• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-34
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• 2021

Water supplies are decreasing in comparison to increasing clean water demands. Using nanofiltration is one of the most effective and economical methods to meet the need for clean water. Common methods for desalination are reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. However, pristine membranes lack the essential features which are, stability, economic efficiency, antibacterial and antifouling performances. To enhance the properties of the pristine membranes, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising and widely researched material for thin film composites (TFC) membrane due to their characteristics that help improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Modification of the membrane can be done on different layers. The thin film composite membranes are composed of three different layers, the top filtering active thin polyamide (PA) layer, supporting porous layer, and supporting fabric. Forward osmosis (FO) process is yet another energy efficient desalination process, but its efficiency is affected due to biofouling. Incorporation of GO enhance antibacterial properties leading to reduction of biofilm formation on the membrane surface. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an excellent process to generate clean energy from sea water and the biofouling of membrane is reduced by introduction of GO into the active layer of the TFC membrane. Different modifications on the membranes are being researched, each modification with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this review, modifications of nanofiltration membranes and their composites, characterization, and performances are discussed.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2021

Fluorination was carried out to improve the adsorption performance of pitch-based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) onto acetic acid. Both plasma and direct gas fluorination were used for fluorination, and the acetic acid gas adsorption performance of fluorinated ACFs was investigated. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is analyzed to determine the surface characteristics of ACFs, and the pore characteristics were analyzed by 77 K nitrogen adsorption. An adsorption performance was measured through gas chromatography, and it was confirmed that the breakthrough time of plasma fluorinated sample was 790 min and that the breakthrough time was delayed compared to that of using untreated one of 650 min. However, the breakthrough time of direct gas fluorinated sample was 390 min, indicating that the adsorption performance was inhibited. The plasma fluorinated ACFs showed an increase in the adsorption performance due to an electrostatic attraction between the acetic acid gas (CH3COOH) with the fluorine group introduced to the surface without changing its specific surface area. On the other hand, the specific surface area of the direct gas fluorinated ACFs decreased significantly up to 55%, and the physical adsorption effect on the acetic acid gas also reduced.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.24
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• pp.17-36
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• 2020

This paper describes the consevation treatment of eleven bigyeokjincheolloe bomb shells that were excavated from the Joseon-period local government office and fortress of Mujang-hyeon (present-day Mujang-myeon) in Gochang in 2018. It also provides information on the production method of the shells revealed through CT scanning, gamma-ray transmission imaging, and metallographic analysis. In preparation for the special exhibition "Bigyeokjincheolloe" at the Jinju National Museum in 2019 (July 16 to August 25), contaminants were removed from the shells and their surface was reinforced during the first phase of conservation treatment. Furthermore, the closures for the shells were identified for the first time. Regarding the production of the shells, the CT scanning and gamma-ray transmission imaging identified many blowholes in the interior of the body and the use of a chaplet on the side of one shell. The side of the body proved to be relatively thinner than the top and bottom. The traces of a hole for pouring molten metal into the center of the bottom indicates that molten metal was indeed emptied into the inverted body. In the metallographic analysis of two of the bodies and one lid, cementite and pearlite structures were identified on the body, indicating that it was made by casting. The presence of the ferrite structure with a partial distribution of the pearlite along with non-metallic inclusion in the lid suggested that the lid was made by forging.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.177-185
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• 2021

Clinical applications of translucent zirconia as well as traditional zirconia (3 mol% yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal, 3Y-TZP) are increasing. For this reason, studies on factors affecting the optical properties of dental zirconia have been continuously reported. The optical effect of dental zirconia may vary depending on the yttria content, the thickness of the prosthesis, the sintering process, polishing, glazing and cementation in laboratory and clinical procedures. Increasing the yttria concentration can reduce the masking effect. Translucency decreases as the thickness of the restoration increases, but the required thickness may vary depending on the properties of the zirconia block. The high-speed sintering method can shorten the manufacturing time, but in some cases, the translucency of the prosthesis may decrease. In addition, the optical properties can be affected by the surface roughness of zirconia and the polishing process. The use of an appropriate colored cement can help with the masking effect of zirconia and can be useful for color matching for more esthetic results.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2021

This study aimed to a basic research for the development of dye-sensitized solar cells that the wavelength band required for crop growth is passed, and the wavelength band that is not necessary for crop growth can be used for the generation of electricity. The transmissivity according to the illuminance was about 10% higher in the Blue filter and the Green filter than in the Red filter, but the transmissivity according to the PPFD was about 10% higher in the Red filter and the Blue filter than in the Green filter. In addition, the greenhouse attached with 30% infrared blocking filter was predicted to have a lower air temperature than other greenhouses, but it was investigated that there was no significant difference. Therefore, it was investigated that the application of the infrared cut filter would not be appropriate in a greenhouse that controls the temperature by opening a window. As a result of investigating, it was found that the Green and Blue filter greenhouses had the severe overgrowth and the stems grew weaker. The fresh weight of paprika in the infrared blocking filter greenhouse was the highest at 678.9g, and the growth of Red filter and the control greenhouses was relatively poor. Photosynthetic rate, amount of transpiration, and stomatal conductivity were the infrared blocking filter and control greenhouse higher than others. On the other hand, the water use efficiency did not show a big difference.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.311-318
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• 2022

Salicylic acid (SA), a phenolic compound, plays a pivotal role in regulating a wide range of physiological and metabolic processes in plants such as antioxidant cellular defense, photosynthesis, and biotic and abiotic stress responses during the growth and development. We examined the effect of exogenous SA application (100 mg·L^-1) on the growth, yield, photosynthetic characteristics, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant enzyme activity of chili pepper plants under high temperature and drought stress conditions. SA treatment induced increases of net photosynthetic rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs) and transpiration rate (Tr) under the stress condition with the highest level after the third treatment. The contents of malondialdehyde and H₂O₂ were significantly lower in the third treatment of SA compared to the control. The activity of ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, increased in treated plants by up to 247, 318, 55 and 54%, respectively compared to the nontreated control. There was no significant difference in the growth characteristics between SA-treated and nontreated plants, while the SA treatment increased marketable yield (kg/10a) by about 15% compared to the nontreated control. Taken together, these results suggest that foliar application of SA alleviates physiological damages caused by the combination of drought and heat stress, and enhances the photosynthetic capacity and antioxidant enzyme activities, thereby improving tolerance to a combination of water deficit and heat stress in chili pepper plants.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1101-1107
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• 2022

The leaf temperature is principally regulated by the opening and closing of stomata that is sensitive to various kinds of plant physiological stress. Thus, the analysis of thermal imagery, one of remote sensing technique, will be useful to detect crop physiological condition on smart farm system and phenomics platform. However, there are few case studies using a thermal imaging camera on the agricultural application. In this study, three cases are presented: the effect of lime fertilizer on the rice, the different physiological properties of soybean under shading condition, and the screening of soybean breeds for salinity tolerance characteristic. The leaf temperature measured by thermal imaging camera on the three cases was used effectively to the physiological change and characteristics. However, the thermal imagery analysis requires considering the accuracy of measured temperature and the weather conditions that affects to the leaf temperature.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.636-645
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• 2022

In this study, we investigated the adsorption characteristics of methyl orange (MO), an anionic dye, on ginkgo shell-based activated carbon (AC). For this purpose, ACs (GS-1, GS-2, and GS-4) with different textural properties were prepared using ginkgo shells and potassium hydroxide (KOH), a representative chemical activating agent. The correlation between the textural characteristics of AC prepared and the mixing ratio of KOH was investigated using nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The MO adsorption equilibrium experiment on the prepared ACs was conducted under different pH (pH 3~11) and temperature (298~318 K) conditions, and the results were investigated by Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and temperature-dependent Sips equations. The feasibility of the MO adsorption treatment process of the prepared AC was also investigated using the dimensionless Langmuir separation factor. The heterogeneous adsorption properties of MO for the prepared AC examined using the adsorption energy distribution function (AED) were closely related to the system temperature and textural characteristics of AC. The kinetic results of the batch adsorption performed at different temperatures can be satisfactorily explained by the homogeneous surface diffusion model (HSDM), which takes into account the external mass transfer, intraparticle diffusion, and active site adsorption. The relationship between the activation energy value obtained by the Arrhenius plot and the adsorption energy distribution function value was also investigated. In addition, the adsorption process mechanism of MO on the prepared AC was evaluated using Biot number.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.624-629
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• 2022

Formaldehyde is an indoor pollutant that is harmful to humans, such as causing respiratory and skin diseases. Nitrogen plasma treatment was performed to introduce nitrogen groups on the surface of the activated carbon fibers (ACFs), and the adsorption characteristics of formaldehyde for the surface-modified ACFs were considered. As the nitrogen gas flow rate increased, the content of nitrogen functional groups introduced to the surface of the ACFs increased by about 7%, and the ratio of nitrogen functional groups to each type present was similar. Ultramicropores increased on the ACFs surface due to the etching effect of plasma treatment. The adsorption efficiency of formaldehyde on the modified ACFs surface was also enhanced. However, under the nitrogen flow rate of 120 sccm or more, the surface of the ACFs was excessively etched, and the specific surface area and the formaldehyde adsorption capacity decreased. Therefore, the content of the nitrogen groups is the main factor in the adsorption of formaldehyde on the nitrogen plasma-treated ACFs, but it can be found that the adsorption efficiency of formaldehyde is improved when the ACFs have a suitable pore structure.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2022

Adsorption tower systems based on activated carbon adsorption towers have mainly been employed to reduce the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major cause of air pollution. However, the activated carbon currently used in these systems has a short lifespan and thus requires frequent replacement. An approach to overcome this shortcoming could be to develop metal oxide photocatalysis-activated carbon composites capable of degrading VOCs by simultaneously utilizing photocatalytic activation and powerful adsorption by activated carbon. TiO₂ has primarily been used as a metal oxide photocatalyst, but it has low economic efficiency due to its high cost. In this study, ZnO particles were synthesized as a photocatalyst due to their relatively low cost. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were deposited on the ZnO surface to compensate for the photocatalytic deactivation that arises from the wide band gap of ZnO. A microfluidic process was used to synthesize ZnO particles and Ag NPs in separate reactors and the solutions were continuously supplied with a pack bed reactor loaded with activated carbon powder. This microfluidic-assisted pack bed reactor efficiently prepared a Ag-ZnO-activated carbon composite for VOC removal. Analysis confirmed that Ag-ZnO photocatalytic particles were successfully deposited on the surface of the activated carbon. Conducting a toluene gasbag test and adsorption breakpoint test demonstrated that the composite had a more efficient removal performance than pure activated carbon. The process proposed in this study efficiently produces photocatalysis-activated carbon composites and may offer the potential for scalable production of VOC removal composites.