• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.210-217
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• 2022

Boron(B) is a rare resource used for various purposes such as glass, semiconductor materials, gunpowder, rocket fuel, etc. However, Korea depends entirely on imports for boron. Considering the global boron reserves and its current production rate, boron will be depleted on earth in 50 years. Thus, a process including proper adsorbent materials recovering boron from seawater is demanded. This research proposed carbonized nanofibers prepared from electrospun PAN(polyacrylonitrile) mats as promising materials to adsorb boron in aqueous solution. First, the mechanism of boron adsorption on carbonized nanofibers was investigated by DFT(density functional method)-based molecular modeling and the calculated energetics demonstrated that the boron chemisorption on the nitrogen-doped graphene surface by a two-step dehydration is possible with viable activation energies. Then, the electrospun PAN mats were stabilized in air and then carbonized in an argon atmosphere before being immersed in the boric acid aqueous solution. Analytically, SEM(scanning electron microscopy) and Raman measurements were employed to confirm whether the electrospinning and carbonization of PAN mats proceeded successfully. Then, XPS(X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) peak analysis showed whether the intended nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber surface was formed and boron was properly adsorbed on nanofibers. Those results demonstrated that the carbonized nanofibers prepared from electrospun PAN mats could be feasible adsorbents for boron recovery in seawater.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.378-384
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• 2023

In this study, we aim to derive the descriptor vector conditions that can simultaneously achieve the efficiency and accuracy of artificial Neural Network Potentials (NNP). The material system selected is silicon, a highly applicable material in various industries. Atomic structure-dependent energy data for training artificial neural networks were generated through density functional theory calculations. Behler-Parrinello type atomic-centered symmetric functions were employed as descriptors, and various length vector NNPs were generated. These NNPs were applied to reproduce the structure and mechanical properties of silicon materials in molecular dynamics simulations. In our findings, the minimum vector length for achieving both learning and computational efficiency while maintaining property reproducibility is approximately 50. It was also observed that, for the same conditions, incorporating more angle-dependent symmetric functions into the descriptor vector, could enhance the accuracy of NNP. Our results can provide guidelines for optimizing the conditions of descriptor vectors to achieve both efficiency and accuracy of NNP, simultaneously.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.499-504
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• 2009

Metals have often played important roles to some enzymatic reactions that are essential to biological processes. Therefore many scientists have studied the reaction mechanisms of catalytic reactions in metaloenzymes for many years. Methane MonoOxygenase (MMO) is an enzyme that oxidize methane to methyl alcohol. Recently Tolman et al. studied a model reaction for MMO, which is a hydroxide transfer reaction in Bis-($\mu$-oxo)-dicopper complex, and suggested several possible mechanisms. Later a two-step mechanism, which is hydrogen transfer followed by hydroxide rebound, was proposed from theoretical studies. In this study we calculated the reactant, product, and the transition state structures, and energetics of the first hydrogen transfer reaction using various DFT methods including recently developed the MO6 family of DFT, namely, MO6, MO6L, and MO6-2X. We found that the M06/6-31G(d,p)/LANL2DZ method reproduce the experimental XRD structure of reactants very well. The TS structures, barrier heights, and reaction energies depend very much on the size of the basis sets.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.704-710
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• 2017

Although the desalination technique using gas hydrate formation is at a development stage compared to the commercially well-established reverse osmosis (RO), it still draws attention because of its simplicity and moderate operational conditions especially when using refrigerants for guest gases. In this study, DFT (density functional theory)-based molecular modeling was employed to explain the energetics of the gas hydrate formation using HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) and HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) refrigerants. For guest gases, R-134a, R-227ea, R-236fa, and R-141b were selected and three cavity structures ($5^{12}$, $5^{12}6^2$, and $5^{12}6^4$) composed of water molecules were constructed. The geometries of guest gas, cavity, and cavity encapsulating guest gas were optimized by molecular modeling respectively and their located energies were then used for the calculation of binding energy between the guest gas and cavity. Finally, the comparison of binding energies was used to propose which refrigerant is more favorable for the gas hydrate formation energetically. In conclusion, R-236fa was the best choice in terms of thermodynamic spontaneity, less toxicity, and low solubility in water.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.59-70
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• 2017

$SiO_2$ is one of the most abundant constituents of the Earth's crust and mantle. Probing its electronic structures at high pressures is essential to understand their elastic and thermodynamic properties in the Earth's interior. The in situ high-pressure x-ray Raman scattering (XRS) experiment has been effective in providing detailed bonding transitions of the low-z materials under extreme compression. However, the relationship between the local atomic structures and XRS features at high pressure has not been fully established. The ab initio calculations have been used to overcome such experimental difficulties. Here we report the partial density of states (PDOS) of O atoms and the O K-edge XRS spectra of ${\alpha}-quartz$, ${\alpha}-cristobalite$, and $CaCl_2$-type $SiO_2$ phases calculated using ab initio calculations based on the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. The unoccupied O PDOSs of the $CaCl_2$-type $SiO_2$ calculated with and without applying the core-hole effects present significantly distinctive features. The unoccupied O p states of the ${\alpha}-quartz$, ${\alpha}-cristobalite$ and $CaCl_2$-type $SiO_2$ calculated with considering the core-hole effect present similar features to their calculated O K-edge XRS spectra. This confirms that characteristic features in the O K-edge XRS stem from the electronic transition from 1s to unoccupied 2p states. The current results indicate that the core-hole effects should be taken in to consideration to calculate the precise O K-edge XRS features of the $SiO_2$ polymorphs at high pressure. Furthermore, we also calculated O K-edge XRS spectrum for $CaCl_2$-type $SiO_2$ at ~63 GPa. As the experimental spectra for these high pressure phases are not currently available, the current results for the $CaCl_2$-type $SiO_2$ provide useful prospect to predict in situ high-pressure XRS spectra.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.309-319
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• 2005

The adsorption characteristics of gaseous molecules on the carbonaceous adsorbent have been investigated at various temperature and pressure with different pore sizes using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation method. The geometrical parameters and spectroscopic properties of adsorbates have been computed using density functional theory (DFT). At higher temperatures is the adsorption amount of adsorbates is decreased due to their vaporization. Considering the pore size effect, the adsorption characteristic depends on the adsorbate size, polarity and interaction between adsorbates, etc. At all cases employed in this study, the adsorption amount of adsorbates on the carbonaceous adsorbent is increased in the order $NH_3$ < $H_2S$ < $CH_3SH$, and this result is qualitatively in good agreement with the experimental observation.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.291-297
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• 2006

The equilibrium structures, relative energies and NBO analyses for the possible conformations and transition states which can exist on the internal rotation of CPDFB and CPCFB molecules have been investigated using DFT and ab initio methods with various basis sets. The interaction between bonding orbital ((C1-C3, C2-C3)) and antibonding orbital (n*(B9) and *(B9-Cl11)) was the main characteristic hyperconjugation in both molecules. In addition, the stabilization energy of CPDFB was 6.63kcal/mol and that of CPCFB was 6.97(E-form)/6.79(Z-form) kcal/mol for each conformation. The rotational barriers by internal rotation of BF2- and BFCl- functional groups were evaluated to be 5.3~6.7kcal/mol and 5.7~6.5kcal/mol respectively, which showed good agreement with the experimental values reported by previous dynamic NMR study. Finally, Z-form was more stable than E-form by 0.2 kcal/mol in CPCFB molecule and therefore Z-form was confirmed as global minimum.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2007

The oxazole plays an important role in the binding of lexitropsin to the guanine-cytosine base pair from minor groove of DNA. The geometry optimization is performed with DFT calculations for the two possible conformations of the protonated oxazole. The proton affinities are calculated at B3LYP level of theory with 6-31G* basis set for the optimized geometry. It is found that the proton affinites of the conformations in which the oxazole nitrogen is the protonation center are greater than that of the conformations in which the oxazole oxygen is the protonation center. This result is in good agreement with molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) contour map. The proton affinities are also studied for various substituted oxazoles with the electron-donating and -withdrawing groups to estimate substitutent effect on the proton affinity at the hydrogen bonding site of the oxazoles. it is shown that the electron-donating substituents increase the proton affinity of oxazole, while the electron-withdrawing substituents decrease it.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.169-176
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• 2013

Solid state lithium oxide compounds of layered structure, which has high stability of structure, are mainly used as the cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Recently, the investigation of Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) between active materials and electrolyte has been focusing to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries. For the investigation of the SEI, the study of surface properties of cathode materials and anode materials is also required in advance. $LiNiO_2$ and $LiCoO_2$ are very similar layered structure of cathode active materials and representative solid state lithium oxide compounds in LIBs. Various experimental and theoretical studies have been doing for $LiCoO_2$. The theoretical investigation of $LiNiO_2$ is not sufficient, however, even if experimental studies of $LiNiO_2$ are enough. In this study, the surface energies of nine facets of $LiNiO_2$ crystal facets were calculated by Density Functional Theory. In XRD data of $LiNiO_2$, (003), (104), (101), et al. facets are main surfaces in order. However, the results of calculation are different with XRD data. Thus, both (104) and (101) facets, which are energetically stable and measured in XRD, are mainly exposed in the surface of $LiNiO_2$ and it is expected that intercalation and de-intercalation of Li-ion will be affected by them.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.512-520
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• 2009

The theoretical calculations for $S_nO_n,\;S_nO_{2n},\;S_nO_{3n}\;(n\;=\;1{\sim}4)$ have been considered at the B3LYP level of theory with various basis sets. The optimized geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and binding energies are evaluated to elucidate the thermodynamic stability and spectroscopic properties. The harmonic vibrational frequencies for the molecules considered in this study show all real numbers implying true minima. The binding energies due to increasing of $S_nO_n,\;S_nO_{2n},\;S_nO_{3n}$ monomers are calculated at the MP2/6-311G** level of theory. For $S_nO_n\;(n\;=\;1{\sim}4)$, the binding energy difference is about 20∼25 kcal/mol by adding SO monomer. For $SO_2\;and\;SO_3\;(n\;=\;1{\sim}4)$, the binding energy differences are relatively small by comparing to $S_nO_n$.