• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.640-645
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• 2018

The design of non-precious electrocatalysts with low-cost, good stability, and an improved oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) to replace the platinium-based electrocatalyst is significant for application of fuel cells and metal-air batteries with high energy density. In this study, we synthesize iron-carbide($Fe_3C$) embedded nitrogen(N) doped carbon nanofiber(CNF) as electrocatalysts for ORRs using electrospinning, precursor deposition, and carbonization. To optimize electrochemical performance, we study the three stages according to different amounts of iron precursor. Among them, $Fe_3C$-embedded N doped CNF-1 exhibits the most improved electrochemical performance with a high onset potential of -0.18 V, a high $E_{1/2}$ of -0.29 V, and a nearly four-electron pathway (n = 3.77). In addition, $Fe_3C$-embedded N doped CNF-1 displays exellent long-term stabillity with the lowest ${\Delta}E_{1/2}=8mV$ compared to the other electrocatalysts. The improved electrochemical properties are attributed to synergestic effect of N-doping and well-dispersed iron carbide embedded in CNF. Consequently, $Fe_3C$-embedded N doped CNF is a promising candidate for non-precious electrocatalysts for high-performance ORRs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

Most factories deal with toxic or flammable chemicals in their industrial processes. These hazardous substances pose a risk of leakage due to accidents, such as fire and explosion. In the event of chemical release, massive casualties and property damage can result; hence, quantitative risk prediction and assessment are necessary. Several methods are available for evaluating chemical dispersion in the atmosphere, and most analyses are considered neutral in dispersion models and under far-field wind condition. The foregoing assumption renders a model valid only after a considerable time has elapsed from the moment chemicals are released or dispersed from a source. Hence, an initial dispersion model is required to assess risk quantitatively and predict the extent of damage because the most dangerous locations are those near a leak source. In this study, the dispersion model for initial consequence analysis was developed with three-dimensional unsteady advective diffusion equation. In this expression, instantaneous leakage is assumed as a puff, and wind velocity is considered as a coordinate transform in the solution. To minimize the buoyant force, ethane is used as leaked fuel, and two different diffusion coefficients are introduced. The calculated concentration field with a molecular diffusion coefficient shows a moving circular iso-line in the horizontal plane. The maximum concentration decreases as time progresses and distance increases. In the case of using a coefficient for turbulent diffusion, the dispersion along the wind velocity direction is enhanced, and an elliptic iso-contour line is found. The result yielded by a widely used commercial program, ALOHA, was compared with the end point of the lower explosion limit. In the future, we plan to build a more accurate and general initial risk assessment model by considering the turbulence diffusion and buoyancy effect on dispersion.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.7-7
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• 2011

Quantum beam technology has been expected to develop breakthroughs for nanotechnology during the third basic plan of science and technology (2006~2010). Recently, Green- or Life Innovations has taken over the national interests in the fourth basic science and technology plan (2011~2015). The NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science) has been conducting the corresponding mid-term research plans, as well as other national projects, such as nano-Green project (Global Research for Environment and Energy based on Nanomaterials science). In this lecture, the research trends in Japan and NIMS are firstly reviewed, and the typical achievements are highlighted over key nanotechnology fields. As one of the key nanotechnologies, the quantum beam research in NIMS focused on synchrotron radiation, neutron beams and ion/atom beams, having complementary attributes. The facilities used are SPring-8, nuclear reactor JRR-3, pulsed neutron source J-PARC and ion-laser-combined beams as well as excited atomic beams. Materials studied are typically fuel cell materials, superconducting/magnetic/multi-ferroic materials, quasicrystals, thermoelectric materials, precipitation-hardened steels, nanoparticle-dispersed materials. Here, we introduce a few topics of neutron scattering and ion beam nanofabrication. For neutron powder diffraction, the NIMS has developed multi-purpose pattern fitting software, post RIETAN2000. An ionic conductor, doped Pr2NiO4, which is a candidate for fuel-cell material, was analyzed by neutron powder diffraction with the software developed. The nuclear-density distribution derived revealed the two-dimensional network of the diffusion paths of oxygen ions at high temperatures. Using the high sensitivity of neutron beams for light elements, hydrogen states in a precipitation-strengthened steel were successfully evaluated. The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) demonstrated the sensitive detection of hydrogen atoms trapped at the interfaces of nano-sized NbC. This result provides evidence for hydrogen embrittlement due to trapped hydrogen at precipitates. The ion beam technology can give novel functionality on a nano-scale and is targeting applications in plasmonics, ultra-fast optical communications, high-density recording and bio-patterning. The technologies developed are an ion-and-laser combined irradiation method for spatial control of nanoparticles, and a nano-masked ion irradiation method for patterning. Furthermore, we succeeded in implanting a wide-area nanopattern using nano-masks of anodic porous alumina. The patterning of ion implantation will be further applied for controlling protein adhesivity of biopolymers. It has thus been demonstrated that the quantum beam-based nanotechnology will lead the innovations both for nano-characterization and nano-fabrication.

• Clean Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.258-264
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• 2009

Thermodynamic measurements were performed to show the possibility of recovering $CO_2$ from fuel gas (the mixture of $CO_2$ and $H_2$) by forming gas hydrates with water where water was dispersed in the pores of silica gel particles having nominal 100 nm of pore diameter. The hydrate-phase equilibria for the ternary $CO_2+H_2$+water in pores were measured and $CO_2$ concentrations in vapor and hydrate phase were determined under the hydrate-vapor two phase region at constant 274.15 K. It was shown that the inhibition effect appeared due to silica gel pores, and the corresponding equilibrium dissociation pressures became higher than those of bulk water hydrates at a specific temperature. In addition, direct measurement of $CO_2$ content in the hydrate phase showed that the retrieved gas from the dissociation of hydrate contained more than 95 mol% of $CO_2$ when 42 mol% of $CO_2$ and balanced Hz mixture was applied. Compared with data obtained in case of bulk water hydrates, which showed just 83 mol% of $CO_2$ where 2-stage hydrate slurry reactor was intended to utilize this property, the hydrate formation in porous silica gel has enhanced the feasibility of $CO_2$ separation process. Hydrate formation as not for slurry but solid particle makes it possible to used fixed bed reactor, and can be a merit of well-understood technologies in the industrial field.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.4
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• pp.426-434
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• 2009

This study was carried out to derive the most optimal production process for the wood fuels(chip and pellet), by collecting cost data on each procedure through the life cycle assessment approach, and to compare between the profitability and efficiency, from the view points of producers and consumers, irrespectively. The costs accounted in this analysis were based on the opportunity cost. The results show that wood chips are cheaper than wood pellets in production costs. In respect to the process with the lowest production cost, while wood chips should be to crush collected residues into pieces on the spot for merchandizing, wood pellets need to be transported to manufactory for pelletizing. The study findings also include that the profits, which is estimated by subtracting expenses from gained sale revenue, were a bit higher for wood chips than wood pellets. Additionally, the price ratio of wood pellets to wood chips for getting the same caloric value appears to be 1.27. Despite of economic benefits of processing wood chips, there are several problems in practice. For producers, there is a possible increase in not only transportation cost for conveying crushers to the dispersed places, but storage cost due to the lack of the marketplaces in the immediate surroundings. For consumers, on the other hand, there are some challenging issues, such as bulky storage facility requirement, additional labor for fuel supplement, frequent ashes disposal, and decomposition in summer and freezing in winter caused by wood chips' own moisture.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.204-211
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• 2020

The high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying coating technique has been considered a promising replacement for traditional electrolytic hard chrome plating (EHC), which caused environmental pollution and lung cancer due to toxic Cr⁶⁺. In this paper, two types of cermet coatings were prepared by HVOF spraying: WC-CoCr and WC-CrC-Ni coatings. The produced coatings were analyzed extensively in terms of the micro-hardness, porosity, crystalline phase and microstructure using a hardness tester, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy (including energy dispersed spectroscopy (EDS)), respectively. The wear and friction behaviors of the coatings were evaluated comparatively by reciprocating sliding wear tests at 25 ℃, 250 ℃, and 450 ℃. The results revealed correlations among the microstructures, metallic binder matrixes, porosities, and wear performance of the coatings. For example, WC-CoCr coatings showed better sliding wear resistance than WC-CrC-Ni coatings, regardless of the test temperature due to the more homogeneous microstructure, Co-rich, Cr-rich metallic binder matrix, and lower porosity.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.217-226
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• 2017

Although the effects of climate change are universal, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are considered to be most vulnerable. SIDS heavily rely on imported oil and fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation, which makes them economically vulnerable and exposed to fluctuating oil price. Among the reasons SIDS highly depend on diesel fuel is due to the dispersed population living in remote islands which means, providing electricity through on on-grid system is difficult. Fiji as one of the SIDS, has actively promoted renewable sourced energy through a national plan to mitigate the impacts of climate change. In order to determine how feasible implementing a renewable energy (RE) system will be in Fiji, this study chose a remote island called Mavuva Island to test application of a hybrid RE system using HOMER. A combination of energy storage system (ESS), solar photovoltaic (PV) and diesel generator turns out to be the most cost effective and optimal configuration, resulting in effective greenhouse gas reduction for the given region.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.474-481
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• 2018

The policy-making and technological development of eco-friendly automobiles designed to increase their supply is ongoing, but the internal combustion engine still accounts for approximately 95% of automobiles in use. To meet the stricter emission regulations of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels, the proportion of after-treatments for vehicles and (ocean going) vessels is increasing continuously. As diesel engines have high power and good fuel economy in addition to less CO2 emissions, their market share is increasing not only in commercial vehicles, but also in passenger cars. Because of the characteristics of the diesel combustion, however, NOx is generated in localized high-temperature combustion regions, and particulates are formed in the zones of diffusion combustion. LNT and urea-SCR catalysts have been developed for the after-treatment of exhaust gas to reduce NOx in diesel vehicles. This study examined the effect of a containing promoter on SCR catalysts to cope with the severe exhaust gas regulation. The de-NOx performance of the Mn-SCR catalyst was the best, and the de-NOx performance was improved as the ion exchange rate between Mn ion and Zeolyst was good and the activation energy was low. The de-NOx performance of the 7Cu-15Ba/78Zeoyst catalyst was 32% at $200^{\circ}C$ and 30% at $500^{\circ}C$, and showed the highest performance. The NOx storage material of BaO loaded as a promoter was well dispersed in the Cu-SCR catalyst and the additional de-NOx performance of BaO was affected by the reduction reaction of the Cu-SCR catalyst. Among the three catalysts, the 7Cu-15Ba/Zeolyst SCR catalyst was resistant to thermal degradation. The same type of CuO due to thermal degradation migrates and agglomerates because BaO reduces the agglomeration of the main catalyst CuO particles.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.301-310
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• 2014

In this study, the silica nanoparticles were considerably chosen to improve a dimensional stability, proton transport and electrochemical performance of the resulting inorganic-organic nanocomposite membranes. For this purpose, hydrophobic silica (Aerosil$^{(R)}$ 812, Degussa) and hydrophilic silica (Aerosil$^{(R)}$ 380, Degussa) nanoparticles were, respectively, introduced into a Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) polymer matrix. The $SiO_2$ particles are evenly dispersed in a SPAES matrix by the aid of a non-ionic surfactant (Pluronics$^{(R)}$ L64). A $SiO_2$ content plays an important role in membrane microstructures and membrane properties such as proton conductivity and water uptake. Therefore, to study nanocomposite membranes with excessive amount of silica, the content of silica nanoparticles were increased up to 5 wt%. Interestingly, a hydrophobic $SiO_2$ containing nanocomposite membrane showed better electrochemical performance (29% higher than pristine SPAES) despite of low proton conductivity due to its adhesive properties with a catalyst layer in a single cell test. All the silica-SPAES membranes exhibited better performance than a pristine SPAES membrane.

• Composites Research
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.365-370
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• 2020

The icing formation at aircraft occur problems such as increasing weight of the body, fuel efficiency reduction, drag reduction, the error of sensor, and etc. The viscosity of polyurethane (PU) topcoat was measured at 60℃ in real time to set the pre-curing time. SiO2 nanoparticles were dispersed in ethanol using ultra-sonication method. The SiO2/ethanol solution was sprayed on PU topcoat that was not cured fully with different pre-curing conditions. Surface roughness of SiO2/PU nanocomposites were measured using surface roughness tester and the surface roughness data was visualized using 3D mapping. The adhesion property between SiO2 and PU topcoat was evaluated using adhesion pull-off test. The static contact angle was measured using distilled water to evaluate the hydrophobicity. Finally, the pre-curing time of PU topcoat was optimized to exhibit the hydrophobicity of SiO2/PU topcoat.