Li-Heng Kao

National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) | NKUST · Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

A superhydrophobic (SH) surface is typically constructed by combining a low-surface-energy substance and a high-roughness microstructure. Although these surfaces have attracted considerable attention for their potential applications in oil/water separation, self-cleaning, and anti-icing devices, fabricating an environmentally friendly superhydropho...

Spent coffee grounds (SCGs) contain abundant polysaccharides and several components with bioactivities. Despite many bio-functionalities, their bioactivities are not always satisfactory. Modifications of SCGs may overcome this issue. This work describes the method for reusing the SCGs as biological macromolecular supports and reducing agents to pre...

In this study, natural dyes were extracted from five plants, namely diospyros kaki, dioscorea cirrhosa, millettia (jixueteng), ecliptae, and macrocarpa nucuma, using environmentally-friendly solvents, including ethanol and deionized (DI) water. A plant mordant, tannin extracted from Emblica officinalis G., and a metal mordant, copper sulfate, were...

In this study, a simplified sol–gel method was used for the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted fabrication of transparent and porous TiO2 thin films on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrates by spin coating. The competing effects of the surface morphology, electron–hole recombination rate, and crystal phase of CTAB on the synthesis a...

Traditionally, syntheses of aluminum nitride (AlN) powders by thermal nitridation approaches are carried out at high temperature for several hours. In this study, high-density hexagonal AlN powders have been synthesized from aluminum powders at a relatively low temperature and short reaction time by the microwave plasma-induced nitridation approach...

Unique hierarchical cancellous-bone-like microstructures, composed of a TiO2 nanonet (nanofiber network), have been fabricated by a facile and cost-effective process that combines the electrospinning technique with the template method. The branching three-dimensional network trabeculae that form rod- and plate-shaped scaffolds have thickness of app...

Size-tunable hollow carbon spheres containing encapsulated Ag microparticles (HCSA) were fabricated using a one-pot method for the coupled synthesis and encapsulation. These spheres were formed by the catalyzed dehydration of glucose under hydrothermal conditions, using the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a sacrificial template t...

Nitrogen-doped TiO2 nanotubes with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity have been synthesized using commercial titania P25 as raw material by a facile P25/urea cohydrothermal method. Morphological and microstructural characteristics were conducted by transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen adsorption/desor...

Based on a novel solvent-free coextrusion and melt-spinning of polypropylene/(phenol formaldehyde-polyethylene)-based core/sheath polymer blends, a series of activated carbon nanofibers (ACNFs) have been prepared and their morphological and microstructure characteristics analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman...

A novel route based on the solvent-free core/sheath melt-spinning of polypropylene/(phenol formaldehyde–polyethylene) [PP/(PF–PE)] to prepare the carbon nanofiber (CNF) has been demonstrated in this study. The approach consists of three main steps: co-extrusion of PP (core) and a polymer blend of PF and PE (sheath), followed by melt-spinning, to fo...

Ordered mesoporous TiO(2) materials with an anatase frameworks have been synthesized by using a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (C(16)TMABr) as a structure-directing agent and soluble peroxytitanates as Ti precursor through a self-assembly between the positive charged surfactant S(+) and the negatively charged inorganic framework...

Under a lower carbonization temperature and with a mesophase pitch solution as the carbon precursor, ordered mesoporous carbon thick films with 35-nm pore size have been synthesized using SiO2 spheres as the template. The pore size of the mesoporous carbon thus fabricated was the smallest one ever reported using silica templates. XRD and Raman spec...

Nanocrystalline TiO(2) rods and hollow tubes with an engraved pattern on the surface have been prepared by a novel anionic template-assisted sol-gel synthesis via urea treatment and under hydrothermal condition. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) results indicate that these nanocrystallines consist predominantly of anatase TiO(2), with minor amounts of rut...

Two latent thermal catalysts, Dimethyl phenacylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate, (Benzyl-S), and triphenyl benzyl phosphonuim hexafluoroantimonate, (Benzyl-P), were synthesized. Both these synthesized catalysts fulfill requirements for a rapid cure at a moderately elevated temperature in curing the epoxy resins of neat 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3,4-e...

Two latent thermal catalysts, Dimethyl phenacylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate, (Benzyl-S), and triphenyl benzyl phosphonuim hexafluoroantimonate, (Benzyl-P), were synthesized. Both these synthesized catalysts fulfill requirements for a rapid cure at a moderately elevated temperature in curing the epoxy resins of neat 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3,4-e...