• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1965-1968
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• 2008

The effects of carbon-coated silicon/graphite (Si/Gr.) composite anode on the electrochemical properties were investigated. The nanosized silicon particle shows a good cycling performance with a reasonable value of the first reversible capacity as compared with microsized silicon particle. The carbon-coated silicon/graphite composite powders have been prepared by pyrolysis method under argon/10 wt% propylene gas flow at $700{^{\circ}C}$ for 7 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis indicates that the carbon layer thickness of 5 nm was coated uniformly onto the surface silicon powder. It is confirmed that the insertion of lithium ions change the crystalline silicon phase into the amorphous phase by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The carbon-coated composite silicon/graphite anode shows excellent cycling performance with a reversible value of 700 mAh/g. The superior electrochemical characteristics are attributed to the enhanced electronic conductivity and low volume change of silicon powder during cycling by carbon coating.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.58-62
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• 2008

Utilization of carbon sources by Bacillus cereus D324, a biological control agent, and Pythium species, which causes rice seedling disease, was studied with the objective of increasing the efficacy of biological control by providing the biological control agent with specific beneficial carbon sources. D-galactose, D-sorbitol, and D-mannitol were poor carbon sources for Pythium spp. growth but were good for B. cereus D324 growth. Growth in a growth chamber of rice seeds coated with B. cereus D324 amended with specific carbon sources, such as D-galactose and D-sorbitol, showed significantly enhanced seedling emergence compared to seeds coated only with B. cereus D324. Field trials showed that both seedling emergence and yield increased, when the above specific carbon sources were added to B. cereus D324 in seed coating formulations. This result indicated that amending seed coating formulations with specific carbon sources could significantly increase seedling emergence and yield in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.141-146
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• 2011

Successful coating of high quality glassy carbon is introduced by applying high pressure during the curing process of dip-coated phenol resin on graphite. The dependence of the applied pressure on the quality of the glassy carbon layer has not been reported so far. Pressure was changed from 0 to 400 psi during curing at $200^{\circ}C$. After carbonized at $1100^{\circ}C$ in inert atmosphere for the 400 psicured sample, as a promising result, a thick (~ 3 mm) and smooth glassy carbon layer could be obtained without any breakage, and the yield of carbonization was remarkably increased. It is believed that the cross-linking of resins results in decreasing volatile contents and, thus, increasing the yield of the glassy carbon. The origin of the improvement is discussed on the basis of several analytical results including FE-SEM, FT-IT and Raman spectrum.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.30-39
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• 2001

This work was tamed out to apply a laser welding technique in joining between a Zn coated low carbon steel plate(SECC) and a free cutting carbon steel shaft(SUM24L) with or without W coating. Experiments were carried out and analysed by applying the FD(factorial design)method to obtain the optimum Laser welding condition. Optical microscopy, SEM, TEM and XRD analyses were performed in order to observe the microstructures in the fusion zone and the HAZ. Mechanical properties of the welded specimens were examined by microhardness test, tensile test and twist test. There was no flawed Zn in the fusion zone by EDS analysis. This means that during the welding process, Zn gas could be eliminated by appropriate shielding gas flow rate and butt welding gap. Ni coating itself did not influence on the tensile strength and hardness. However, twist bending strength and the weld depth of the Ni-coated free cutting carbon steel were lower as compared with those of the uncoated free cutting carbon steel. It was attributed to a lower absorbance of laser beam to the shin Ni surface. According to the results of the factorial design tests, the twist bending strength of welded specimens was primarily affected by pulse width, laser power, frequency and speed.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-474
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• 2018

The high theoretical energy density ($2600Wh\;kg^{-1}$) of Lithium-sulfur batteries and the high theoretical capacity of elemental sulfur ($1672mAh\;g^{-1}$) attract significant research attention. However, the poor electrical conductivity of sulfur and the polysulfide shuttle effect are chronic problems resulting in low sulfur utilization and poor cycling stability. In this study, we address these problems by coating a polyethylene separator with a layer of activated carbon powder. A lithium-sulfur cell containing the activated carbon powder-coated separator exhibits an initial specific discharge capacity of $1400mAh\;g^{-1}$ at 0.1 C, and retains 63% of the initial capacity after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, whereas the equivalent cell with a bare separator exhibits a $1200mAh\;g^{-1}$ initial specific discharge capacity, and 50% capacity retention under the same conditions. The activated carbon powder-coated separator also enhances the rate capability. These results indicate that the microstructure of the activated carbon powder layer provides space for the sulfur redox reaction and facilitates fast electron transport. Concurrently, the activated carbon powder layer traps and reutilizes any polysulfides dissolved in the electrolyte. The approach presented here provides insights for overcoming the problems associated with lithium-sulfur batteries and promoting their practical use.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.256-256
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• 2013

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) / polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric composite films for nanogenerator devices were fabricated by spray coating method. When the CNT/PVDF mixture solution passes through the spray nozzle with small diameter by the compressed nitrogen gas, electric charges are generated in the liquid by a triboelectric effect. Then randomly distributed ${\beta}$ phase PVDF film could be re-oriented by the electric field resulting from the accumulated electrical charges, and might be resulted in extremely one-directionally aligned ${\beta}$ phase PVDF film without additional electric field for poling. X-ray diffraction patterns were used to investigate crystal structure of the CNT/PVDF composite films. It was confirmed that they revealed extremely large portion of the ${\beta}$ phase PVDF crystalline in the film. Therefore we could obtain the poled CNT/PVDF piezoelectric composite films by the spray coating method without additional poling process. Charge accumulation and resulting electric field generation mechanism by spray coating method were shown in Fig. 1. The capacitance of the CNT/PVDF films increased by adding CNTs into the PVDF matrix, and finally saturated. However, the I-V curves didn't show any saturation effect in the CNT concentration range of 0~4 wt%. Therefore we can control the performance of the devices fabricated from the CNT/PVDF composite film by adjusting the current level resulted from the CNT concentration with the uniform capacitance value.

• Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry
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• v.68
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• pp.387-392
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• 2018

Various technical approaches and concepts have been proposed to develop conductive super-hydrophobic (SH) surfaces. However, most of these approaches are not usable in practical applications because of insufficient adhesion and cost issues. Additionally, durability and uniformity issues are still in need of improvement. The goal of this research is to produce a large-area conductive SH surface with improved adhesion performance and uniformity. To this end, carbon nanotubes (CNT) with a high aspect ratio and elastomeric polymer were utilized as a conductive filler and matrix, respectively, to form a coating layer. Additionally, nanoscale silica particles were utilized for stable implementation of the conductive SH surface. To improve the adhesion properties between the SH coating layer and substrate, pretreatment of the substrate was conducted by utilizing both wet and dry etching processes to create specific organic functional groups on the substrate. Following pretreatment of the surface, a zirco-aluminate coupling agent was utilized to enhance adhesion properties between the substrate and the SH coating layer. Raman spectroscopy revealed that adhesion was greatly improved by the formation of a chemical bond between the substrate and the SH coating layer at an optimal coupling agent concentration. The developed conductive SH coating attained a high electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness, which is advantageous in self-cleaning EMI shielding applications.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.255-259
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• 2022

In this study, we fabricated ZnS substrates with excellent transmittance in the mid-infrared region (3-5 ㎛) using hot pressing instead of conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Diamond-like carbon (DLC) was coated on either one or both sides of the ZnS substrates to improve their mechanical properties and transmittance efficiency. To reduce the reflectance and further improve transmittance in the mid-infrared region, anti-reflection (AR) coating was designed for DLC/ZnS /AR and AR/ ZnS /AR structures. The coating structure, microstructure, and optical properties of the AR-coated ZnS substrates were subsequently investigated by employing energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The FTIR spectroscopy results demonstrated that, in the mid-infrared region, the average transmittance of the samples with AR coating on one and both sides increased by approximately 18% and 27%, respectively. Thus, AR coating improved the transmittance of the ZnS substrates.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.442-447
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• 2022

Sealing treatment is a post-surface treatment of the plasma spray coating process to improve the corrosion resistance of the coating material. In this study, the effect of the sealing on the corrosion resistance and adhesive strength of the plasma spray-coated alumina coatings was analyzed. For sealing, an epoxy resin was applied to the surface of the coated specimen using a brush. The coated specimen was subjected to a salt spray test for up to 48 hours and microstructural analysis revealed that corrosion in the coating layer/base material interface was suppressed due to the resin sealing. Measurement of the adhesive strength of the specimens subjected to the salt spray test indicated that the adhesive strength of the sealed specimens remained higher than that of the unsealed specimens. In conclusion, the resin sealing treatment for the plasma spray-coated alumina coatings is an effective method for suppressing corrosion in the coating layer/base material interface and maintaining high adhesive strength.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.459-465
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• 2022

A pitch coating method was proposed for the purpose of improving the electrochemical properties of natural graphite. The synthesis conditions of pitch coating were optimized via measuring electrochemical properties of pitch-coated graphite anodes. As the synthesis temperature increased, the thermal stability was improved in addition to an increase in the softening point and residual carbon weight. However, the synthesis temperature of 430 ℃ resulted in the synthesis of a large amount of NI (NMP Insoluble) due to excessive condensation reaction. As the surface uniformity and coating thickness increased due to high thermal stability, the initial coulombic efficiency and rate capability of the pitch-coated graphite were improved. However, the graphite coated with the pitch containing excessive NI showed lower electrochemical properties than the uncoated graphite. NI had low dispersibility and formed spheres after heat treatment, so it formed the heterogeneous and thicker SEI layer. The optimum conditions for forming a uniform surface and an appropriate coating layer were investigated.