, as they have high specific strength, corrosion resistance, fatigue strength, and good tribological properties. This paper presents a research review on the combination of matrix and reinforced materials, fabrication processes, and application status of metal matrix composites. In this paper, we aim to discuss and review the importance of metal composite materials as advanced materials that can be used in various applications such as transportation, defense, sports, and extreme environments. In addition, the applicability and technology development trends in new process technology fields such as additive manufacturing of metal composites will be described.