• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.80-84
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• 2006

The removal efficiency of Cu and Fe contaminants on the silicon wafer surface was examined to investigate the effect of cleaning solutions on the behavior of metallic impurities. Silicon wafers were intentionally contaminated with Cu and Fe solutions by spin coating and cleaned in different types of cleaning solutions based on $NH_4OH/H_2O_2/H_2O\;(SC1),\;H_2O_2/HCl/H_2O$ (SC2), and/or HCl/$H_2O$ (m-SC2) mixtures. The concentration of metallic contaminants on the silicon wafer surface before and after cleaning was analyzed by vapor phase decomposition/inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (VPD/ICP-MS). Cu ions were effectively removed both in alkali (SC1) and in acid (SC2) based solutions. When $H_2O_2$ was not added to SC2 solution like m-SC2, the removal efficiency of Cu impurities was decreased drastically. The efficiency of Cu ions in SC1 was not changed by increasing cleaning temperature. Fe ions were soluble only in acid solution like SC2 or m-SC2 solution. The removal efficiencies of Fe ions in acid solutions were enhanced by increasing cleaning temperature. It is found that the behavior of metallic contaminants as Cu and Fe from silicon surfaces in cleaning solutions could be explained in terms of Pourbaix diagram.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.821-826
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• 2003

Laboratory experiments were peformed to understand physical properties of soil-cement column under the influence of acidic flow including metal contaminants and its retaining capacity against metal migration. The contaminant used in this study was nitric acid with Cu and Cd. The Permeability of soil-cement column decreased when pH of the column began to drop below 12. Decreases in pH led to significant reduction of compressive strength of clayey soil-cement specimen, while relatively marginal reduction for sandy soil-cement specimen. The metal contaminants did not leachate from soil-cement column until pH of soil-cement dropped below 7∼8 for Cu and 9∼10 for Cd. Metal contaminants were precipitated and trapped inside the soil-cement column at pHs higher than those mentioned as verified with metal analysis and visual inspection. This indicated that soil-cement column not only performs well as a cut-off wall, but also helps alleviating the level of contamination of the surrounding environment.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 2013

This study is conducted to evaluate the leaching of contaminants from mine tailing by natural water and finally to estimate the leaching and transportation of heavy metal contaminants by rainfall. In order to identify contaminated heavy metal of soil, 17 soil, 2 tailing and 2 waste dump and 2 control samples were taken at mine area and analyzed total metal contents. The leaching experiments were conducted using distilled water. Cu, Pb, Zn was extracted from the reddish mine tailing in a short period time, especially the extraction rate of Cu (45.0%) was highest. The contaminants were leached from the yellowish mine tailing within an hour and the leaching rate of Cd (42.0%) and Zn (17.2%) were relatively high. The reddish soil from the waste dump showed leaching of Cu (5.1%), Pb (4.0%) and Zn (3.3%), however the leaching rate was low except Mi (14.2%). From the yellowish soil sampled from the dumping site, the leaching of Cu (8.2%) and Ni (9.7%) was high while the leaching of Zn (0.2%) were relatively low.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2023

The studies on the effect of different plastic properties (e.g., types, shapes, presence of additivies) on the sorption of contaminants in the agricultural environment are limited. In this study, Cu and Pb, the commonly found heavy metals in the environment, were used to investigate the sorption capacities of microplastics (MPs). The Pb sorption capacity increased in the order of polystyrene (PS)<polyethylene (PE)<polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The estimated Cu sorption capacity was greater for the PE films than the PE fragments, while the sorption strength was greater for the PE fragments. This suggests that the shapes of MPs can affect the contaminant sorption capacities. With the PE fragments, the Pb sorption capacity was greater than the Cu sorption capacity by 10-12 times. Also, the Pb and Cu sorption capacities were greater for the PE fragments with additives than the PE fragment without additives. After the sorption of Pb or Cu on MPs, the toxic effects of the Pb or Cu solutions were decreased, suggesting that the toxic effects of contaminants can be affected by the co-presence of MPs in the environment. Overall, the results show that different types and shapes of MPs and the presence of additives can affect the heavy metal sorption capacities of MPs.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.102-109
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• 2000

It is difficult to meet the cleanliness requirement of $10^{10}/\textrm{cm}^2$ for the giga level device fabrication with mechanical cleaning techniques like scrubbing which is widely used to remove the particles generated during Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) processes. Therefore, the second cleaning process is needed to remove metallic contaminants which were not completely removed during the mechanical cleaning process. In this paper the experimental results for the removal of the metallic contaminants existing on the wafer surface using remote plasma $H_2$ cleaning and UV/$O_3$ cleaning techniques are reported. In the remote plasma $H_2$ cleaning the efficiency of contaminants removal increases with decreasing the plasma exposure time and increasing the rf-power. Also the optimum process conditions for the removal of K, Fe and Cu impurities which are easily found on the wafer surface after CMP processes are the plasma exposure time of 1min and the rf-power of 100 W. The surface roughness decreased by 30-50 % after remote plasma $H_2$ cleaning. On the other hand, the highest efficiency of K, Fe and Cu impurities removal was achieved for the UV exposure time of 30 sec. The removal mechanism of the metallic contaminants like K, Fe and Cu in the remote plasma $H_2$ and the UV/$O_3$ cleaning processes is as follows: the metal atoms are lifted off by $SiO^*$ when the $SiO^*$is evaporated after the chemical $SiO_2$ formed under the metal atoms reacts with $H^+ \; and\; e^-$ to form $SiO^*$.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2017

In typical remediation practices, separate washing systems have to be applied to clean up the soils contaminated with both oil and heavy metals. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of successive two-stage soil washing in removal of mixed-contaminants from soil matrix. Two-stage soil washing experiments were conducted using different combinations of chemical agent: 1) persulfate oxidation, followed by organic acid washing, and 2) Fenton oxidation, followed by inorganic acid washing. Persulfate oxidation-organic acid washing efficiently removed both organic and inorganic contaminants to meet the regulatory soil quality standard. The average removal rates of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), Cu, Pb, and Zn were 88.9%, 82.2%, 77.5%, and 66.3% respectively, (S/L 1:10, reaction time 1 h, persulfate 0.5 M, persulfate:activator 3:1, citric acid 2 M). Fenton oxidation-inorganic acid washing also gave satisfactory performances to give 89%, 80.9%, 87.1%, and 67.7% removal of TPH, Cu, Pb, and Zn, respectively (S/L 1:10, reaction time 1 hr, hydrogen peroxide 0.3 M, hydrogen peroxide:activator 5:1, inorganic acid 1 M).

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.523-532
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• 2008

A phase II site investigation and feasibility study was conducted at a military mortar shooting range near the demilitarized zone (Kyunggi, South Korea) to assess the extent of contaminants migration to the nearby Imjin river in which a flood control dam is under construction. The results showed that silty-clay soils around target areas were co-contaminated with heavy metals (Cd, Cu, and Pb) and explosives (HMX, RDX, and TNT). The total amount of contaminant was estimated to be 497.1 kg-RDX, 20.6 kg-HMX, 1.4 kg-TNT, 35.2 kg-Cd, 4,331 kg-Cu, and 5,115 kg-Pb, respectively. Both heavy metals and explosives were almost equally distributed on each soil particle size fraction. Neither subsurface soil samples nor ground water samples showed signs of contamination above the environmental criteria. The major migration route of contaminants was soil particles in surface run-off during rain at which a mass discharge rate of 30.0 mg-RDX/hour was observed.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2010

Discharged materials from the point or non-point source are released into the sea, and as the results, marine environment is directly affected. We must estimate the impacts of contaminants to marine pollution rapidly and accurately. Therefore, it is needed on early warning system for appreciating marine environmental impacts, and required a bioassay to evaluate abnormal changes. A bioassay test was developed to examine the effects of heavy metal contaminants on the early life stages of the marine annimals. We have studied the effects of metals on early development of a sea urchin species, Strongylocentrotus intermedius. S. intermedius embryos were tested with six metals (Cu, Ag, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni) and showed the highest sensitivity to Cu as well as the lowest sensitivity to Cd. The order of biological impact for metals was Cu>Ag>Ni>Zn>Cr>Cd. In accordance with the results, sea urchins embryos can provide biological criteria for seawater quality assessment. The sensitivity of developmental bioassay whith S. intermedius is at intermediate level among marine organisms commonly used in aquatic bioassays. And this sea urchin can be routinely employed as a test organism for ecotoxicity assays.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.171-184
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• 2016

In order to assess the level of contamination and identify the priority contaminants in the Busan coast, intensive sediment sampling was conducted and persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals were analyzed. The Sediment Quality Index (SQI) was derived based on the contaminant data by comparing with Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) established in Korea, Canada, and Australia/New Zealand. Toxic contaminants were found to be widely distributed across the coast. Among organic contaminants, PAHs showed the highest concentration, followed by butyltins, nonylphenols, PBDEs, DDTs, PCBs, HCHs and CHLs. Heavy metals were also abundantly detected with the highest concentration of Zn followed by Cu > Cr > Pb > Ni > As > Cd > Hg. Compared to organic contaminants, most heavy metals, except for Cu and Hg, were homogeneously distributed along the coast in a good relationship with total organic carbon of sediment particles. In general, the concentrations of organic compounds and heavy metals were highest at the inner part of harbor areas with a tendency to decline from inside areas to the outside, indicating the high loading of pollutants from harbors. A high exceedance for low-SQGs and high-SQGs was found for TBT, p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, Cu and Zn. The SQI scores calculated from low-SQGs and high-SQGs were in the range of 18-100 and 54-100, respectively. The inner part of Busan Harbor, Dadaepo Harbor, and Gamcheon Harbor were observed as being regions of concern. Overall, TBT, Cu, and p,p'-DDT were the chemicals most frequently exceeding SQGs and influencing SQI scores.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.6-11
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• 2012

In order to understand a process of contaminants removal on surface of Cu seed layer (Cu seed/Ti/Si) by sputter deposition, we investigated the changed morphology and states of Cu seed surface after pretreatment in alkali degreasing Metex TS-40A solution according to dipping time. After TS-40A pretreatment, the surface morphology with clearer grains was observed by Field emission scanning electron microscope and the changed surface chemical states and impurities on surface of samples were checked by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Dipping time in TS-40A solution had very little effect on surface of Cu seed layer. After pretreatment, much carbons and little oxygens on surface of Cu seed were eliminated and the decrease of peaks corresponded to O=C and $Cu(OH)_2$ was estimated. However, Si content (=silicate) was detected on sample surface. We think that the silicate impurity forms on Cu seed by chemical reaction of TS-40A solution included silicate component. By pretreatment of alkali degreasing Metex TS-40A solution, it showed an excellent effect in removal of O=C and $Cu(OH)_2$ on Cu seed layer, but the silicate was formed on surface of Cu seed. Therefore, another cleaning process such as acid cleaning is required for removal of this silicate in use of this alkali degreasing.