• Carbon letters
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• v.18
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• pp.80-83
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• 2016

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.198-202
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• 2014

Amorphous agglomerates of carbon nanospheres (CNS) with a diameter range of 10-50 nm were synthesized using the solution combustion method. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed a densely packed high surface area of $SP^2$-hybridized carbon; however, there were no crystalline structural components, as can be seen from the scanning electron microscopy, HRTEM, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analyses. Electrochemical and thermo catalytic decomposition study results show that the material can be used as a potential electrode candidate for the fabrication of energy storage devices and also for the production of free hydrogen if such devices are used in a fluidized bed reactor loaded with the as-prepared CNS as the catalyst bed.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.871-874
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• 2014

Monodispersed carbon nanospheres (CNSs) were fabricated by a novel method and their structural properties were investigated. CNSs were prepared by the pyrolysis of nanospherical polystyrenes (PS). With the coating of $SiO_2$ shell, PS particles were effectively separated during pyrolysis process which resulted to CNSs with an average diameter of 40 nm. Moreover, CNSs could be crosslinked with each other through the bondings between the functional groups on their surfaces. Morphology of the fabricated carbon spheres and their crosslinked form were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.819-825
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• 2018

Porous nanofibers comprising hollow ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ nanospheres were prepared by applying both template method and Kirkendall diffusion effect to electrospinning process. During heat-treatment processes, the solid Fe nano-metals formed by initial heat-treatment in the carbon matrix were converted into the hollow structured ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ nanospheres. In particular, PS nanobeads added in the spinning solution were decomposed and formed numerous channels in the composite, which served as a good pathway for Kirkendall diffusion gas. The resulting porous nanofibers comprising hollow ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ nanospheres were applied as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. The discharge capacities of the nanofibers for the 30th cycle at a high current density of $1.0A\;g^{-1}$ was $776mA\;h\;g^{-1}$. The good lithium ion storage property was attributed to the synergetic effects of the hollow ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ nanospheres and the interstitial nanovoids between the nanospheres. The synthetic method proposed in this study could be applied to the preparation of porous nanofibers comprising hollow nanospheres with various composition for various applications, including energy storage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.489-499
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• 2019

Subunit vaccines are safer and more stable than live vaccines although they have the disadvantage of eliciting poor immune response. To develop a subunit vaccine, an effective delivery system targeting the key elements of the protective immune response is a prerequisite. In this study, oxidized carbon nanospheres (OCNs) were used as a subunit vaccine delivery system and tuberculosis (TB) was chosen as a model disease. TB is among the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide and an effective vaccine is urgently needed. The ability of OCNs to deliver recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) proteins, Ag85B and HspX, into bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) and dendritic cells (BMDCs) was investigated. For immunization, OCNs were mixed with the two TB antigens as well as the adjuvant monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL). The protective efficacy was analyzed in vaccinated mice by aerosol Mtb challenge with a virulent strain of Mtb and the bacterial burdens were measured. The results showed that OCNs are highly effective in delivering Mtb proteins into the cytosol of BMDMs and BMDCs. Upon immunization, this vaccine formula induced robust Th1 immune response characterized by cytokine profiles from restimulated splenocytes and specific antibody titer. More importantly, enhanced cytotoxic $CD8^+$ T cell activation was observed. However, it did not reduce the bacteria burden in the lung and spleen from the aerosol Mtb challenge. Taken together, OCNs are highly effective in delivering subunit protein vaccine and induce robust Th1 and $CD8^+$ T cell response. This vaccine delivery system is suitable for application in settings where cell-mediated immune response is needed.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.38-49
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• 2024

Wastewater treatment using membrane bioreactors has been extensively used to alleviate water shortage and pollution by improving the quality of the treated water discharged into the environment. However, membrane biofouling persistently holds back an MBR process by reducing the process efficiency. Herein, we synthesized carbon nanospheres (CNSs) with many hydrophilic oxygen groups and utilized them as an additive to prepare high-performance ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with hydrophilicity and porous pore structure. CNSs were found to form crescent-shaped pores on the membrane surface, increasing the mean surface pore size by about 40% without causing significant defects larger than bubble points, as the CNS content increased by 4.6 wt%. In addition, the porous pore structure of CNS composite membranes was also attributable to the CNS's isotropic morphologies and relatively low particle number density because the aforementioned properties contributed to preventing the polymer solution viscosity from soaring with the loading of CNS. However, too porous structure compromised the mechanical properties, such that CNS2.3 was the best from a comprehensive consideration including the pore structure and mechanical properties. As a result, CNS2.3 showed not only 2 times higher water permeability than CNS0 but also 5 times longer operation duration until membrane cleaning was required.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.288-288
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• 2013

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) is one of the most important rechargeable battery and portable energy storage for the electric digital devices. In particular, study about the higher energy capacity and longer cycle life is intensively studied because of applications in mobile electronics and electric vehicles. Generally, the LIB's capacity can be improved by replacing anode materials with high capacitance. The graphite, common anode materials, has a good cyclability but shows limitations of capacity (~374 mAh/g). On the contrary, silicon (Si) and germanium(Ge), which is same group elements, are promising candidate for high-performance LIB electrodes because it has a higher theoretical specific capacity. (Si:4200 mAh/g, Ge:1600 mAh/g) However, it is well known that Si volume change by 400% upon full lithiation (lithium insertion into Si), which result in a mechanical pulverization and poor capacity retention during cycling. Therefore, variety of nanostructure group IV elements, including nanoparticles, nanowires, and hollow nanospheres, can be promising solution about the critical issues associated with the large volume change. However, the fundamental research about correlation between the composition and structure for LIB anode is not studied yet. Herein, we successfully synthesized various structure of nanowire such as Si-Ge, Ge-Carbon and Si-graphene core-shell types and analyzed the properties of LIB. Nanowires (NWs) were grown on stainless steel substrates using Au catalyst via VLS (Vapor Liquid Solid) mechanism. And, core-shell NWs were grown by VS (Vapor-Solid) process on the surface of NWs. In order to characterize it, we used FE-SEM, HR-TEM, and Raman spectroscopy. We measured battery property of various nanostructures for checking the capacity and cyclability by cell-tester.