• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.335-343
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• 2019

In this study, $Sr_2Ni_{1.8}Mo_{0.2}O_{6-{\delta}}$ (SNM) with a double perovskite structure was investigated as an alternative anode for use in the $CH_4$ fuel in solid oxide fuel cells. SNM demonstrates a double perovskite phase over $600^{\circ}C$ and marginal crystallization at higher temperatures. The Ni nanoparticles were exsolved from the SNM anode during the fabrication process. As the SNM anode demonstrates poor electrochemical and electro-catalytic properties in the $H_2$ and $CH_4$ fuels, it was modified by applying a samarium-doped ceria (SDC) coating on its surface to improve the cell performance. As a result of this SDC modification, the cell performance improved from $39.4mW/cm^2$ to $117.7mW/cm^2$ in $H_2$ and from $15.9mW/cm^2$ to $66.6mW/cm^2$ in $CH_4$ at $850^{\circ}C$. The mixed ionic and electronic conductive property of the SDC provided electrochemical oxidation sites that are beyond the triple boundary phase sites in the SNM anode. In addition, the carbon deposition on the SDC thin layer was minimized due to the SDC's excellent oxygen ion conductivity.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2019

The Titanium oxide ($TiO_2$) is an attractive ceramic material which shows non-toxic, high refractive index, catalytic activity and biocompatibility, and can be fabricated at a low cost due to its high chemical stability and large anisotropy. $TiO_2$ nanoparticles have been prepared by sol-gel method. The pH of solution can affect the $TiO_2$ crystallinity during the formation of nanoparticles. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy in order to investigate their structural and photoluminescence properties. Through these analysis, the size of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles were found to be smaller than 5 nm. As the crystallinity of the nanoparticles increased, the emission of PL in the 550 nm region increased. Therefore, luminescence characteristics can be improved by controlling the crystallinity of the $TiO_2$ nanoparticles.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.621-631
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• 2018

In this study, catalyst was made through incipient wetness method using palladium (Pd) as noble metal, indium (In) as secondary metal, and montmorillonite (MK10) and Al pillared montmorillonite (Al-MK10) as supporters. The nitrate reduction rate of the catalysts was measured by batch experiments where H2 gas was used as reducing agent and formic acid as pH controller. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were all used to determine the elemental distribution of Pd, In, Al, and Si on catalysts. It was observed that Al pillaring increased the Al/Si elemental composition ratio and point of zero charge of MK10, but decreased its BET specific surface area and pore volume. The nitrate reduction rate of Al-MK10 Pd/In was 2.0 ~ 2.5 times higher than that of MK10 Pd/In using artificial groundwater (GW) in ambient temperature and pressure. Nitrate reduction rates in GW were 1.2 ~ 1.7 times lower than those in distilled deionized water (DDW). Nitrate reduction rates in acidic conditions were higher than those in neutral condition in both GW and DDW. The amount of produced NH3-N over degraded NO3- at acid conditions was lower than that of neutral condition. Even though the leaching of Pd after reaction was measured in DDW it was not detected when both Al-MK10 Pd/In and MK10 Pd/In were used in GW. The modification of montmorillonite as a supporter significantly increased the reductive catalytic activities of nitrates. However, the ratio of producing ammonia by-products to degraded nitrates in ambient temperature and pressure was similar.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.344-359
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• 2019

Effects of various types of zeolite on the catalytic performance of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of bio-oil obtained from waste larch wood pyrolysis were investigated herein. Bifunctional catalysts were prepared via wet impregnation. The catalysts were characterized through XRD, BET, and SEM. Experimental results demonstrated that HDO enhanced the fuel properties of waste wood bio-oil, such as higher heating values (HHV) (20.4-28.3 MJ/kg) than bio-oil (13.7 MJ/kg). Water content (from 19.3 in bio-oil to 3.1-16.6 wt% in heavy oils), the total acid number (from 150 in bio-oil to 28-77 mg KOH/g oil in heavy oils), and viscosity (from 103 in bio-oil to $40-69mm^2/s$ in heavy oils) also improved post HDO. In our experiments, depending on the zeolite support, NiFe/HBeta exhibited a high Si/Al ratio of 38 with a high specific surface area ($545.1m^2/g$), and, based on the yield of heavy oil (18.3-18.9 wt%) and HHV (22.4-25.2 MJ/kg), its performance was not significantly affected by temperature and solvent concentration variations. In contrast, NiFe/zeolite Y, which had a low Si/Al ratio of 5.2, exhibited the highest improved quality for heavy oil at high temperature, with an HHV of 28.3 MJ/kg at $350^{\circ}C$ with 25 wt% of solvent.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2021

A newly cloned 4-α-glucanotransferase (αGT) from Deinococcus geothermalis and two typical bacterial αGTs from Thermus scotoductus and Escherichia coli (MalQ) were investigated. Among 4 types of catalysis, the cyclization activity of αGTs that produces cycloamylose (CA), a valuable carbohydrate making inclusion complexes, was intensively studied. The new αGT, DgαGT, showed close protein sequence to the αGT from T. scotoductus (TsαGT). MalQ was clearly separated from the other two αGTs in the phylogenetic and the conserved regions analyses. The reaction velocities of disproportionation, cyclization, coupling, and hydrolysis of three αGTs were determined. Intriguingly, MalQ exhibited more than 100-fold lower cyclization activity than the others. To lesser extent, the disproportionation activity of MalQ was relatively low. DgαGT and TsαGT showed similar kinetics results, but TsαGT had nearly 10-fold lower hydrolysis activity than DgαGT. Due to the very low cyclizing activity of MalQ, DgαGT and TsαGT were selected for further analyses. When amylose was treated with DgαGT or TsαGT, CA with a broad DP range was generated immediately. The DP distribution of CA had a bimodal shape (DP 7 and 27 as peaks) for the both enzymes, but larger DPs of CA quickly decreased in the DgαGT. Cyclomaltopentaose, a rare cyclic sugar, was produced at early reaction stage and accumulated as the reactions went on in the both enzymes, but the increase was more profound in the TsαGT. Taken together, we clearly demonstrated the catalytic differences between αGT groups from thermophilic and pathogenic bacteria that and showed that αGTs play different roles depending on their lifestyle.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2022

In this study, an experiment was performed by adding Sb during NH3-selective catalytic reduction (NH₃-SCR) while varying calcination temperatures from 400 to 700 ℃ to improve the low temperature denitrification efficiency of VWTi catalyst. As a result, VWSbTi(500) and VWSbTi(600) catalysts corresponding to Sb calcination temperatures of 500~600 ℃ showed the best denitrification performance at low temperatures below 300 ℃. BET, XRD, Raman, XPS, H₂-TPR, and NH₃-TPD analyses were performed In order to confirm physicochemical properties according to the calcination temperature. In the case of VWSbTi(500) and VWSbTi(600), an acid site increased with the generation of W=O species, and superb activity at low temperatures was exhibited due to the excellent redox characteristics and increase in electron density of tungsten. Furthermore, in the case of VWSbTi(700), as the crystalline V₂O₅ structure was formed, the denitrification efficiency decreased. Thus the optimum calcination temperature during Sb addition process was confirmed.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.538-544
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• 2022

One of the most exciting areas for the development of alternative fuels is the production of biodiesel. To reduce the cost of biodiesel production, in situ trans-esterification has been introduced to simplify the production process by enabling extraction and trans-esterification to occur at a single stage in the presence of a catalyst. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of using non-corrosive and environmentally receptive flying jet plasma as an alternative catalytic route for in situ tran-sesterification of castor bean seeds (CBS). Upon optimizing the reaction conditions, it is elucidated that applying a low ratio of methanol to seeds (≤6:1) has resulted in hindering the in situ trans-esterification and leading to insignificant conversion. The yield of esters has increased from 80.5% to 91.7% as the molar ratio rose from 9:1 to 12:1. Excess alcohol beyond the ratio of 15:1 was shown to have a negative impact on the yield of the produced esters, attributed to an increase in the biodiesel portion prone to dissolving in the co-product (glycerol). An increase in the reaction bulk temperature from 40 to 55 ℃ led to a higher ester content by 50%. Further increases in the bulk temperature beyond 55 ℃ did not affect yields. Regarding the reaction period, the results have shown that 3 h of reaction is adequate for a higher biodiesel yield. The quality of the biodiesel obtained has demonstrated that all physicochemical properties meet the ASTM D6751 specifications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.299-309
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• 2023

Glutathione peroxidases (Gpx) are a group of antioxidant enzymes that protect cells or tissues against damage from reactive oxygen species (ROS). The Gpx proteins identified in mammals exhibit high catalytic activity toward glutathione (GSH). In contrast, a variety of non-mammalian Gpx proteins from diverse organisms, including fungi, plants, insects, and rodent parasites, show specificity for thioredoxin (TRX) rather than GSH and are designated as TRX-dependent peroxiredoxins. However, the study of the properties of Gpx in the environmental microbiome or isolated bacteria is limited. In this study, we analyzed the Gpx sequences, identified the characteristics of sequences and structures, and found that the environmental microbiome Gpx proteins should be classified as TRX-dependent, Gpx-like peroxiredoxins. This classification is based on the following three items of evidence: i) the conservation of the peroxidatic Cys residue; ii) the existence and conservation of the resolving Cys residue that forms the disulfide bond with the peroxidatic cysteine; and iii) the absence of dimeric and tetrameric interface domains. The conservation/divergence pattern of all known bacterial Gpx-like proteins in public databases shows that they share common characteristics with that from the environmental microbiome and are also TRX-dependent. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis shows that the bacterial Gpx-like proteins exhibit a star-like radiating phylogenetic structure forming a highly diverse genetic pool of TRX-dependent, Gpx-like peroxidases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.533-542
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• 2023

Exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG) hydrolyzes pectin acids and liberates mono-galacturonate, which plays an important role in juice extraction, and has rarely been reported. Exo-PG (AfumExoPG28A) from Aspergillus fumigatus belongs to the glycoside hydrolase 28 family. In this study, its gene was cloned and the protein was expressed and secreted in Pichia pastoris with a maximal activity of 4.44 U/ml. The optimal temperature and pH of AfumExoPG28A were 55℃ and 4.0, respectively. The enzyme exhibited activity over almost the entire acidic pH range (>20.0% activity at pH 2.5-6.5) and remained stable at pH 2.5-10.0 for 24 h. The K_m and V_max values of AfumExoPG28A were calculated by the substrate of polygalacturonic acid as 25.4 mg/ml and 23.6 U/mg, respectively. Addition of AfumExoPG28A (0.8 U/mg) increased the light transmittance and juice yield of plantain pulp by 11.7% and 9%, respectively. Combining AfumExoPG28A (0.8 U/mg) with an endo-PG (0.8 U/mg) from our laboratory, the enzymes increased the light transmittance and juice yield of plantain pulp by 45.7% and 10%, respectively. Thus, the enzyme's potential value in juice production was revealed by the remarkable acidic properties and catalytic activity in fruit pulp.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.421-430
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• 2023

Fe-Ni-Pt nanocatalysts were loaded on carbon black powders which were synthesized by a spontaneous reduction reaction of iron (II) acetylacetonate, nickel (II) acetylacetonate and platinum (II) acetylacetonate. The morphology and the loading weight of Fe-Ni-Pt nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analyzer. The amount of Fe-Ni-Pt catalyst supported on the carbon black surface was about 6.42-9.28 wt%, and the higher the Fe content and the lower the Pt content, the higher the total amount of the metal catalyst supported. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller Analysis (BET) specific surface area of carbon black itself without metal nanoparticles supported was 233.9 m²/g, and when metal nanoparticles were introduced, the specific surface area value was greatly reduced. This is because the metal nanocatalyst particles block the pore entrance of the carbon black, and thereby the catalytic activity of the metal catalysts generated inside the pores is reduced. From the I-V curves, as the content of the Pt nanocatalyst increased, the electrolytic properties of water increased, and the activity of the metal nanocatalyst was in the order of Pt > Ni > Fe.