• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.35.1-35.1
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• 2011

New photovoltaic (PV) materials and manufacturing approaches are needed for meeting the demand for lower-cost solar cells. The prototypal thin-film photovoltaic absorbers (CdTe and $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$) can achieve solar conversion efficiencies of up to 20% and are now commercially available, but the presence of toxic (Cd,Se) and expensive elemental components (In, Te) is a real issue as the demand for photovoltaics rapidly increases. To overcome these limitations, there has been substantial interest in developing viable alternative materials, such as $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) is an emerging solar absorber that is structurally similar to CIGS, but contains only earth abundant, non-toxic elements and has a near optimal direct band gap energy of 1.4~1.6 ev and a large absorption coefficient of ${\sim}10^4\;cm^{-1}$. The CZTS absorber layers are grown and investigated by various fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation with a post sulfurization, sputtering, non-vacuum sol-gel, pulsed laser, spray-pyrolysis method and electrodeposition technique. In the present work, we report an alternative method for large area deposition of CZTS thin films that is potentially high throughput and inexpensive when used to produce monolithically integrated solar panel modules. Specifically, we have developed an aqueous chemical approach based on chemical bath deposition (CBD) with a subsequent sulfurization heat treatment. Samples produced by our method were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, absorbance and photoluminescence. The results show that this inexpensive and relatively benign process produces thin films of CZTS exhibiting uniform composition, kesterite crystal structure, and good optical properties. A preliminary solar cell device was fabricated to demonstrate rectifying and photovoltaic behavior.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.40-49
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• 2015

Nigeria's non-government organization (NGO) libraries for the visually impaired has over the years been at the forefront of information services provision to persons with visual impairment. This study adopted a survey research design to investigate use of alternative formats and perceptions of information services to the visually impaired, focusing on two purposively chosen NGO libraries for the visually impaired in Nigeria. Using a complete enumeration approach, data were gathered from 180 users of the libraries through the use of a structured questionnaire with a reliability score (${\alpha}=0.74$). Data from 112 (62.2%) of the 180 administered copies of a questionnaire that were retrieved were analysed. The study found that Braille materials had a high level of utilization ($\bar{x}=4.46$) and were the most frequently utilized (90.9%). Perception of information services by the visually impaired was positive while use of alternative formats was significantly and positively related to users' perception of information services (r = .041; p < 0.05). The study recommends improved transcription and investment in alternative formats and in e-resources. It also recommends collaborations to widen access as well as constant evaluation of services.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.15-22
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• 2015

The crop production technologies keep in improving and the cultivation becomes more standardization owing to the significant developments of various agricultural materials. The artificial soil and base system for root could be one of the major technologies for the modern cultivation especially for controlled horticulture. Although the perlite, cocopeat, and peat moss are the major components of the artificial soil and are broadly used for various application, there is a great need for the new alternative materials for overcoming the low nutrition and the possible shortage of raw materials. In this study, the application of oil palm EFB fiber as an alternative materials for artificial soil especially for the seeding pad components was evaluated. The changes in the structural properties and the functional properties such as moisture holding properties were compared by laboratory produced seeding pads with different mixture of oil palm EFB fiber. The addition of fibrillated EFB fiber resulted in the significant increase in durability of the seeding pad, which showed the possible application of EFB fiber to the seeding pad instead of the wood fiber (UBKP). The moisture holding properties and the germination condition characteristics of the EFB fiber showed the slight less than those of the cocopeat, which require more sophisticated study for improving the functional properties of seeding pad made of the EFB fiber.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.99.1-99.1
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• 2012

The thin-film photovoltaic absorbers (CdTe and $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$) can achieve solar conversion efficiencies of up to 20% and are now commercially available, but the presence of toxic (Cd,Se) and expensive elemental components (In, Te) is a real issue as the demand for photovoltaics rapidly increases. To overcome these limitations, there has been substantial interest in developing viable alternative materials, such as $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) is an emerging solar absorber that is structurally similar to CIGS, but contains only earth abundant, non-toxic elements and has a near optimal direct band gap energy of 1.4 - 1.6 eV and a large absorption coefficient of ~104 $cm^{-1}$. The CZTS absorber layers are grown and investigated by various fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation with a post sulfurization, sputtering, non-vacuum sol-gel, pulsed laser, spray-pyrolysis method and electrodeposition technique. In the present work, we report an alternative aqueous chemical approach based on chemical bath deposition (CBD) method for large area deposition of CZTS thin films. Samples produced by our method were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, absorbance and photoluminescence. The results show that this inexpensive and relatively benign process produces thin films of CZTS exhibiting uniform composition, kesterite crystal structure, and some factors like triethanolamine, ammonia, temperature which strongly affect on the morphology of CZTS film.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.225-230
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• 2003

Domestic small and medium ship companies have lack of leisure boat technologies and especially they have a problem about its low performance because of the overweight of boat hull. So it is necessary to have alternative manufacturing process to improve the mechanical properties of composite material. In this study, a vacuum curing system was developed as an alternative manufacturing process and then changed the fiber volume fractions of GFRP laminates. The properties of GFRP laminates such as void contents, Young's modulus and fracture toughness were determined for various fiber volume fractions.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.656-661
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• 2009

In this study, theoretical analysis and evaluation tests were performed to assess the pipe stability against compaction equipments and vehicle loads when conventional construction criteria for pre-insulation heating pipes are applied and the alternative material, crushed sand, are used for backfills. The research outcomes shows that (1) the conventional code criteria for pre-insulated heating pipes is well established to support compaction equipments and vehicle loads, (2) the crushed sands as an alternative is usable as backfill materials for pre-insulated heating pipes based on the suitability evaluations of various types of pipes, and (3) the crushed sand agree well with the design consideration of pre-insulated heating pipes construction in the points of economical efficiency and construction criteria.

• Electronic Materials Letters
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.784-792
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• 2018

In this letter, a standard deviation based optimization technique has been applied on High Resolution X-ray Diffraction symmetric and asymmetric scan results to accurately determine the Aluminum molar fraction and lattice relaxation of Molecular Beam Epitaxy grown compositionally graded Aluminum Gallium Nitride (AlGaN)/Aluminum Nitride/Gallium Nitride (GaN) heterostructures. Mathews-Blakeslee critical thickness model has been applied in an alternative way to determine the partially relaxed AlGaN epilayer thicknesses. The coupling coefficient determination has been presented in a different perspective involving sample tilt method by off set between the asymmetric planes of GaN and AlGaN. Sample tilt is further increased to determine mosaic tilt ranging between $0.01^{\circ}$ and $0.1^{\circ}$.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.143-150
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate an innovative hydroforming process for the cost-effective manufacturing of double layered tube with circumferentially corrugated patterns. Conventional double pipe heat exchanger has relatively poor heat transfer efficiency because of the limited contact area resulting from the concentrically arranged simple cylindrical structure. As a promising alternative to enhance heat transfer efficiency, double layered tube with corrugated internal pattern was considered in this study. To fabricate corrugated inner tube, innovative tube hydroforming system was developed. The customized loading paths were established using the simulated forming pressure and contracting stroke at various bar diameters. Experimentally obtained cross-sectional profiles were analyzed to evaluate the reliability and applicability of the hydroformed tube with various patterns. The results demonstrate that the proposed hydroforming process can be a feasible alternative for manufacturing high-performance double-tube heat exchangers.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.351-354
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• 2000

In recent years, the world development of alternative construction materials is associated with disposal problems of waste materials as a result of industrial activities. Technologies of refining gypsum to several gypsum modifications ($\alpha$ and $\beta$-hemihydrate) which can be used as construction material in a large scale do actually exist or are under development. This paper provides a technical and economic perspective of the waste gypsum treatment. Especially, several applications particularly of $\alpha$-hemihydrate will be presented, e.g. artificial gypsum aggregate and light-weight masonry units.

• Magazine of RCR
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.52-59
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• 2020