Herein we investigated the effect of the conductive agent on the electrochemical performance of the SiOx anode. SiOx anodes have a relatively low volume expansion (~160%) compared to Pure-silicon, but have a problem in that they have a poor electrical conductivity characteristic. In this study, physical and electrochemical measurements were performed using two 0-dimensional amorphous carbon conductive agents with different crystallinity and surface area. The crystal structure of the conductive agents and the local graphitization degree were analyzed through XRD and Raman, and the surface area of the particles was observed through BET. In addition, the electrical performance according to the graphitization degree of the conductive agents was confirmed through a 4-point probe. As a result of the electrochemical cycle and rate performance, it was confirmed that the performance of SiOx using a conductive agent having a low graphitization degree and a high surface area was improved. The results in this study suggest that the graphitization degree and surface area of the amorphous carbon conductive agent may play an important role in the SiOx electrode.

Raman spectra of a-C:H thin films deposited with an unbalanced magnetron sputtering system showed that the G peak shifted to a higher wavenumber as the target power density increased and ID/IG ratio increased from 0.902 to 1.012. Moreover, the transmittance of a-C:H films fabricated at 60 nm tended to decrease with increasing target power density; at 550 nm in the visible light region, the transmittance decreased from 69% to 58%. The rms surface roughness values of the a-C:H thin films decreased with increasing target power density, and varied from 1.11 nm to 0.71 nm. In order to achieve efficient light trapping, the light scattering at the rough interface must be enhanced. Consequently, the surface roughness of the thin film will decrease with the target power density. Further, the refractive index and reflectivity of the a-C:H thin films increased with increasing target power density; however, the Brewster angle decreased with the target power density. Hence, dye-sensitized solar cells using an a-C:H antireflective coating increased the CE, VOC, and JSC by approximately 8.6%, 5.5%, and 4.5%, respectively.

We investigated the tribological properties of amorphous carbon (a-C) films deposited with CrC interlayers of various thicknesses as the adhesive layer. A-C and CrC thin films were deposited using the unbalanced magnetron (UBM) sputtering method with graphite and chromium as the targets. CrC films as the interlayer were fabricated under a-C films, and various structural, surface, and tribological properties of a-C films deposited with various CrC interlayer thicknesses were investigated. With various CrC interlayer thicknesses under a-C films, the tribological properties of CrC/a-C films were improved; the increased film thickness exhibited a maximum high hardness of over 27.5 GPa, high elastic modulus of over 242 GPa, critical load of 31 N, residual stress of 1.85 GPa, and a smooth surface below 0.09 nm at the condition of 30-nm CrC thickness.