• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.85-96
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• 2017

In this study, we tried to select a slag system capable of pyro-metallurgical process through analysis of sludge generated from PCB plating and etching process solution. Based on this, the possibility of extracting valuable metals in the sludge was studied by experimental and thermodynamic approaches. The sludge was dried at $100{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ and the morphology, chemical composition and phase of the sludge were analyzed. The possibility of pyro-metallurgical process of sludge was investigated through thermodynamic approach using FactSage software.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.801-806
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• 2001

A study has been carried out on the separation of gold, iridium, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and platinum in chromite samples and their quantitative determination using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The dissolution condition of the minerals by fusion with sodium peroxide was optimized and chromatographic elution behaviour of the rare metals was investigated by anion exchange chromatography. Spectral interference of chromium, a matrix of the minerals, was investigated on determination of gold. Chromium interfered on determination of gold at the concentration of 500 mg/L and higher. Gold plus trace amounts of iridium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium, which must be preconcentrated before ICP-AES was separated by anion exchange chromatography after reducing Cr(Ⅵ) to Cr(III) by H2O2. AuCl4- retained on the resin column was selectively eluted with acetone- HNO3-H2O as an eluent. In addition, iridium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium remaining on the resin column were eluted as a group with concentrated HCl. However, platinum was eluted with concentrated HNO3. The recovery yield of gold with acetone-HNO3-H2O was 100.7 ${\pm}2.0%$, and the yields of palladium and platinum with concentrated HCl and HNO3 were 96.1 ${\pm}1.8%$ and 96.6 ${\pm}1.3%$, respectively. The contents of gold and platinum in a Mongolian chromite sample were 32.6 ${\pm}$ 2.2 ${\mu}g$/g and 1.6 $\pm$ 0.14 ${\mu}g$/g, respectively. Palladium was not detected.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2021

In this study, quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSC) using CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QD) of various sizes with green, yellow, and red colors are developed. Quantum dots, depending their different sizes, have advantages of absorbing light of various wavelengths. This absorption of light of various wavelengths increases the photocurrent production of solar cells. The absorption and emission peaks and excellent photochemical properties of the synthesized quantum dots are confirmed through UV-visible and photoluminescence (PL) analysis. In TEM analysis, the average sizes of individual green, yellow, and red quantum dots are shown to be 5 nm, 6 nm, and 8 nm. The J-V curves of QDSSC for one type of QD show a current density of 1.7 mA/㎠ and an open-circuit voltage of 0.49 V, while QDSSC using three type of QDs shows improved electrical characteristics of 5.52 mA/㎠ and 0.52 V. As a result, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of QDSSC using one type of QD is as low as 0.53 %, but QDSSC using three type of QDs has a measured efficiency of 1.4 %.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.155-166
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• 2023

Through COVID-19, the importance of supply chain management of raw material minerals has been maximized. In particular, supply chain management is important for rare metals, which are difficult to manage demand and supply, in order to secure raw materials for the parts and materials industry that Korea is actively promoting. In this study, a system was established and evaluated to select Critical minerals that need to respond to Korea's industrial structure and global risks by quantifying tangible and intangible risk factors. Global Supply Concentration, Supplying country risk, Policy Social Environment Regulation, Domestic Import Instability, Risk responsiveness, Market Scale, Demand Fluctuation and Economic Importance were evaluated as evaluation indicators. The degree of risk and risk impact were quantitatively measured using the criticality matrix-criticality level. After evaluating 40 types of minerals used in domestic new growth businesses, 15 types of Critical minerals(Li, Pt, Co, V, REE, Mg, Mo, Cr, Ti, W, C, Ni, Al, Mn, Si) in Korea were selected. The results are expected to be used to establish policies to strengthen resource security and to make decisions to form a company's raw material portfolio.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2024

The rapid expansion of the electric vehicle market has led to increased demand for battery recycling technologies. The recycling of spent batteries is crucial to stabilize the supply of rare metals, including lithium, cobalt and nickel, which are essential components for the battery industry. In addition, the technology for recycling spent batteries can help to reduce environmental and health impacts. This review presents the theoretical principles behind the metal recovery technology and the processes that are currently commercially available. It also describes trends in research and technological developments that aim to improve existing processes, and provides an overview of where recycling technology is headed.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.215-225
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• 1999

To study the vertical variations of major elements, trace elements and rare earth elements(REEs) contents in deep-sea sediments, six cores from Korea Deep-sea Environmental Study area(KODES) were analyzed. Topmost sediment layers of KODES area are divided into two Units; brown-colored and peneliquid Unit I and pale brown-colored and relatively solidified Unit II. Contents of major elements, REEs, Cu, Sr and Rb in each Unit are almost same, while contents of Mn, Ni and Co in Unit I are two or three times higher than those in Unit II. R-mode factor analysis represents that surface sediments are composed of alumino-silicate phase (AI-Ti-K-Mg-Fe-Rb-Ce), apatite phase (Ca-P-Cu-Sr-Trivalent Rare Earth Elements) and Mn-oxide phase(Mn-Ni-Co). Factor scores in silicate and apatite phases in each Unit are nearly same, whereas those in Mn-oxide phase in Unit I is higher than those in Unit II. While NilCu ratio in Unit I is two times higher than that in Unit II. We interprete the geochemical fractionation of Ni and Cu as a result that Ni can be remobilized in oxygen-depleted micro-environment in Units I and II and then easily reprecipitated in Unit I, while most of Cu supplied together with organic material is decomposed mostly in Unit I and sorbed into apatite.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.696-701
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• 2012

Non-aqueous processes have been developed for stable management and reuse of spent fuels. Nowadays, a plan for the management of spent fuel is being sought focusing on a non-aqueous process in Korea. Named as pyroprocessing, it includes an electrolytic reduction process using molten salt at high temperature for the spent fuels, which provides metallic product for a following electro-refining process. The electrolytic reduction process utilizes electrochemical reaction producing Li to convert oxides into metals in high temperature LiCl medium. Various kinds of elements in the spent fuels would be distributed in the system according to their respective reactivity with the reductant, Li, and the medium, LiCl. This study elucidates the reactions of the elements to understand the behavior of composite elements on the spent fuels by thermodynamic calculations. Uranium and transuranic are reduced into their metallic forms while rare-earth oxides, except for Eu, are stable against the reaction at a process temperature. This study also covers the tendency of reactions with respect to the temperature and, finally, estimates radioactivity and heat load on the distributed phases based on the reference spent fuel characteristics.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.228-236
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• 2020

Korea has an economy based on manufacturing industrial fields, which produce high amounts of hazardous wastes, in spite of few landfill candidates, and a significant concern for fine airborne particulates; therefore, traditional waste management is difficult to apply in this country. Moreover, waste collection and accumulation have recently been intensified by the waste import prohibitions or regulations in developing nations, the universalization of delivery services in Korea, and the global COVID-19 crisis. This study thus presents a domestic waste management strategy that aims to address the recent issues on waste. The contents of the strategy as the main results of the study include the (1) improvement of the compatibility of the classification codes between the domestic hazardous waste and the international ones such as those of the Basel Convention; (2) consideration of the mixed hazard indices to represent toxicity from low-content components such as rare earth metals often contained in electrical and electronic equipment waste; (3) management application based on risks throughout the life cycles of waste; (4) establishment of detailed material flow information of waste by integrating the Albaro system, Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) system, and online trade databases; (5) real-time monitoring and prediction of the waste movement or discharge using positional sensors and geographic information systems, among others; and (6) selection and implementation of optimal treatment or recycling practices through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and clean technologies.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.283-295
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• 2007

The technical feasibility of a pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuels to recover nuclear fuel materials, uranium and transuranic elements group(TRU), was examined in this study. Also its applicability as a new fuel cycle technology in terms of non-proliferation was investigated. First, various unit processes were combined to a pyroprocess. Then the flow aspects of such materials of issue as uranium, transuraniums, rare earth, noble metals and heat generating elements were examined on the flowsheet, which was obtained by the assumptions on the basis of various experimental results in this work or separation data collected from literatures. Consequently, the calculated results of the material balance for the whole process showed that uranium and TRU could be recovered as products by 98.0 % and 97.0 %, respectively, from a PWR spent fuel while removing the other elemental groups into radioactive wastes. On the one hand, the TRU product was found to emit a considerable amount of ${\gamma}$-ray as well as neutrons favorably contributing to the strategy of proliferation resistance.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.411-419
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• 2002

Metallothionein (MT) is a family of ubiquitous, low molecular weight ($6,000{\sim}7,000D$), cysteine-rich ($30{\sim}35%$) inducible protein with a high affinity to metal ions and has no aromatic amino acids and histidine. Some of the known functions of MT include detoxification of heavy metals and alkylating agents and neutralization of free radicals. Also, this protein has been reported to involve in tumor pathophysiology and therapy resistance. MT expression may affect a number of cellular processes including gene expression, apoptosis, proliferation and differentiation. Many reports on the physiological and biochemical properties of MT have been published, but ultrastructural reports on the localization of MT in human gastric cancer tissues are extremely rare. The present study was undertaken to examine the ultrastructural features and the localization of MT within the gastric adenocarcinoma. Ultrastructures of gastric cancer cells were characterized by the high nuclear cytoplasmic ratio, the interdigitation between cells, the irregular nucleus containing much heterochromatin and the wide distribution of free ribosomes in the cytoplasm. Immunohistochemical reaction for MT was prominent in the gastric adenocarcinoma. And the immunogold labellings were more prominent within the nucleus than the cytoplasm. Particularly, immunogold particles were numerously seen at nulcleolus or nucleolar associated heterochromatin. These results suggest that MT expression by gastric cancer cells is associated with cell proliferative activity and is possibly synthesized in the cytoplasm, and then the protein is transported into the nucleus to participate in any transcriptional steps.