• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.453-461
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• 2022

A chemically sintered and binder-free paste of TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) was prepared using a binary-liquid mixture of 1-octanol and CCl₄. The 1:1 (v/v) complex of CCl₄ and 1-octanol easily interacted chemically with the TiO₂ NPs and induced the formation of a highly viscous paste. The as-prepared binary-liquid paste (P_BL)-based TiO₂ film exhibited the complete removal of the binary-liquid and residuals with the subsequent low-temperature sintering (~150℃) and UV-O₃ treatment. This facilitated the fabrication of TiO₂ photoanodes for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (f-DSSCs). For comparison purposes, pure 1-octanol-based TiO₂ paste (P_O) with moderate viscosity was prepared. The P_BL-based TiO₂ film exhibited strong adhesion and high mechanical stability with the conducting oxide coated glass and plastic substrates compared to the P_O-based film. The corresponding low-temperature sintered P_BL-based f-DSSC showed a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 3.5%, while it was 2.0% for P_O-based f-DSSC. The P_BL-based low- and high-temperature (500℃) sintered glass-based rigid DSSCs exhibited the PCE of 6.0 and 6.3%, respectively, while this value was 7.1% for a 500℃ sintered rigid DSSC based on a commercial (or conventional) paste.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.856-862
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to optimize the slurry contents and salt concentrations for ethanol production from hydrolysates of the seaweed Eucheuma spinosum. A monosaccharide concentration of 44.2 g/l as 49.6% conversion of total carbohydrate of 89.1 g/l was obtained from 120 g dw/l seaweed slurry. Monosaccharides from E. spinosum slurry were obtained by thermal acid hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis. Addition of activated carbon at 2.5% (w/v) and the adsorption time of 2 min were used in subsequent adsorption treatments to prevent the inhibitory effect of HMF. The adsorption surface area of the activated carbon powder was 1,400-1,600 m²/g and showed selectivity to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) from monosaccharides. Candida tropicalis KCTC 7212 was cultured in yeast extract, peptone, glucose, and high-salt medium, and exposed to 80, 90, 100, and 110 practical salinity unit (psu) salt concentrations in the lysates. The 100 psu salt concentration showed maximum cell growth and ethanol production. The ethanol fermentations with activated carbon treatment and use of C. tropicalis acclimated to a high salt concentration of 100 psu produced 17.9 g/l of ethanol with a yield (Y_EtOH) of 0.40 from E. spinosum seaweed.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.586-591
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• 2001

This research investigated the feasibility of the accelerated carbonation of cement waste forms with carbon dioxide in a supercritical state. Hydraulic cement has been used as a main solidification matrix for the immobilization of radioactive and/or hazardous wastes. As a result of the hydration reaction for major compounds of portland cement, portlandite (Ca(OH)$_2$) is present in the hydrated cement waste form. The chemical durability of a cement form is expected to increase by converting portlandite to the less soluble calcite (CaCO$_3$). For a faster reaction of portlandite with carbon dioxide, SCCD (supercritical carbon dioxide) rather than gaseous $CO_2$, in ambient pressure is used. The cement forms fabricated with an addition of slated lime or Na-bentonite were cured under ambient conditions for 28days and then treated with SCCD in an autoclave maintained at 34$^{\circ}C$ and 80atm. After SCCD treatment, the physicochemical properties of cement matrices were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of accelerated carbonation reaction. Conversion of parts of portlandite to calcite by the carbonation reaction with SCCD was verified by XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis and the composition of portlandite and calcite was estimated using thermogravimetric (TG) data. After SCCD treatment, tile cement density slightly increased by about 1.5% regardless of the SCCD treatment time. The leaching behavior of cement, tested in accordance with an ISO leach test method at 7$0^{\circ}C$ for over 300 days, showed a proportional relationship to the square root of the leaching time, so the major leaching mechanism of cement matrix was diffusion controlled. The cumulative fraction leached (CFL) of calcium decreased by more than 50% after SCCD treatment. It might be concluded that the enhancement of the characteristics of a cement matrix by an accelerated carbonation reaction with SCCD is possible to some extent.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.1 no.1 s.1
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• pp.127-138
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• 2001

Although Carbon/Carbon Composites(CFRCs) have excellent mechanical properties at high temperature, the disadvantage of combustion in air restricts their applications. Thus a lot of investments have been studied to improve the drawback of CFRCs. In this study, SiC used as a thermal protective coating material possesses almost the same expansion coefficient compared to that of carbon, so SiC was coated on 4D (directional) CFRCs by Pack-Cementation process. For the 4D CFRCs coated with SiC, optical microscopy observations were performed to estimate the coating mechanism involved and TGA tests were also performed to evaluate the improvement of combustion resistance. And their high temperature combustion properties were investigated by the arc torch plasma test. From the results, it is found that the mechanical properties and high temperature combustion properties of the 4D(directional) CFRCs coated with SiC were much better than bare 4D CFRCs.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.186-190
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• 2009

This study is purposed to analyze thermodynamic properties on the hydrogen production by dimethyl ether steam reforming. Various reaction conditions of temperatures (300~1500 K), feed compositions (steam/carbon = 1~7), and pressures (1, 5, 10 atm) were applied to investigate the effects of the reaction conditions on the thermodynamic properties of dimethyl ether steam reforming. An endothermic steam reforming competed with an exothermic water gas shift reaction and an exothermic methanation within the applied reaction condition. Hydrogen production was initiated at the temperature of 400 K and the production rate was promoted at temperatures exceeding 550 K. An increase of steam to carbon ratio (S/C) in feed mixture over 1.5 resulted in the increase of the water gas shift reaction, which lowered the formation of carbon monoxide. The maximum hydrogen yield with minimizing loss of thermodynamic conversion efficiency was achieved at the reaction conditions of a temperature of 900 K and a steam to carbon ratio of 3.0.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.103-107
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• 2005

An attempt was made to correlate the polymerization temperature and rheological and thermal properties of acrylonitrile (AN)-acrylamide (AM) copolymers. The copolymers were synthesized at different polymerization temperature. The copolymer structure was characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and Infrared spectrum (IR). The rheological and thermal properties were investigated by a viscometer and differential scanning calorimeter-thermogrametric (DSC-TG) analysis, respectively. When the polymerization temperature increased from $41^{\circ}C\;to\;65^{\circ}C$, the molecular weight $(\bar{M}_w)$ of copolymers decreased from 1,090,000 to 250,000, while its conversion increased from $18\%\;to\;63\%$, and the polymer composition changed slightly. To meet the requirements of carbon fibers, the rheological and thermal properties of products were also investigated. It was found that the relationship between viscosity and $\bar{M}_w$ was nonlinear and the viscosity index (n) decreased from 3.13 to 2.69, when the solution temperature increased from $30^{\circ}C\;to\;65^{\circ}C$. This suggests the dependence of viscosity upon $\bar{M}_w$ is higher at lower solution temperature. According to the result of activation energy, the sensivity of viscosity to solution temperature is higher for AN-AM copolymers synthesized at higher polymerization temperature. The result of thermal analysis shows that the copolymers obtained at higher polymerization temperature are easier to cyclization evidenced from lower initiation temperature. The weight loss behavior changed irregularly with polymerization temperature due to irregular change of liberation heat.

• Carbon letters
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• v.21
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• pp.61-67
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• 2017

We report the use of carrot, a new and inexpensive biomaterial source, for preparing high quality carbon dots (CDs) instead of semi-conductive quantum dots for bioimaging application. The as-derived CDs possessing down and up-conversion photoluminescence features were obtained from carrot juice by commonly used hydrothermal treatment. The corresponding physiochemical and optical properties were investigated by electron microscopy, fluorescent spectrometry, and other spectroscopic methods. The surfaces of obtained CDs were highly covered with hydroxyl groups and nitrogen groups without further modification. The quantum yield of as-obtained CDs was as high as 5.16%. The cell viability of HaCaT cells against a purified CD aqueous solution was higher than 85% even at higher concentration ($700{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$) after 24 h incubation. Finally, CD cultured cells exhibited distinguished blue, green, and red colors, respectively, during in vitro imaging when excited by three wavelength lasers under a confocal microscope. Offering excellent optical properties, biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and good cellular imaging capability, the carrot juice derived CDs are a promising candidate for biomedical applications.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.525-531
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• 2021

Carbon-encapsulated Ni catalysts are synthesized by an electrical explosion of wires (EEW) method and applied for CO₂ methanation. We find that the presence of carbon shell on Ni nanoparticles as catalyst can positively affect CO₂ methanation reaction. Ni@5C that is produced under 5 % CH₄ partial pressure in Ar gas has highest conversions of 68 % at 350 ℃ and 70 % at 400 ℃, which are 73 and 75 % of the thermodynamic equilibrium conversion, respectively. The catalyst of Ni@10C with thicker carbon layer shows much reduced activity. The EEW-produced Ni catalysts with low specific surface area outperform Ni catalysts with high surface area synthesized by solution-based precipitation methods. Our finding in this study shows the possibility of utilizing carbon-encapsulated metal catalysts for heterogeneous catalysis reaction including CO₂ methanation. Furthermore, EEW, which is a highly promising method for massive production of metal nanoparticles, can be applied for various catalysis system, requiring scaled-up synthesis of catalysts.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.316-326
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• 2023

Development of carbon-neutral fuel production technologies to solve climate change issues is progressing worldwide. Among them, methane can be produced through the synthesis of hydrogen produced by renewable energy and carbon dioxide captured through a CO₂ methanation reaction, and the fuel produced in this way is called synthetic methane or e-methane. The CO₂ methanation reaction can be conducted via biological or thermochemical methods. In this study, a 30 Nm³/h thermochemical CO₂ methanation process consisting of an isothermal reactor and an adiabatic reactor was used. The CO₂ conversion rate and methane concentration according to the temperature measurement results at the center and outside of the adiabatic reactor were analyzed. The gas flow into the adiabatic reactor was found to reach equilibrium after about 1.10 seconds or more by evaluating the residence time. Furthermore, experimental and analysis results were compared to evaluate performance of the reactor.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.162-167
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• 2024

Fossil fuels have been main energy source to people. However, enormous amount of CO₂ was emitted over the world , resulting in global climate crisis today. Recently, solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) is getting attention as an effective way for producing H₂, a clean energy resource for the future. Also, SOEC could be applicable to reverse water-gas shift reaction process due to its high-temperature operating condition. Here, SOEC system was utilized for both H₂ production and CO₂ reduction process, allowing product gas composition change by controlling operating conditions.