• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.356-360
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• 2007

Recently, dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) composed of nanoporous $TiO_2$, light-sensitive dyes, electrolytes, and counter electrode have been received much attention. Nanostructured particles with higher surface area for the higher adsorption of Ru (II) dye are required to increase the quantity of light absorption. Also, it has been reported that the key factor to achieve high energy conversion efficiency in the photoelectrode of DSSC is the heat treatment of $TiO_2$ paste with acid addition. In this work, we investigated the influence of acid treatment of $TiO_2$ solar cell on the photovoltaic performance of DSSC. The working electrodes fabricated in this work were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM). In addition, the influence of nanostructured photoelectrode fabricated with the acid-treated paste on the energy conversion efficiency was investigated on the basis of photocurrent-potential curves. It was found that the influence of acid-treated paste on the photovoltaic efficiency was significant.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2012

In this study, a cationic surfactant BHMAS (N,N-bis-(3'-n-dodecyloxy-2'-hydroxypropyl)-N-methyl-2-hydroxyethylammonium methyl sulfate) having two lauryl and three hydroxyl groups was synthesized by the reaction of n-dodecyl glycidyl ether and 2-aminoethanol followed by the quarternization with dimethyl sulfate. The structure of the product was elucidated by $^{1}H-NMR$ and FT-IR. The CMC (critical micelle concentration) and surface tension of BHMAS at CMC condition were found to be $9.12\;{\times}\;10^{-4}$ mol/L and 28.71 mN/m respectively. Dynamic surface tension measurements using a maximum bubble pressure tensiometer indicated that a relatively long time was required to saturate the interface between air and aqueous surfactant solution. The interfacial tension measured between 1 wt% surfactant solution and n-decane reached an equilibrium value of 0.045 mN/m in 5 min. The adsorption capacity of the synthesized surfactant was observed to be excellent, which suggests that the surfactant can be used as a softening agent during a laundry process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.348-348
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• 2011

Carbon nanotube (CNT) field effect transistors and sensors use CNT as a current channel, of which the resistance varies with the gate voltage or upon molecule adsorption. Since the performance of CNT devices depends very much on the CNT/metal contact resistance, the CNT/electrode contact must be stable and the contact resistance must be small. Depending on the geometry of CNT/electrode contact, it can be categorized into the end-contact, embedded-contact (top-contact), and side-contact (bottom-contact). Because of difficulties in the sample preparation, the end-contact CNT device is seldom practiced. The embedded-contact in which CNT is embedded inside the electrode is desirable due to its rigidness and the low contact resistance. Fabrication of this structure is complicated, however, because each CNT has to be located under a high-resolution microscope and then the electrode is patterned by electron beam lithography. The side-contact is done by depositing CNT electrophoretically or by precipitating on the patterned electrode. Although this contact is fragile and the contact resistance is relatively high, the side-contact by far has been widely practiced because of its simple fabrication process. Here we introduce a simple method to embed CNT inside the electrode while taking advantage of the bottom-contact process. The idea is to utilize a eutectic material as an electrode, which melts at low temperature so that CNT is not damaged while annealing to melt the electrode to embed CNT. The lowering of CNT/Au contact resistance upon annealing at mild temperature has been reported, but the electrode in these studies did not melt and CNT laid on the surface of electrode even after annealing. In our experiment, we used a eutectic Au/Al film that melts at 250$^{\circ}C$. After depositing CNT on the electrode made of an Au/Al thin film, we annealed the sample at 250$^{\circ}C$ in air to induce eutectic melting. As a result, Au-Al alloy grains formed, under which the CNT was embedded to produce a rigid and low resistance contact. The embedded CNT contact was as strong as to tolerate the ultrasonic agitation for 90 s and the current-voltage measurement indicated that the contact resistance was lowered by a factor of 4. By performing standard fabrication process on this CNT-deposited substrate to add another pair of electrodes bridged by CNT in perpendicular direction, we could fabricate a CNT cross junction. Finally, we could conclude that the eutectic alloy electrode is valid for CNT sensors by examine the detection of Au ion which is spontaneously reduced to CNT surface. The device sustatined strong washing process and maintained its detection ability.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.239-248
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• 2018

In this study, pervaporation experiments of water, ethanol and IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) single components and water/ethanol, water/IPA mixtures were carried out using zeolite 4A membranes developed by Fine Tech Co. Ltd. Those membranes were fabricated by hydrothermal synthesis (growth in hydrothermal condition) after uniformly dispersing the zeolite seeds on the tubular alumina supports. They have a pore size of about $4{\AA}$ by ion exchange of $Na^+$ to the LTA structure with Si/Al ratio of 1.0, and shows strong hydrophilic property. Physical characteristics of prepared membranes were evaluated by using SEM (surface morphology), porosimetry (macro- or meso- pore analysis), BET (micropore analysis), and load tester (compressive strength). Pervaporation experiments with various temperature and concentration conditions confirmed that the zeolite 4A membrane can selectively separate water from ethanol and IPA. Water/ethanol separation factor was over 3,000 and water/IPA separation factor was over 1,500 (50 : 50 wt%, initial feed concentration). Pervaporation behaviors of single components and binary mixtures were predicted using ACM (activity coefficient model), GMS (generalized Maxwell Stefan) model and DGM (Dusty Gas Model). The adsorption and diffusion coefficients of the zeolite top layer were obtained by parameter estimation using GA (Genetic Algorithm, stochastic optimization method). All the calculations were carried out using MATLAB 2018a version.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.361-368
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• 2000

This study was carried out to investigate the influence of artificial zeolite on the change of temperature, gas emission, water content and chemical properties during the composting process with the mixture of animal feces, broken bark and extruded rice hull. Artificial zeolite was added 0, 0.5, 1, 3 and 5% volume of the raw composting material, and proceeded 1.2m every day with mobile stacking escalator. Temperature was increased, and water content was decreased in the composting pile by addition of artificial zeolite. This caused to accelerate decomposition of organic matter during composting. $NH_3$ was emitted the highest at 6th day after stacking, then decreased gradually. And addition of artificial zeolite caused to decrease greatly in $NH_3$ emission from composting pile. As result of this, content of nitrogen in the compost was increased by addition of artificial zeolite. Emission of $CH_4$ was the highest at early stacking stage, and that was decreased drastically at 8th day. Emission of $CH_4$ was also decreased greatly by addition of artificial zeolite at 5th days after stacking. It may be resulted from adsorption of $CH_4$ into the molecular sieve structure of artificial zeolite and low water content by high temperature fermentation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.737-741
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• 2005

In this study, the effect of copper content on the NO removal efficiency by Cu/MCM-41 has been investigated. MCM-41 was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using a gel mixture of colloidal silica solution and cetyltrimethylammonium. Cu/MCM-41 was manufactured with copper content (5, 10, 20, and 40%) in Cu(II) acetylacetonate. The surface properties of MCM-41 were investigated by using pH, XRD, and FT-IR analyses. $N_2/77K$ adsorption isotherm characteristics, including the specific surface area and micropore volume were studied by BET's equation and Boer's t-plot methods. NO removal efficiency was confirmed by gas chromatography technique. From the experimental results, the MCM-41 was analyzed to have the surface functional groups of Si-OH and Si-O-Si and the characteristic diffraction lines (100), (110), (200), and (210) corresponding to a hexagonal arrangement structure. The copper content supported on MCM-41 appeared to increase the NO removal efficiency in spite of decreasing the specific surface areas or micropore volumes. Consequently, it was found that the copper content in Cu/MCM-41 played an important role in improving the NO removal efficiency, which was mainly attributed to the catalytic reactions.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.300-305
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• 2010

Zaltoprofen is a propionic acid derivative of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and has been widely used in the treatment of a number of arthritic conditions or lumbago. Zaltoprofen has low water solubility and low bioavailability, therefore great efforts have been devoted to enhance the extent of drug adsorption. In this study, zaltoprofen was formulated into a tablet to enhance the bioavailability and to achieve sustained-release using additives such as lactose monohydrate, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC). Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) were employed to study the structure and crystallization of zaltoprofen in the tablet with various contents of additives. It was found that additives had interactions with zaltoprofen and inhibited the crystallization of zaltoprofen. Tablets containing low viscosity HPMC showed a higher release than those containing high viscosity HPMC. Also, as the amount of CMC increased zaltoprofen release increased.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.223-231
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• 2021

In order to address many issues associated with large volume changes of silicon, which has very low electrical conductivity but offers about 10 times higher theoretical capacity than graphite (Gr), a silicon nanoparticles/hollow carbon (SiNP/HC) composite having bimodal-mesopores was prepared using silica nanoparticles as a template. A control SiNP/C composite without a hollow structure was also prepared for comparison. The physico-chemical and electrochemical properties of SiNP/HC were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements for surface area and pore size distribution, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, galvanostatic cycling, and cyclic voltammetry tests to compare them with those of the SiNP/C composite. The SiNP/HC composite showed significantly better cycle life and efficiency than the SiNP/C, with minimal increase in electrode thickness after long cycles. A hybrid composite, SiNP/HC@Gr, prepared by physical mixing of the SiNP/HC and Gr at a 50:50 weight ratio, exhibited even better cycle life and efficiency than the SiNP/HC at low capacity. Thus, silicon/carbon composites designed to have hollow spaces capable of accommodating volume expansion were found to be highly effective for long cycle life of silicon-based composites. However, further study is required to improve the low initial coulombic efficiency of SiNP/HC and SiNP/HC@Gr, which is possibly because of their high surface area causing excessive electrolyte decomposition for the formation of solid-electrolyte-interface layers.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.559-569
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• 2018

Catalytic supports made of carbon have many advantages, such as high coking resistance, tailorable pore and surface structures, and ease of recycling of waste catalysts. Moreover, they do not require pre-reduction. In this study, ash-free coal (AFC) was obtained by the thermal extraction of carbonaceous components from raw coal and its performance as a carbon catalytic support was compared with that of well-known activated carbon (AC). Nickel was dispersed on the carbon supports and the resulting catalysts were applied to the steam reforming of toluene (SRT), a model compound of biomass tar. Interestingly, nickel catalysts dispersed on AFC, which has a very small surface area (${\sim}0.13m^2/g$), showed higher activity than those dispersed on AC, which has a large surface area ($1,173A/cm^2$). X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the particle size of nickel deposited on AFC was smaller than that deposited on AC, with the average values on AFC ${\approx}11nm$ and on AC ${\approx}23nm$. This proved that heteroatomic functional groups in AFC, such as carboxyls, can provide ion-exchange or adsorption sites for the nano-scale dispersion of nickel. In addition, the pore structure, surface morphology, chemical composition, and chemical state of the prepared catalysts were analyzed using Brunauer-Emmett-Taylor (BET) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.611-619
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• 2019

This study was carried out to investigate fuel decomposition characteristics and coke formation according to types of endothermic fuels and methods of catalyst molding. Methylcyclohexane (MCH), n-dodecane, and exo-tetrahydrodipentadiene (exo-THDCP) were used as the endothermic fuels. As a catalyst, USY720 supported with platinum was used. It was manufactured by only using pressure to disk-type, or pelletized with a binder and a silica solution. The characteristics of the catalysts according to the molding method were analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm, and ammonia temperature programmed desorption analysis. The reaction was carried out under conditions of high temperature and high pressure ($500^{\circ}C$, 50 bar) in which the fuel could exist in a supercritical state. The product was analyzed by gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer and the coke produced by the catalyst was analyzed by thermogravimetric analyzer. After the reaction, the composition of the products varied greatly depending on the structure of the fuel. In addition, the crystallinity and surface properties of the catalysts were not changed by the method of catalyst molding, but the changes of the acid sites and the pore characteristics were observed, which resulted in changes in the amount and composition of products and coke.