• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2023

Arsenic is a highly toxic element, and its contamination is widespread around the world. The natural materials with high selectivity and efficiency toward pollutants are important in wastewater treatment technology. In this study, the mesoporous synthetic hectorite was synthesized by facile hydrothermal crystallization of gels comprising silica, magnesium hydroxide, and lithium fluoride. Additionally, the naturally available clay was modified using zirconium at room temperature. Both synthetic and modified natural clays were employed in the removal of arsenate from aquatic environments. The materials were fully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) analyses. The synthesized materials were used to remove arsenic (V) under varied physicochemical conditions. Both materials, i.e., Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, showed high percentage removal of arsenic (V) at lower pH, and the efficiency decreased in an alkaline medium. The equilibrium-state sorption data agrees well with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, and the maximum sorption capacity is found to be 4.608 and 2.207 mg/g for Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, respectively. The kinetic data fits well with the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Furthermore, the effect of the background electrolytes study indicated that arsenic (V) is specifically sorbed at the surface of these two nanocomposites. This study demonstrated that zirconium intercalated synthetic hectorite as well as zirconium modified natural clays are effective and efficient materials for the selective removal of arsenic (V) from aqueous medium.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.60-64
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• 2023

In this study, the electrical contact resistance characteristics between graphene and metals, which is one of important factors for the performance of graphene-based devices, were compared. High-quality graphene was synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and Al, Cu, Ni, and Ti as electrode materials were deposited on the graphene surface with equal thickness of 50 nm. The contact resistances of graphene transferred to SiO₂/Si substrates and metals were measured by the transfer length method (TLM), and the average contact resistances of Al, Cu, Ni, and Ti were found to be 345 Ω, 553 Ω, 110 Ω, and 174 Ω, respectively. It was found that Ni and Ti, which form chemical bonds with graphene, have relatively lower contact resistances compared to Al and Cu, which have physical adsorption properties. The results of this study on the electrical properties between graphene and metals are expected to contribute to the realization of high-performance graphene-based devices including electronics, optoelectronic devices, and sensors by forming low contact resistance with electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2023

Recently, low-temperature pyrolysis technology has been studied as a recycling method for waste plastic. Low-temperature pyrolysis technology for waste plastic produces pyrolysis oil that can be used as an energy resource, but solid residue remains. Waste plastic pyrolysis residues are mostly landfilled due to their limited use. In this study, it is investigated that mixed waste plastic pyrolysis residues could be recycled into activated carbon. It was confirmed that the fixed carbon content of the residue was 33.69 % from proximate Analysis. Chemical activation was used to manufacture activated carbon. KOH was used as an activator. To investigate the effect of the mixing ratio of KOH and residue, samples were mixed at ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. The mixed sample was chemically activated at an activation temperature of 800 ℃ for 1 hour. As a result of analyzing the characteristics of activated carbon through BET, it was confirmed that the specific surface area increased as the mixing ratio of KOH increased.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.330-339
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• 2024

Corn cobs were fermented with Aspergillus niger to produce soluble dietary fiber (SDF) of high quality and excellent food safety. In this work, the fermentation process was optimized by single-factor test and response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal fermentation conditions were determined to be a material-liquid ratio of 1:30, an inoculum concentration of 11%, a temperature of 32℃, a time of 6 days, and a shaking speed of 200 r/min. Under these conditions, the SDF yield of corn cob increased from 2.34% to 11.92%, and the ratio of soluble dietary fiber to total dietary fiber (SDF/TDF) reached 19.08%, meeting the requirements for high-quality dietary fiber (SDF/TDF of more than 10%). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis revealed that the fermentation effectively degraded part of cellulose and hemicellulose, resulting in the formation of a loose and porous structure. After fermentation the water swelling capacity, water-holding capacity, and oil-holding capacity of the corn cob SDF were significantly improved and the adsorption capacity of glucose, cholesterol, and nitrite ions all increased by more than 20%. Moreover, the total phenolic content increased by 20.96%, which correlated with the higher antioxidant activity of SDF. Overall, the fermentation of corn cobs by A. niger increased the yield and enhanced the functional properties of dietary fiber (DF) as well.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.121-135
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• 2012

Soil dispersion and heavy metal leaching with two heavy metal-contaminated soils were studied to derive the optimal dispersion condition in the course of developing the remedial technology using magnetic separation. The dispersion solutions of pyrophosphate, hexametaphosphate, orthophosphate and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) at 1 - 200 mM and the pH of solutions was adjusted to be 9 - 12 with NaOH. The clay content of suspension as an indicator of dispersion rate and the heavy metal concentration of the solution were tested at the different pHs and concentrations of the dispersion solution during the experiment. The dispersion rate increased with increasing the pH and dispersion agent concentration of the solution. The dispersion efficiency of the agents showed as follows: pyrophosphate > hexametaphosphate > SDS > orthophosphate. Arsenic leaching was sharply increased at 50 mM of phosphates and 100 mM of SDS. The adsorption of $OH^-$, phosphates and dodecysulfate on the surface of Fe- and Mn-oxides and soil organic matter and the broken edge of clay mineral might decrease the surface charge and might increase the repulsion force among soil particles. The competition between arsenic and $OH^-$, phosphates and dodecylsulfate for the adsorption site of soil particles might induce the arsenic leaching. The dispersion and heavy metal leaching data indicate that pH 11 and 10 mM pyrophosphate is the optimum dispersion solution for maximizing dispersion and minimizing heavy metal leaching.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.225-230
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• 2008

Objective of this study was to access the environmental impacts of the use of discharge water from municipal waste water treatment plant as alternative irrigation resources during drought season for rice cultivation. For the field experiments, it was observed that plant growth and yield characteristics at 20 days of alternative irrigation period with application of FAST (fertilizer application based on soil test) 50% were relatively the same as the control. For the surface water quality, it appeared that $EC_i$ (electrical conductivity of irrigation water) and SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) values of DMWT (discharge waters from municipal wastewater treatment plant) irrigation were twofold higher than those of ground water irrigation as the control regardless of fertilization levels. For the irrigation periods, there were not significantly difference between 10 and 20 days of treatments, but $EC_i$ and SAR values of surface water were highest at 30 days of irrigation periods at initial rice growing stages. Generally, $EC_i$ values of percolation water in all the treatments were gradually increasing until 30days after irrigation, and then decreasing to harvest stage. Overall, it might be considered that there was possibility to irrigate DMWT with application of FAST 50% for 20 days of drought periods at rice transplanting season. Furthermore, efficiency rate of alternative irrigation water for 20 days of drought period was 32.7% relative to the total annual irrigation water for rice cultivation.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.5 s.174
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• pp.499-512
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• 2005

EPMA determined that Fe(Mn)-(oxy)hydroxides and well-crystallized Fe-(oxy)hydroxides and could contain a small amount of As $(0.3-11.0\;wt.\%\;and\;2.1-7.4\;wt.\%\;respectively)$. Amorphous crystalline Fe-(oxy) hydroxide assemblages were identified as the richest in As with $28-36\;wt.\%$. On the ternary $As_2O_5-SO_3-Fe_2O_3$ diagram, these materials were interpreted here as 'scorodite-like'. Dissolved As was attenuated by the adsorption on Fe-(oxy) hydroxides and Fe(Mn)-(oxy) hydroxides and/or the formation of an amorphous Fe-As phase (maybe scorodite: $FeAsO_4\cdot2H_2O$). Leaching tests were performed in order to find out leaching characteristics of As and Fe under acidic conditions. At the initial pHs 3 and 5, As contents dissolved from tailings of the cheongyang mine significantly increased after 7 days due to the oxidation of As-bearing secondary minerals (up to ca. $2.4\%$ of total), while As of Seobo mine-tailing samples was rarely released (ca. $0.0-0.1\%$ of total). Dissolution experiments at an initial pH 1 liberated a higher amount of As (ca. $1.1-4.2\%$ of total for Seobo tailings, $1.5-14.4\%$ of total for Cheongyang tailings). In addition, good correlation between As and Fe in leached solutions with tailings was observed. The kinetic problems could be the important factor which leads to increasing concentrations of As in the runoff water. Release of As from Cheongyang tailings can potentially pose adverse impact to surface and groundwater qualities in the surrounding environment, while precipitation of secondary minerals and the adsorption of As are efficient mechanisms for decreasing the mobilities of As in the surface environment of Seobo mine area.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2019

Bamboo is an evergreen perennial plant, and it is known as one of the most productive and fastest-growing plants in the world. It grows quickly in moderate climates with only moderate water and fertilizer. Traditionally in Asia, bamboo is used for building materials, as a food source, and as versatile raw materials. Bamboo as a biomass feedstock can be transformed to prepare activated carbon using the thermal treatment of pyrolysis. The effect of process variables such as carbonization temperature, activation temperature, activation time, the amount of steam, and the mixing ratio of phosphoric acid and bamboo were systematically investigated to optimize the preparation conditions. Steam activation was proceeded after carbonization with a vapor flow rate of $0.8{\sim}1.8mL-H_2O\;g-char^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ and activation time of 1 ~ 3 h at $700{\sim}900^{\circ}C$. Carbon yield and surface area reached 2.04 ~ 20.59 wt% and $499.17{\sim}1074.04m^2\;g^{-1}$, respectively, with a steam flow rate of $1.4mL-H_2O\;g-char^{-1}\;h^{-1}$ for 2 h. Also, the carbon yield and surface area were 24.67 wt% and $1389.59m^2\;g^{-1}$, respectively, when the bamboo and phosphoric acid were mixed in a 1:1 weight ratio ($700^{\circ}C$, 2 h, $1.4mL-H_2O\;g-char^{-1}\;h^{-1}$). The adsorption of methylene blue into the bamboo activated carbon was studied based on pseudo first order and second order kinetics models. The adsorption kinetics were found to follow the pseudo second order model, which is governed by chemisorption.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.28 no.spc
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• pp.30-36
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• 2022

A sensor is needed to continuously and automatically measure the change in HNS concentration in industrial facilities that directly discharge to the sea after water treatment. The basic function of the sensor is to be able to detect ppb levels even at room temperature. Therefore, a method for increasing the sensitivity of the existing sensor is proposed. First, a method for increasing the conductivity of a film using a conductive carbon-based additive in a nanoparticle thin film and a method for increasing ion adsorption on the surface using a catalyst metal were studied.. To improve conductivity, carbon black was selected as an additive in the film using ITO nanoparticles, and the performance change of the sensor according to the content of the additive was observed. As a result, the change in resistance and response time due to the increase in conductivity at a CB content of 5 wt% could be observed, and notably, the lower limit of detection was lowered to about 250 ppb in an experiment with organic solvents. In addition, to increase the degree of ion adsorption in the liquid, an experiment was conducted using a sample in which a surface catalyst layer was formed by sputtering Au. Notably, the response of the sensor increased by more than 20% and the average lower limit of detection was lowered to 61 ppm. This result confirmed that the chemical resistance sensor using metal oxide nanoparticles could detect HNS of several tens of ppb even at room temperature.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2008

Phenanthrene uptake by surfactant sorbed on activated carbon was investigated to recycle of surfactant in washed solution for contaminated soil. The partitioning of phenanthrene to the activated carbon coating with Triton X-100 as a surfactant was also evaluated by a mathematical model. Phenanthrene-contaminated soil (200 mg/kg) was washed in 10 g/L of surfactant solution. Washed phenanthrene in solution was separated by various particle loadings of granular activated carbon through a mode of selective adsorption. Removal of phenanthrene was 99.3%, and surfactant recovery was 88.9% by 2.5 g/L of granular activated carbon, respectively. Phenanthrene uptake by activated carbon was greater than that of phenanthrene calculated by a standard model for a system with one partitioning component. This is accounted for enhanced surface solubilization by hemi-micelles adsorbed onto granular activated carbon. The effectiveness factor is greater than 1 and molar ratio of solubilization to sorbed surfactant is higher than that of liquid surfactant. Results suggest that separation of contaminants and surfactants by activated carbon through washing process in soil is much effective than that of calculated in a theoretical model.