• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.702-707
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• 2005

Spinel $LiMn_2O_4$ has become appealing because manganese is inexpensive and environmentally benign. In general, cathodes for lithium ion batteries include carbon as a conductive agent that provides electron transfer between the active material and the current collector. In this work, we selected Acetylene Black and Super P Black as conductive agents, and then carried out their comparative investigation for the performances of the $Li/LiMn_2O_4$ cells using different conductive agents with different particle size. In addition, their electrochemical impedance characteristic of $Li/Mn_2O_4$ cells using different conductive agents is effectively identified through a.c. impedance technique. As a consequence, $Li/LiMn_2O_4$ cells with Super P Black show better electrochemical performances ascribed to the significant contribution of feasible ionic conduction due to larger particle size than those with Acetylene Black.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.52-59
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• 2003

This study was progressed in photocatalysis of VOCs using $UV/TiO_2$ which was a benign process environmentally. The experiments were peformed to know photodegradation characteristics as crystalline structure of $TiO_2$ which had anatase, rutile and P-25 (anatase : rutile = 70 : 30). The main purpose of this study was to identify photocatalytic characteristics as inlet concentration of reactants, $H_2O$, and residence time. The inlet concentration of VOCs was changed 50, 100 and 200 ppmv, and amount of $H_2O$ was changed 0, 500 and $1000{\;}mg/m^3$, respectively. The deep conversion was increased as the inlet concentration decreased, and the amount of $H_2O$ increased. The deep conversion of benzene had the highest value at $1000{\;}mg/m^3${\;}H_2O$ and 50 ppmv of inlet concentration. The reactivity of reactants was decreased in order benzene > toluene > m-xylene. Also, the photocatalytic deep conversion was increased as residence time increased, because the contact time between reactants and catalyst was increased. In this study, intermediates had not found by GC/MSD analysis. Therefore, the reactants were completely converted to $H_2O{\;}and{\;}CO_2$.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.318-322
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• 2004

Lactic acid is an environmentally benign organic acid that could be used as a raw material for biodegradable plastics if it can be inexpensively produced by fermentation. Two genes (ldhL and ldhD) encoding the L-(+) and D-(-) lactate dehydrogenases (L-LDH and D-LDH) were cloned from Lactobacillus sp., RKY2, which is a lactic acid hyper-producing bacterium isolated from Kimchi. Open reading frames of ldhL for and ldhD for the L and D-LDH genes were 962 and 998 bp, respectively. Both the L(+)- and D(-)-LDH proteins showed the highest degree of homology with the L- and D-lactate dehydrogenase genes of Lactobacillus plantarum. The conserved residues in the catalytic activity and substrate binding of both LDHs were identified in both enzymes.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.262-267
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• 2008

Plasma immersion ion beam (PIIB) nitriding process is an environmentally benign and cost-effective process, and offers the potential of producing high dose of nitrogen ions in a way of simple, fast and economic technique for the high plasma flux treatment of large surface area with nitrogen ion source gas. In this report PIIB nitriding technique was used for nitriding on austenite stainless steel of AISI304 with plasma treatment at $250{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours, and with the working gas pressure of $2.67{\times}10^{-1}$ Pa in vacuum condition. This PIIB process might prove the advantage of the low energy high flux of ion bombardment and enhance the tribological or mechanical properties of austenite stainless steel by nitriding, Furthermore, PIIB showed a useful surface modification technique for the nitriding an irregularly shaped three dimensional workpiece of austenite stainless steel and for the improvement of surface properties of AISI 304, such as hardness and strength

• Carbon letters
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.171-182
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• 2015

Mesophase pitch is an important starting material for making a wide spectrum of industrial and advanced carbon products. It is produced by pyrolysis of petroleum residues. In this work, mesophase formation behavior in petroleum residues was studied to prepare environmentally-benign mesophase pitches, and the composition of petroleum residues and its influence on the mesophase formation was investigated. Two petroleum residues, i.e., clarified oil s (CLO-1, CLO-2) obtained from fluid catalytic cracking units of different Indian petroleum refineries, were taken as feed stocks. A third petroleum residue, aromatic extract (AE), was produced by extraction of one of the CLO-1 by using N-methyl pyrrolidone solvent. These petroleum residues were thermally treated at 380℃ to examine their mesophase formation behavior. Mesophase pitches produced as a result of thermal treatment were characterized physico-chemically, as well as by instrumental techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry. Thermal treatment of these petroleum residues led to formation of a liquid-crystalline phase (mesophase). The mesophase formation behavior in the petroleum residues was analyzed by optical microscopy. Mesophase pitch prepared from CLO-2 exhibited the highest mesophase content (53 vol%) as compared to other mesophase pitches prepared from CLO-1 and AE.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2017

The electroless plating process largely consists of substrate cleaning, seed formation (activator formation), and electroless plating. The most widely used activator in the seed formation step is Pd, and Sn ions are used to facilitate the formation of this Pd seed layer. This is problematic because the Sn ions interfere with the reduction of Cu ions during electroless plating; thus, the Sn ions must be removed by a hydrochloric acid cleaning process. This method is also expensive due to the use of Pd. In this study, Cu electroless plating was performed by forming a seed layer using a silver nanosol instead of Pd and Sn. The effects of the Ag nanosol concentration in the pretreatment solution and the pretreatment time on the thickness and surface morphology of the Cu layer were investigated. The degrees of adhesion to the substrate were similar for the electroless-plated Cu layers formed by conventional Pd activation and those formed by the Ag nanosol.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.3-8
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• 2001

The mineral industry of the United States is going through a challenging time. The US as an industrial nation faces with increasing demand in raw materials to fuel various industrial sectors but, at the same time, meeting environmental constraints associated with excavating and extracting these raw materials. In addition, gradual depletion of material resources. and the necessity of handling more complex forms of resources of primary origin have led to a decline in her resource productivity, once a strategic advantage of the U.S. As a result. the United States currently relies heavily upon foreign importation of various materials such as precious and strategic metals. However, since the US is the major consumer of most of these materials, the recovery of these values from scrap would help renew her position as a resource-producing nation, and ultimately help spur its domestic economy. Furthermore. recycling would also help maintain a clean environment and reduce energy consumption. In this paper. the author attempts to discuss opportunities and challenges lied ahead of the US mineral in relation to recovering their much-needed resources from secondary sources. The need and demand in various metals in the US will be reviewed and discussed. The implication of resource recovery from secondary sources will also be discussed. Extraction methods treating secondary sources are inherently different from those for primary sources. There is a need for new technologies which are metallurgically efficient and environmentally benign in treating secondary sources. Ways to meet such a need will be examined and key factors to be considered in approaching these challenges will be discussed.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.123-133
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• 2000

The kinetic analysis was carried out for commercial rubbers such as NR, IR, BR, SBR 1500, and SBR 1700. Kinetic analysis for the commercial rubbers was performed using the thermogravimetric method, with which the activation energies of NR obtained by Kissinger, Friedman, and Ozawa's method were 195.0, 198.3 and 186.3kJ/mol, whereas that of SBR 1500 were 246.4, 247.5 and 254.8kJ/mol, respectively. It was shown that the yield of pyrolytic oil was generally increased with final temperature increasing, yet slightly decreased or increased over $700^{\circ}C$. Considering the effect of heating rate, it was found that the yield of pyrolytic oil was not consistent for each sample. The number average molecular weight of SBR 1500 was in the range of 740~2486. The calorific value of SBR 1500 was 39~40kJ/g, which were made comparative study of the conventional fuel such as kerosene, diesel, light fuel, and heavy fuel. Therefore it was essential that the selection of the suitable kinetic model and the mathematical solution because of the difference in parameters obtained from each method. It was proposed that the range of $600~700^{\circ}C$ in final temperature and high heating rate due to short run time. It was suggested that the pyrolytic oil be available to use to the fuel.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2014

Wastewater from textile industries is a major cause of water pollution in most developing countries. In order to address the issues of water pollution and high cost for treatment processes, the use of an inexpensive and environmentally benign adsorbents has been studied. The objective was to find a better alternative to the conventional methods. Lemon grass waste (ash) collected from a lemon grass stream distillation subunit in Bhutan was tested for dye removal from aqueous solutions. The study investigated the removal of methylene blue using the following operational parameters: initial concentration (100-600 mg/L), contact time, adsorbent dose (0.1-0.55 gm/100 mL), and pH (3-10). It was found that the percentage removal of dye increased with a decrease of the initial concentration and increased contact time and dose of adsorbent. The basic pH solution of dye showed better adsorption capacity as compared to the acidic dye solution. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were fitted to the data well. Data fitted better to Lagergren pseudo 2nd order kinetics than a 1st order kinetic model. Surface morphology was also examined via scanning electron microscopy. An elemental analysis was also carried out and the chemical composition and functional groups were analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy techniques, respectively. The obtained results indicate that lemon grass ash could be employed as a low cost alternative to commercial activated carbon in wastewater treatment for the removal of dyes.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2018

This study reports an environment-friendly synthetic strategy to process nickel oxide nanocrystals. A mesoporous nickel oxide nanostructure was synthesized using an environmentally benign biomimetic method. We used a natural rambutan peel waste resource as a raw material to ligate nickel ions to form nickel-ellagate complexes. The direct decomposition of the obtained complexes at $700^{\circ}C$, $900^{\circ}C$ and $1100^{\circ}C$ in a static air atmosphere resulted in mesoporous nickel oxide nanostructures. The formation of columnar mesoporous NiO with a concentric stacked doughnuts architecture was purely dependent on the suitable direct decomposition temperature at $1100^{\circ}C$ when the synthesis was carried out. The prepared NiO nanocrystals were coated on cotton fabric and their antibacterial activity was also analyzed. The NiO nanoparticle-treated cotton fabric exhibited good antibacterial and wash durability performance.