• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2019

Recently, as the problem of environmental pollution emerges, various methods of eco-friendly water treatment method are being developed. Polymer membranes, which are currently leading the market, are inexpensive, but have many problems in terms of chemical resistance and durability. Thus, ceramic membrane has been attracted great attention as high-efficiency water treatment due to excellent durability and chemical resistant. In this study, ceramic membranes were developed via pore structure, size control, and surface treatment. The pore size of the membrane was controlled through the formation of $ZrO_2$ and $TiO_2$ coating films. Tape casting and sol-gel process were used to form a ceramic coating film with nanopores on the surface of the membrane. Microstructure analysis of ceramic membrane and pore size analysis of the coating film were conducted and the change of water treatment characteristics was observed.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2019

Background: Rutin is decomposed by rutin-degrading enzymes (RDE) during the processing of buckwheat groats, resulting in a decrease in rutin content and a further increase in the bitterness of processed products. Thus, the present study aimed to examine RDE activity in groats and various tissues of domestic buckwheat varieties and to develop a method to reduce the loss of rutin during the groat processing. Methods and Results: RDE activity and isozymes patterns were determined in Tartary and common buckwheat. RDE activity, measured by quercetin production rate, was 273 and $70{\mu}g/g$ fresh weight/min in mature Tartary and common buckwheat groats, respectively. A total of six RDE isozymes were detected in mature groats of Tartary buckwheat on a non-denaturing gel. In Tartary buckwheat groats, RDE activity decreased by approximately 81 or 71% with roasting or steaming for 5 min respectively. As the roasting or steaming time increased to 30 min, RDE activity decreased by over 95%. These results indicated that RDE was inactivated in groats by roasting or steaming. When untreated Tartary buckwheat groats were kneaded with powder, RDE was activated and the quercetin production rate increased by 62%. However, when roasted groats were kneaded with powder, the quercetin production rate decreased by 93%, mainly due mainly to inactivation of RDE, as indicated by a decrease in band intensities of the six isozymes. Conclusions: These results suggested that the loss of rutin, due to RDE activity during processing, may be reduced by 71 to 100% by roasting or steaming groats for 5 to 30 min, due in large part to the inactivation of RDE isozymes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2011

In this study, we prepared $TiO_2$ with the sol-gel method and controlled physico-chemical properties by a simple heat treatment. All materials were applied to photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue and the material treated at 473 K showed the highest photocatalytic efficiency. The high performance resulted from a high adsorption amount of methylene blue due to a high surface area of $229.8m^2/g$. However, the material treated at 873 K, despite of a low surface area of $23.8m^2/g$ and a large particle size of 28.38 nm, exhibits a good photocatalytic performance due to the effect of mixed cyrstalline rutile and anatase phases formed by the high heat treatment temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.10
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• pp.1444-1451
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• 2018

The surface-to-volume ratio of one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor metal-oxide sensors is an important factor for achieving good gas sensing properties because it offers a wide response area. To exploit this effect, in this study, we determined the optimal calcination temperature to maximize the specific surface area and thereby the sensitivity of the sensor. The $In_2O_3$ nanorods were synthesized by using vapor-liquid-solid growth of $In_2O_3$ powders and were decorated with the Pt nanoparticles by using a sol-gel method. Subsequently, the Pt nanoparticle-decorated $In_2O_3$ nanorods were calcined at different temperatures to determine the optimal calcination temperature. The $NO_2$ gas sensing properties of five different samples (pristine uncalcined $In_2O_3$ nanorods, Pt-decorated uncalcined $In_2O_3$ nanorods, and Pt-decorated $In_2O_3$ nanorods calcined at 400, 600, and $800^{\circ}C$) were determined and compared. The Pt-decorated $In_2O_3$ nanorods calcined at $600^{\circ}C$ showed the highest surface-to-volume ratio and the strongest response to $NO_2$ gas. Moreover, these nanorods showed the shortest response/recovery times toward $NO_2$. These enhanced sensing properties are attributed to a combination of increased surface-to-volume ratio (achieved through the optimal calcination) and increased electrical/chemical sensitization (provided by the noble-metal decoration).

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.455-460
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• 2022

Brush-like ZnO hierarchical nanostructures decorated with MgxZn1-xO (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) were fabricated and examined for application to a gas sensor. They were synthesized using vapor phase growth (VPG) on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates. To generate electronic accumulation at ZnO surface, MgZnO nanoparticles were prepared by sol-gel method, and the ratio of Mg and Zn was adjusted to optimize the device for NO₂ gas detection. As the electrons in the accumulation layer generated by the heterojunction reacted faster and more frequently with the gas, the sensitivity and speed improved. When tested as sensing materials for gas sensors at 100 ppm NO₂ at 300℃, these MgZnO decorated ZnO nanostructures exhibited an improvement from 165 to 514 times compared to pristine ZnO. The response and recovery time of the MgZnO decorated ZnO samples were shorter than those of the pristine ZnO. Various analyzing techniques, including field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) were employed to confirm the growth morphology, atomic composition, and crystalline information of the samples, respectively.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.465-475
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• 2023

In this study, we demonstrated a silica nanofibrous membrane based on the electrospinning process and evaluated its DNA isolation and purification performance in PCR pretreatment. Generally, silica membranes made of non-woven fabric are used for PCR pretreatment, but this study aimed to improve the efficiency of the pretreatment process by developing a nanofiber-type silica membrane with high specific surface area and porosity. In order to manufacture a nanofiber-shaped silica film while maintaining the original physical properties of silica, nanofiber membranes produced by adding various concentrations of PEO (5 wt%, 8 wt%, and 10 wt%) to silica prepared by the sol-gel method were compared. In terms of nanofiber membrane production, the higher the PEO concentration, the more effective it was in producing nanofiber membranes. The produced silica nanofiber membrane was inserted to a pretreatment device used in commercial PCR equipment, and the pretreatment performance was compared and verified using Salmonella bacteria. When Salmonella was used, samples containing 5 wt% PEO showed superior PCR efficiency compared to samples containing 8 wt% and 10 wt% PEO. These results show that adding 5 wt% of PEO can effectively improve DNA purification and separation by producing a nanofiber-shaped silica film while maintaining the physical properties of silica. We expect that this study will contribute to the development of effective PCR pretreatment technology essential for various molecular biology applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1078-1086
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• 1996

The peroxo-polytungstic acid was formed by the direct reaction of tungsten powder with the hydrogen peroxide solution. Peroxo-polytungstic powder were prepared by rotary evaporator using the fabricated on to ITO coated glass as substrate by dip-coating method using $2g/10mL(W-IPA/H_2O)$ sol solution. A substrate was dipped into the sol solution and after a meniscus had settled, the substrate was withdrawn at a constant rate of the 3mm/sec. Thicker layer could be built up by repeated dipping/post-treatment 15 times cycles. The layers dried at the temperature of $65{\sim}70^{\circ}C$ during the withdrawn process, and then tungsten oxides thin film was formed by final heating treatment at the temperature of $230{\sim}240^{\circ}C$ for 30min. A linear rotation between the thickness of thin film and the number of dipping/post-treatment cycles for tungsten oxides thin films made by dip-coating was found. The thickness of thin film had $60{\AA}$ after one dipping. From the patterns of XRD, the structure of tungsten oxides thin film identified as amorphous one and from the photographs of SEM, the defects and the moderate cracks were observed on the tungsten oxides thin film, but the homogeneous surface of thin films were mostly appeared. The electrochemical characteristic of the $ITO/WO_3$ thin film electrode were confirmed by the cyclic voltammetry and the cathodic Tafel polaization method. The coloring bleaching processes were clearly repeated up to several hundreds cycles by multiple cyclic voltammetry, but the dissolved phenomenon of thin film revealed in $H_2SO_4$ solution was observed due to the decrease of the current densities. The diffusion coefficient was calculated from irreversible Randles-Sevick equation from the data obtained by the cyclic voltammetry with various scan rates.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.65-65
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• 2012

Copper zinc tin sulfide ($Cu_2ZnSnS_4$, CZTS) is a very promising material as a low cost absorber alternative to other chalcopyrite-type semiconductors based on Ga or In because of the abundant and economical elements. In addition, CZTS has a band-gap energy of 1.4~1.5eV and large absorption coefficient over ${\sim}10^4cm^{-1}$, which is similar to those of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$(CIGS) regarded as one of the most successful absorber materials for high efficient solar cell. Most previous works on the fabrication of CZTS thin films were based on the vacuum deposition such as thermal evaporation and RF magnetron sputtering. Although the vacuum deposition has been widely adopted, it is quite expensive and complicated. In this regard, the solution processes such as sol-gel method, nanocrystal dispersion and hybrid slurry method have been developed for easy and cost-effective fabrication of CZTS film. Among these methods, the hybrid slurry method is favorable to make high crystalline and dense absorber layer. However, this method has the demerit using the toxic and explosive hydrazine solvent, which has severe limitation for common use. With these considerations, it is highly desirable to develop a robust, easily scalable and relatively safe solution-based process for the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer with a thickness of 1.5~2.0 ${\mu}m$ and micrometer-scaled grains using two different non-vacuum approaches. The first solution-processing approach includes air-stable non-toxic solvent-based inks in which the commercially available precursor nanoparticles are dispersed in ethanol. Our readily achievable air-stable precursor ink, without the involvement of complex particle synthesis, high toxic solvents, or organic additives, facilitates a convenient method to fabricate a high quality CZTS absorber layer with uniform surface composition and across the film depth when annealed at $530^{\circ}C$. The conversion efficiency and fill factor for the non-toxic ink based solar cells are 5.14% and 52.8%, respectively. The other method is based on the nanocrystal dispersions that are a key ingredient in the deposition of thermally annealed absorber layers. We report a facile synthetic method to produce phase-pure CZTS nanocrystals capped with less toxic and more easily removable ligands. The resulting CZTS nanoparticle dispersion enables us to fabricate uniform, crack-free absorber layer onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$, which exhibits a robust and reproducible photovoltaic response. Our simple and less-toxic approach for the fabrication of CZTS layer, reported here, will be the first step in realizing the low-cost solution-processed CZTS solar cell with high efficiency.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1034-1042
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• 1996

Various $TiO_2-SiO_2$ composite powders were prepared by the modified sol-gel method using 1-dodecanol as DCCA (Dryng Control Chemical Additive ). Their characterizations were carried out and their photocatalytic catalysis was examined on the evolution reaction of hydrogen. The weight losses at $500^{\circ}C$ of only $TiO_2$ and $SiO_2$ powders were 33. 0wt% and 42.5wt%, respectively, and those of the $TiO_2/SiO_2$ powders ($TiO_2/SiO_2=25/75$, 50/50 and 75/25) were about $70.0{\pm}3.0wt%$. The released substances from the powders were almost organic matters. The as-prepared powders except only $TiO_2$ powder were amorphous. Transformation of anatase to rutil was hindered by $SiO_2$ component and the crystallinity of anatase was decreased with increasing $SiO_2$ contents. The as-prepared powders were bulky states. By heating at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1 hr $TiO_2-SiO_2$ powders ($TiO_2=100%$, $TiO_2/SiO_2=75/25,\;50/50$) showed agglomerates consisted of particles in submicron, but those of $TiO_2/SiO_2=25/75$ and $SiO_2=100%$ were still bulky states. Specific surface area of the powders heat-treated at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1hr was increased with $SiO_2$ concents and their pore sizes were also depended on $SiO_2$ contents. The photocatalytic activity of $TiO_2/SiO_2=75/25$ heat-treated at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1hr was 0.240mo1/h.g-cat as $H_2$ evolution rate. This value was about 2.0 times that of P-25(Degussa P-25) as a standard photocatalyst.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2006

By substituting Mn or Cr for Co in inverse spinel $CoFe_2O_4,\;Mn_xCo_{1-x}Fe_2O_4\;and\;Cr_xCo_{1-x}Fe_2O_4$ and thin films were prepared by sol-gel method and their structural and magnetic properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction indicates that the cubic lattice constant increase for the Mn substitution while it hardly changes for the Cr substitution. Substitution of $Mn^{2+}$ for octahedral $Co^{2+}$ sites can explain the increase of lattice constant in $Mn_xCo_{1-x}Fe_2O_4$. On the other hand, Substitution of $Cr^{3+}$ for octahedral $Co^{2+}$ and subsequent reduction of $Fe^{3+}$ ion into $Fe^{2+}$ are expected to happen. Mossbauer spectroscopy measurements on $Cr_xCo_{1-x}Fe_2P_4$ indicate the existence of tetrahedral $Fe^{2+}$ ions that are created through reduction of tetrahedral $Fe^{3+}$ ions in order to compensate charge imbalance happened by $Cr^{3+}$ substitution for octahedral $Co^{2+}$ sites. On the other hand, no $Fe^{2+}$ ions were detected by Mossbauer spectroscopy for $Mn_xCo_{1-x}Fe_2O_4$. A migration of $Fe^{3+}$ ions from octahedral to tetrahedral sites In $Mn_xCo_{1-x}Fe_2O_4$ was detected by Mossbauer spectroscopy for x>0.47. Vibrating sample magnetometry measurements on the samples at room temperature revealed that the saturation magnetization increases by Mn and Cr substitution for certain range of x, qualitatively explainable in terms of the comparison of spin magnetic moment among the related transition-metal ions.