• Clean Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.287-292
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• 2007

[ $M/Al_2O_3$ ] (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) catalysts supported on commercial alumina ($Al_2O_3$) were prepared by an impregnation method, and were applied to the hydrogen production by auto-thermal reforming of ethanol. It was revealed that each catalyst retained its own metallic phase and product distribution strongly depended on the identity of active metal. Among the catalysts prepared, $Ni/Al_2O_3$ and $Co/Al_2O_3$ showed the best catalytic performance in the auto-thermal reforming of ethanol. However, the reaction mechanisms over these two catalysts were different. Ni/Al_2O_3 catalyst showed 100% ethanol conversion at $500^{\circ}C$, but it exhibited a rapid decrease in hydrogen selectivity. Although $Co/Al_2O_3$ catalyst showed an excellent performance in hydrogen selectivity, on the other hand, no significant improvement in hydrogen yield was observed due to the low ethanol conversion over the catalyst.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.603-618
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• 2023

This study focused on evaluating the suitability of the WRK (waste repository Korea) bentonite as a buffer material in the SNF (spent nuclear fuel) repository. The U (uranium) adsorption/desorption characteristics and the adsorption mechanisms of the WRK bentonite were presented through various analyses, adsorption/desorption experiments, and kinetic adsorption modeling at various pH conditions. Mineralogical and structural analyses supported that the major mineral of the WRK bentonite is the Ca-montmorillonite having the great possibility for the U adsorption. From results of the U adsorption/desorption experiments (intial U concentration: 1 mg/L) for the WRK bentonite, despite the low ratio of the WRK bentonite/U (2 g/L), high U adsorption efficiency (>74%) and low U desorption rate (<14%) were acquired at pH 5, 6, 10, and 11 in solution, supporting that the WRK bentonite can be used as the buffer material preventing the U migration in the SNF repository. Relatively low U adsorption efficiency (<45%) for the WRK bentonite was acquired at pH 3 and 7 because the U exists as various species in solution depending on pH and thus its U adsorption mechanisms are different due to the U speciation. Based on experimental results and previous studies, the main U adsorption mechanisms of the WRK bentonite were understood in viewpoint of the chemical adsorption. At the acid conditions (＜pH 3), the U is apt to adsorb as forms of UO₂²⁺, mainly due to the ionic bond with Si-O or Al-O(OH) present on the WRK bentonite rather than the ion exchange with Ca²⁺ among layers of the WRK bentonite, showing the relatively low U adsorption efficiency. At the alkaline conditions (>pH 7), the U could be adsorbed in the form of anionic U-hydroxy complexes (UO₂(OH)₃^-, UO₂(OH)₄^2-, (UO₂)₃(OH)₇^-, etc.), mainly by bonding with oxygen (O^-) from Si-O or Al-O(OH) on the WRK bentonite or by co-precipitation in the form of hydroxide, showing the high U adsorption. At pH 7, the relatively low U adsorption efficiency (42%) was acquired in this study and it was due to the existence of the U-carbonates in solution, having relatively high solubility than other U species. The U adsorption efficiency of the WRK bentonite can be increased by maintaining a neutral or highly alkaline condition because of the formation of U-hydroxyl complexes rather than the uranyl ion (UO₂²⁺) in solution,and by restraining the formation of U-carbonate complexes in solution.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.305-317
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• 2024

To investigate the effect of changes in microbial communities on arsenic release in soil, experiments were conducted on arsenic-contaminated soils (F1, G7, and G10). The experiments involved three groups of the experimental sets; ① BAC: sterilized soil + Bacillus fungorum, ② IND: indigenous bacteria, and ③ MIX: indigenous bacteria + B. fungorum, and incubated them for seven weeks using lactate as a carbon source under anaerobic conditions. The experimental results showed that higher concentrations of arsenic were released from the IND and MIX soils, where indigenous bacterial communities existed, compared to BAC. Significantly higher levels of arsenic were released from the G10 soil, which showed higher pH, compared to the F1 and G7 soils. In the G10 soil, unlike other soils, the proportion of As(III) among the released arsenic was also low. These results may be attributed to differences in microbial community composition that vary depending on the soil. By the seventh week, the diversity of microbial species in the IND and MIX soils had significantly decreased, with dominant orders such as Eubacteriales and Bacillales thriving. Bacteroidales in the seventh week of the MIX in the F1 soil, Rummeliibacillus in the seventh week of the IND and MIX of the G7 soil, and Enterobacterales in the IND and MIX of the G10 soil were dominant. At present, it is not known which mechanisms of microbial community changes affect the geochemical behavior of arsenic; however, these results indicate that microbiome in the soil may function as one of the factors regulating arsenic release.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.333-342
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• 2019

Geological dynamic hazards during coal mining can be caused by the failure of a composite system consisting of roof rock and coal layers, subject to different loading rates due to different advancing velocities in the working face. In this paper, the uniaxial compression test simulations on the composite rock-coal layers were performed using $PFC^{2D}$ software and especially the effects of loading rate on the stress-strain behavior, strength characteristics and crack nucleation, propagation and coalescence in a composite layer were analyzed. In addition, considering the composite layer, the mechanisms for the advanced bore decompression in coal to prevent the geological dynamic hazards at a rapid advancing velocity of working face were explored. The uniaxial compressive strength and peak strain are found to increase with the increase of loading rate. After post-peak point, the stress-strain curve shows a steep stepped drop at a low loading rate, while the stress-strain curve exhibits a slowly progressive decrease at a high loading rate. The cracking mainly occurs within coal, and no apparent cracking is observed for rock. While at a high loading rate, the rock near the bedding plane is damaged by rapid crack propagation in coal. The cracking pattern is not a single shear zone, but exhibits as two simultaneously propagating shear zones in a "X" shape. Following this, the coal breaks into many pieces and the fragment size and number increase with loading rate. Whereas a low loading rate promotes the development of tensile crack, the failure pattern shows a V-shaped hybrid shear and tensile failure. The shear failure becomes dominant with an increasing loading rate. Meanwhile, with the increase of loading rate, the width of the main shear failure zone increases. Moreover, the advanced bore decompression changes the physical property and energy accumulation conditions of the composite layer, which increases the strain energy dissipation, and the occurrence possibility of geological dynamic hazards is reduced at a rapid advancing velocity of working face.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.77-92
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• 2021

The energy density of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) determines the mileage of electric vehicles. For increasing the energy density of LIBs, it is necessary to develop high-capacity active materials that can store more lithium ions within constrained weight. The rapid progress made in cathode technology has realized the utilization of the near-theoretical capacity of cathode materials. In contrast, commercial LIBs have still exploited graphite as active material in anodes since the 1990s. The most promising way to increase anodes' capacity is to mix high-capacity and long-cycle-life silicon oxides (SiOx) with graphite. However, the low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of SiOx limits its content below 15 wt%, impeding the capacity increase in anodes. To address this issue, various prelithiation techniques have been proposed, which can improve the ICE of high-capacity anode materials. In this review paper, we introduce the principles and expected effects of prelithiation techniques reported so far. According to the reaction mechanisms, the strategies are categorized. Mainly, we focus on the recent progress of solution-based chemical prelithiation methods with commercial viability, of which lithiation reaction occurs homogeneously at liquid-solid interfaces. We believe that developing a cost-effective and mass-scalable prelithiation process holds the key to dominating the anode market for next-generation LIBs.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.195-204
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• 2012

Biomineralization has been explored for geochemical cycles and microbial tolerance mechanisms to metal toxicity. Here, we are introducing NanoFermentation which enables economic, environmentally friendly, requiring low input energy, and scalable manufacturing of nano-dimensioned magnetite. We are also focusing on controlling factors of crystallite size which can determine superparamagnetism and ferrimagnetism. Controlling factors are such as microbial species, temperature, incubation time, medium composition, substituted elements and their concentration, precursor type, reaction volume, precursor concentration density and their combinations. Crystallite size distribution of biomagnetite depends on the balance between nuclei generation and crystal growth. Biomineralization will elucidate elemental cycles on earth crust and microbial ecology as well as it will be applied to material sciences and devices via massive production of nanomaterials.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 1973

Tocopherol, Se and garlic powder were dieted to hatched chick breeding. The Se content of certain organs is influenced by garlic powder supply. The high Se content for the testis was a function of the vitamin E uptake. Effect of low dose of Se on the growth and survival of rat were examined under the diet of $2\;{\mu}g/ml$ of Se in drinking water either in the form of $Na_2SeO_3$ or $Na_2SeO_4$. The females were dead in early ages while the males were not influenced by dieting the selenite did not make males dying rapidly at early ages and males were less growth depressed. The previously known fact that garlic act as a tonics may be attributable to its high contents of Se and sulfur-containing amino acids which are closely related to vitamin E. Further details on the dietary mechanisms of the Se, vitamin E, and garlic powder are described in this paper.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.577-585
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• 2014

A series of experiments using atmospheric-pressure non-thermal plasma coupled with transition metal catalysts were performed to remove ethylene from agricultural storage facilities. The non-thermal plasma was created by dielectric barrier discharge, which was in direct contact with the catalyst pellets. The transition metals such as Ag and $V_2O_5$ were supported on ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$. The effect of catalyst type, specific input energy (SIE) and oxygen content on the removal of ethylene was examined to understand the behavior of the hybrid plasma-catalytic reactor system. With the other parameters kept constant, the plasma-catalytic activity for the removal of ethylene was in order of $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > $Ag/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ from high to low. Interestingly, the rate of plasma-catalytic ozone generation was in order of $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > ${\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ > $Ag/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$, implying that the catalyst activation mechanisms by plasma are different for different catalysts. The results obtained by varying the oxygen content indicated that nitrogen-derived reactive species dominated the removal of ethylene under oxygen-lean condition, while ozone and oxygen atoms were mainly involved in the removal under oxygen-rich condition. When the plasma was coupled with $V_2O_5/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$, nearly complete removal of ethylene was achieved at oxygen contents higher than 5% by volume (inlet ethylene: 250 ppm; gas flow rate: $1.0Lmin^{-1}$; SIE: ${\sim}355JL^{-1}$).

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.335-342
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• 2000

The microhardness of rhenium sheets was determined as a function of indentation load and temperature. The temperature dependence of the microhardness between room temperatures and $1000 ^{\circ}C$was studied using a hot microhardness tester equipped with a Vickers indenter. The load dependence of the microhardness was investigated using oth a Vickers and a Knoop indenter. The indentation size effect (ISE) was well explained using the normalized Meyers law. The hardness of the annealed rhenium sheet approached that of the as-rolled sheets at large indentation loads because of work-hardening under the indenter during indentation. The hardness at zero load(obtained from extrapolation of the load dependence of the hardness) suggested that the hardness is controlled by two different mech-anisms having different thermal activation. At low temperature the activation energy for the mechanism controlling the hardness was approximately 0.02 eV , Whereas at higher temperatures that was approximately 0.15eV. The tranisi-tion temperature between the two different controlling mechanisms was about $250^{\circ}C$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.711-711
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• 2009

Global warming has been widely recognized as a serious problem threatening the future of human beings. It is caused by the buildup in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Particularly, SF6 has extremely high global warming potential compare to those of other global warming gases. One option for mitigating this greenhouse gas is the development of an effective process for capturing and separating these gases from anthropogenic sources. In general, gas hydrates can be formed under high pressure and low temperature. However, SF6 gas is known to form hydrate under relatively milder conditions. Therefore, technological and economical effects could be expected for the separation of SF6 gas from waste gas mixtures. In this study, we carried out morphological study for the SF6 hydrate crystals to understand its formation and growth mechanisms. The observations were made in high-pressure optical cell charged with liquid water and SF6 gas at constant pressure and temperature. Initially SF6 hydrate formed at the surface between gas and liquid regions, and then subsequent dendrite crystals grew at the wall above the gas/water interface. The visual observations of crystal nucleation, migration, growth and interference were reported. The detailed growth characteristics of SF6 hydrate crystals were discussed in this study.