• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2010

The chalcopyrite $Cu(In_xGa_{(1-x)})Se_2$ (CIGS) is considered to be one of the effective light-absorbing materials for thin film photovoltaic solar cells. We describe the electrodeposition of CIGS thin films in ambient laboratory conditions, and suggest the electrochemical conditions to prepare stoichiometric CIGS thin films of Ga/(In + Ga) = 0.3. In acidic solutions containing $Cu^{2+}$, $In^{3+}$, $Ga^{3+}$ and $Se^{4+}$ ions, the CIGS films of different Cu/In/Ga/Se chemical compositions were electrodeposited onto Mo/Glass substrate. The structure, morphology and chemical composition of electrodeposited CIGS films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.627-639
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• 2014

Accurate correction of surface effect from back scattered solar radiance is one of key issue to retrieve aerosol information from satellite measurements. In this study, two different methods are applied to retrieve surface reflectance by using single visible channel measurement from meteorological imager onboard COMS. The first one is minimum reflectance method, which composes the minimum value among previously measured reflectances at each pixel over a certain search window length. This method assumes that the darkest pixel corresponds to the aerosol-free condition, and deduces surface reflectance by correcting atmospheric scattering from the measured visible reflectance. The second method, named as the "atmospheric correction method" in this study, estimates the result by correcting aerosol and atmospheric scattering with ground-based observation of aerosol optical properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the retrieval accuracy of the widelyused minimum reflectance method. Also, the retrieval error caused by the loading of background aerosol is mainly estimated. The comparison between surface reflectances retrieved from the two methods shows good agreement with the correlation coefficient of 0.87. However, the results from the minimum reflectance method are slightly overestimated than the values from the atmospheric correction method when surface reflectance is lower than 0.2. The average difference between the two results is 0.012 without the background aerosol correction. By considering the background aerosol effect, however, the difference is reduced to 0.010.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.690-694
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• 2021

Carbon spheres (CS) were fabricated using glucose as a precursor in the hydrothermal method. Hollow TiO₂ (H-TiO₂) spheres with 200 nm, 500 nm, and 1,200 nm were synthesized by CS/TiO₂ core-shell particles via a sol-gel and calcination method. H-TiO₂ spheres with nano and micron sizes were characterized using FE-SEM, HR-TEM, and X-ray diffraction. The CIE color coordinate, solar reflectance, and heat shield temperatures of H-TiO₂/polyacrylate (PA) composite film were investigated using a UV-Vis-NIR spectrometer and homemade heat insulation temperature measuring device. H-TiO₂/PA composites exhibit excellent thermal insulation since the hollow structure filled with dry air has low thermal conductivity and near infrared light reflecting performance. The thermal insulation increased with increasing the hollow sphere (HS) size on H-TiO₂/PA composites. The PA composite film mixed with H-TiO₂ filled with 1200 nm HS reduced the heat shield temperature by 26 ℃ compared to that of the transparent glass counterpart.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.148-158
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• 2022

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction (ECR) to produce value-added fuels and chemicals using clean energy sources (like solar and wind) is a promising technology to neutralize the carbon cycle and reproduce the fuels. Presently, the ECR has been the most attractive route to produce carbon-building blocks that have growing global production and high market demand. The electrochemical CO₂ reduction could be extensively implemented if it produces valuable products at those costs which are financially competitive with the present market prices. Herein, the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ obtained from flue gases of a power plant to produce diesel and formic acid using a consistent techno-economic approach is presented. The first scenario analyzed the production of diesel fuel which was formed through Fischer-Tropsch processing of CO (obtained through electroreduction of CO₂) and hydrogen, while in the second scenario, direct electrochemical CO₂ reduction to formic acid was considered. As per the base case assumptions extracted from the previous outstanding research studies, both processes weren't competitive with the existing fuel prices, indicating that high electrochemical (EC) cell capital cost was the main limiting component. The diesel fuel production was predicted as the best route for the cost-effective production of fuels under conceivable optimistic case assumptions, and the formic acid was found to be costly in terms of stored energy contents and has a facile production mechanism at those costs which are financially competitive with its bulk market price. In both processes, the liquid product cost was greatly affected by the parameters affecting the EC cell capital expenses, such as cost concerning the electrode area, faradaic efficiency, and current density.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.207-212
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• 2023

Near-infrared (NIR) absorbing dyes have been applied to various applications such as optical filters, biotechnology, energy storage and conversion, coating additive, and traditionally information-storage materials. Because image sensors used in cellphones and digital cameras have sensitivity in the NIR region, the NIR cut-off filter is essential to achieving more clear images. As energy storage and conversion have been important, diverse NIR absorbing materials have been developed to extend the absorption region to the NIR region, and NIR absorbing materials-based research has proceeded to improve device performances. Adding NIR-absorbing dye with a photo-thermal effect to a self-healable coating system has been attractive for future mobility technology, and more effective self-healing properties have been reported. In this report, the chemical structures of representative NIR-absorbing dyes and state of the art research based on NIR-absorbing dyes are introduced.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.457-459
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• 2002

Sunlight causes various types of adverse skin changes on the sun-exposed areas of the skin, in which the most hazardous one is the induction of malignant skin tumours. FT -IR spectra were obtained from specimens excised from normal skin, BCCs, SCCs, MMs, nevi, lesions of solar keratosis and Bowen's disease. Tissue samples from freshly frozen specimens were cut into 2 sections in strictly sequential order to be stained with H & E for histopathological analysis, and then to be air-dried on CaF$_2$ slide glasses for further spectral data acquisition from defined area of interest. Intra- and inter-sample variations were estimated within grouped lesion categories according to each skin component. Mean spectra for each type of tissue pathology in the 800-1800 $cm^{-1}$ / region was interpreted using the classical group frequency approach that showed the most visible differences in spectra of benign, premalignant and malignant changes directly related to protein conformation and nucleic acid bases. The relative intensity of the nucleic acid peak was increased with progression to malignancy. In addition, PCA was able to evaluate and maximise the differences in the spectra by reducing the number of variables characterizing each patient and pathology category. This type of approach to non-destructively estimate the complexity of IR-spectra of inhomogeneous samples such as skin demonstrates the advantage of FT -IR microspectroscopy to be able to observe diseased states (benign, premalignant, malignant) and distinguish them from normal against a huge background of inter- and intra-subject variability.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.2067-2072
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• 2013

Hydrogen ($H_2$) treatment using a two-step $TiO_2$ nanotube (TONT) film was performed under various annealing temperatures from $350^{\circ}C$ to $550^{\circ}C$ and significantly influenced the extent of hydrogen treatment in the film. Compared with pure TONT films, the hydrogen-treated TONT (H:TONT) film showed substantial improvement of material features from structural, optical and electronic aspects. In particular, the extent of enhancement was remarkable with increasing annealing temperature. Light absorption by the H:TONT film extended toward the visible region, which was attributable to the formation of sub-band-gap states between the conduction and valence bands, resulting from oxygen vacancies due to the $H_2$ treatment. This increased donor concentration about 1.5 times higher and improved electrical conductivity of the TONT films. Based on these analyses and results, photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance was evaluated and showed that the H:TONT film prepared at $550^{\circ}C$ exhibited optimal PEC performance. Approximately twice higher photocurrent density of 0.967 $mA/cm^2$ at 0.32 V vs. NHE was achieved for the H:TONT film ($550^{\circ}C$) versus 0.43 $mA/cm^2$ for the pure TONT film. Moreover, the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency (STH, ${\eta}$) of the H:TONT film was 0.95%, whereas a 0.52% STH efficiency was acquired for the TONT film. These results demonstrate that hydrogen treatment of TONT film is a simple and effective tool to enhance PEC performance with modifying the properties of the original material.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.557-563
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• 2015

Skin aging is the most readily observable process involved in human aging. Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation causes photo-oxidation via generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby damaging the nucleus and cytoplasm of skin cells and ultimately leading to cell death. Recent studies have shown that high levels of solar UVB irradiation induce the synthesis of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in skin fibroblasts, causing photo-aging and tumor progression. The MMP family is involved in the breakdown of extracellular matrix in normal physiological processes such as embryonic development, reproduction, and tissue remodeling, as well as in disease processes such as arthritis and metastasis. We investigated the effect of diphlorethohydroxycarmalol (DPHC) against damage induced by UVB radiation in human skin keratinocytes. In UVB-irradiated cells, DPHC significantly reduced expression of MMP mRNA and protein, as well as activation of MMPs. Furthermore, DPHC reduced phosphorylation of ERK and JNK, which act upstream of c-Fos and c-Jun, respectively; consequently, DPHC inhibited the expression of c-Fos and c-Jun, which are key components of activator protein-1 (AP-1, up-regulator of MMPs). Additionally, DPHC abolished the DNA-binding activity of AP-1, and thereby prevented AP-1-mediated transcriptional activation. These data demonstrate that by inactivating ERK and JNK, DPHC inhibits induction of MMPs triggered by UVB radiation.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.2070-2076
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• 2015

Nano composite materials were multi-constituent combinations of nano dimensional phases with distinct differences in structure, chemistry and properties. Nano particles were less likely to create large stress concentrations and thereby can avoid the compromise of the material ductility while improve other mechanical properties. Corona discharge was an electrical discharge. The ionization of a fluid surrounding a conductor was electrically energized. This discharge would occur when the strength of the electric field around the conductor was high enough to form a conductive region, but not high enough to cause electrical breakdown or arcing to nearby objects. This paper shows all the studies done on the preparation of nano fillers. Special attention has given to the ACSR transmission line conductor, TiO₂ nano fillers and also to the evaluation of corona resistance on dielectric materials discussed in detail. The measurement of the dielectric properties of the nano fillers and the parameters influencing them were also discussed in the paper. Corona discharge test reveals that in 0%N ACSR sample corona loss was directly proportional to the applied line voltage. No significant change in corona loss between 0%N and 1%N. When TiO₂ nano filler concentration was increased up to 10%N fine decrement in corona loss was found when compared to base ACSR conductor, corona loss was decreased by 40.67% in 10%N ACSR sample. It was also found from the surface conditions test that inorganic TiO₂ nano filler increases the key parameters like tensile strength and erosion depth.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 1994

The Korean sounding rockets(KSR420S-1, -2) equipped with ozone detectors have b3en launched at An-heung, Chungchungnam-do, on June 4 and September 1, 1993, respectively. The ozone detector is used to measure the attenuation of solar UV radiation for various frequency bands in the stratosphere, to obtain vertical profiles of the ozone number density in the stratosphere. They confirm that the maximum ozone densities occur near 25 km, which is quite consistent with the mean value in the mid-latitude region. Our results from KSR420S-1 and -2 are compared with the other observation data from the Dobson spectrophotometer at Yonsei Univ., the LIDAR at Kyunghee Univ., the SBUV from Nimbus satellite, and the TOVS from NOAA satellite, which were performed simultaneously with the sounding rocket experiments.