• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.147-151
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• 2023

Transparent ZnO (100 nm thick) and ZnO/Ti/ZnO (ZTZ) films were prepared with radio frequency (RF) and direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering on the glass substrate at room temperature. During the ZTZ film deposition, the thickness of the Ti interlayer was varied, such as 6, 9, 12, and 15 nm, while the thickness of ZnO films was kept at 50 nm to investigate the effect of the Ti interlayer on the crystallization and opto-electrical performance of the films. From the XRD pattern, it is concluded that the 9 nm thick Ti interlayer showed some characteristic peaks of Ti (200) and (220), and the grain size of the ZnO (002) enlarged from 13.32 to 15.28 nm as Ti interlayer thickness increased. In an opto-electrical performance observation, ZnO single-layer films show a figure of merit of 1.4×10^-11 Ω^-1, while ZTZ films with a 9 nm-thick Ti interlayer show a higher figure of merit of 2.0×10^-5 Ω^-1.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2023

Oxalic acid has been traditionally obtained via the oxidation of carbohydrates using nitric acid and catalysts. However, this process produces a variety of nitrogen oxides during oxidation and requires a separation process due to its various intermediates. These products and additional steps increase the harmfulness and complexity of the process. Recently, the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide into oxalic acid has been suggested as an environmentally friendly and efficient technology for the production of oxalic acid. In this electrochemical conversion system, zinc oxalate (ZnC₂O₄) is obtained by the reaction of Zn²⁺ ions produced by Zn oxidation and oxalate ions produced by CO₂ reduction. ZnC₂O₄ can then be converted to form oxalic acid, but this requires the use of a strong acid and heat. In this study, a system was proposed that can easily convert ZnC₂O₄ to oxalic acid without the use of a strong acid while also allowing for easy separation. In addition, this proposed system can also further convert the products into glycolic acid which is a high-value-added chemical. ZnC₂O₄ was effectively separated into Zn(OH)₂ powder and oxalate solution through a chemical treatment and a vacuum filtration process. Then the Zn(OH)₂ and oxalate were electrochemically converted to zinc and glycolic acid, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.43-56
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• 2024

In this study, we investigate wet absorption process and the performance and regeneration of Fe(II)EDTA^2- absorbents, electrodeposition of the reducing agent for recovery of metal powder and re-absorption performance using regenerated absorbed for the simultaneous removal of nitrogen oxides (NO) and sulfur oxides (SO₂) emitted from flue gas. As a result of a simultaneous absorption experiment of NO and SO₂ under the presence of oxygen, the antagonistic effects of SO₂ and O₂ in the absorption solution resulted in the regeneration of Fe(III)EDTA^- and Fe(II)EDTA-NO^2- to Fe(II)EDTA^2-, inducing the maintained neutral pH and maintained NO₂ absorption, thereby greatly improving the simultaneous absorption performance of NO and SO₂. In addition, after regenerating the Fe(II)EDTA^2- absorbent with Zn metal powder as a reducing agent, electrodeposition was performed to recover the remaining reducing agent. During the electrodeposition process, the high Zn recovery efficiency (approximately 57.50%) was observed at an applied voltage of 4 V, and the total absorption amount of NO was also significantly improved.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.125-140
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• 2022

The Xiquegou Pb-Zn deposit is located at the Qingchengzi orefield which is one of the largest Pb-Zn mineralized zone in the northeast of China. The geology of this deposit consists of Archean granulite, Paleoproterozoinc migmatitic granite, Paleo-Mesoproterozoic sodic granite, Paleoproterozoic Liaohe group, Mesozoic diorite and Mesozoic monzoritic granite. The Xiquegou deposit which is a Triassic magma-hydrothermal type deposit occurs as vein ore filled fractures along fault zone in unit 3 (dolomitic marble and schist) of Dashiqiao formation of the Paleoproterozoic Liaohe group. Xiquegou Pb-Zn deposit consists of quartz, apatite, calcite, pyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, marcasite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, stannite, galena, tetrahedrite, electrum, argentite, native silver and pyrargyrite. Wallrock alteration of this deposit contains silicification, pyritization, dolomitization, chloritization and sericitization. Based on mineral petrography and paragenesis, dolomites from this deposit are classified two type (1. dolomite (D₀) as wallrock, 2. dolomite (D₁) as wallrock alteration in Pb-Zn mineralization quartz vein ore). The structural formulars of dolomites are determined to be Ca_1.03-1.01Mg_0.95-0.83Fe_0.12-0.02Mn_0.02-0.00(CO₃)₂(D₀) and Ca_1.16-1.00Mg_0.79-0.44Fe_0.53-0.13Mn_0.03-0.00As_0.01-0.00(CO₃)₂(D₁), respectively. It means that dolomites from the Xiquegou deposit have higher content of trace elements compared to the theoretical composition of dolomite. The dolomite (D₁) from quartz vein ore has higher content of these trace elements (FeO, PbO, Sb₂O₅ and As₂O₅) than dolomite (D₀) from wallrock. Dolomites correspond to Ferroan dolomite (D₀), and ankerite and Ferroan dolomite (D₁), respectively. The structural formular of chlorite from quartz vein ore is (Mg_1.65-1.08Fe_2.94-2.50Mn_0.01-0.00Zn_0.01-0.00Ni_0.01-0.00Cr_0.02-0.00V_0.01-0.00Hf_0.01-0.00Pb_0.01-0.00Cu_0.01-0.00As_0.03-0.00Ca_0.02-0.01Al_1.68-1.61)_5.77-5.73(Si_2.84-2.76Al_1.24-1.16)_4.00O₁₀(OH)₈. It indicated that chlorite of quartz vein ore is similar with theoretical chlorite and corresponds to Fe-rich chlorite. Compositional variations in chlorite from quartz vein ore are caused by mainly octahedral Fe²⁺ <-> Mg²⁺ (Mn²⁺) substitution and partly phengitic or Tschermark substitution (Al^3+,VI+Al^3+,IV <-> (Fe²⁺ 또는 Mg²⁺)^VI+(Si⁴⁺)^IV).

• Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.191-196
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• 2019

The phase of Cu,Zn,Al precursors strongly affects the activity of their final catalysts. Herein, the Cu,Zn,Al precursor was prepared by precipitation of $Al^{3+}$ onto primitive, amorphous Cu,Zn precipitate. This precursor turned out to be a phase mixture of zincian malachite and hydrotalcite in which the latter phase was less abundant compared to the co-precipitated precursor. The final catalyst derived from this precursor exhibited a little higher copper surface area and methanol synthesis activity than the co-precipitated counterpart. Therefore, the two precursor phases need to be mixed in an adequate proportion for the preparation of active $Cu/ZnO/Al_2O_3$ catalyst.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2797-2801
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• 2023

CdZnTeSe (CZTS) has attracted attention for applications in X- and gamma-ray detectors owing to its improved properties compared to those of CdZnTe (CZT). In this study, we grew and processed single crystals of CZT and CZTS using the Bridgeman method to confirm the feasibility of using a dosimeter for high-energy X-rays in radiotherapy. We evaluated their linearity and precision using the coefficient of determination (R²) and relative standard deviation (RSD). CZTS showed sufficient RSD values lower than 1.5% of the standard for X-ray dosimetry, whereas CZT's RSD values increased dramatically under some conditions. CZTS exhibited an R² value of 0.9968 at 500 V/cm, whereas CZT has an R² value of 0.9373 under the same conditions. The X-ray response of CZTS maintains its pulse shape at various dose rates, and its properties are improved by adding selenium to the CdTe matrix to lower the defect density and sub-grain boundaries. Thus, we validated that CZTS shows a better response than CZT to high-energy X-rays used for radiotherapy. Further, the applicability of an onboard imager, a high-energy X-ray (>6 MV) image, is presented. The proposed methodology and results can guide future advances in X-ray dose detection.

• Current Optics and Photonics
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 2018

We present a novel and simple method to enable spatially selective $ZnAl_2O_4$ nanocrystal formation on the surface of $B_2O_3$-$Al_2O_3$-ZnO-CaO-$K_2O$ glass by employing localized laser heating. Optimized precipitation of glass-ceramics containing nanocrystals doped with $Eu^{3+}$ and $Yb^{3+}$ ions was performed by controlling $CO_2$ laser power and scan speed. Micro-x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed the mean size and morphology of nanocrystals, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy showed the lateral distribution of elements in the imaged area. Laser power and scan speed controled annealing temperature for crystalization in the range of 1.4-1.8 W and 0.01-0.3 mm/s, and changed the size of nanocrystals and distribution of dopant ions. We also report more than 20 times enhanced downshift visible emission under ultraviolet excitation, and 3 times increased upconversion emission from $Eu^{3+}$ ions assisted by efficient sensitizer $Yb^{3+}$ ions in nanocrystals under 980 nm excitation. The confocal microscope revealed the depth profile of $Eu^{3+}$ ions by showing their emission intensity variation.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.1500-1506
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• 2011

Tyrosinase is a widespread enzyme with great promising capabilities. The Lineweaver-Burk plots of the catecholase reactions showed that the kinetics of mushroom tyrosinase (MT), activated by $Co^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ at different pHs (6, 7, 8 and 9) obeyed the non-essential activation mode. The binding of metal ions to the enzyme increases the maximum velocity of the enzyme due to an increase in the enzyme catalytic constant ($k_{cat}$). From the kinetic analysis, dissociation constants of the activator from the enzyme-metal ion complex ($K_a$) were obtained as $5{\times}10^4M^{-1}$ and $8.33{\times}10^3M^{-1}$ for $Co^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ at pH 9 and 6 respectively. The structural analysis of MT through circular dichroism (CD) and intensive fluorescence spectra revealed that the conformational stability of the enzyme in these pHs reaches its maximum value in the presence of each of the two metal ions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.996-1005
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• 2017

In this paper, nuclear data for cross sections of the $^{64}Zn(n,2n)^{63}Zn$, $^{64}Zn(n,3n)^{62}Zn$, $^{64}Zn(n,p)^{64}Cu$, $^{66}Zn(n,2n)^{65}Zn$, $^{66}Zn(n,p)^{66}Cu$, $^{67}Zn(n,p)^{67}Cu$, $^{68}Zn(n,p)^{68}Cu$, and $^{68}Zn(n,{\alpha})^{65}Ni$ reactions were studied for neutron energies up to 40 MeV. In the nuclear model calculations, TALYS 1.6, ALICE/ASH, and EMPIRE 3.2 codes were used. Furthermore, the nuclear data for the (n,2n) and (n,p) reaction channels were also calculated using various cross-section systematics at energies around 14-15 MeV. The code calculations were analyzed and obtained using the different level densities in the exciton model and the geometry-dependent hybrid model. The results obtained from the excitation function calculations are discussed and compared with literature experimental data, ENDF/B-VII.1, and the TENDL-2015 evaluated data.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.481-488
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• 2022

The Cu₂ZnSn(S_xSe_1-x)₄ (CZTSSe) absorbers are promising thin film solar cells (TFSCs) materials, to replace existing Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) and CdTe photovoltaic technology. However, the best reported efficiency for a CZTSSe device, of 13.6 %, is still too low for commercial use. Recently, partially replacing the Zn²⁺ element with a Cd²⁺element has attracting attention as one of the promising strategies for improving the photovoltaic characteristics of the CZTSSe TFSCs. Cd²⁺ elements are known to improve the grain size of the CZTSSe absorber thin films and improve optoelectronic properties by suppressing potential defects, causing short-circuit current (J_sc) loss. In this study, the structural, compositional, and morphological characteristics of CZTSSe and CZCTSSe thin films were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF), and Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively. The FE-SEM images revealed that the grain size improved with increasing Cd²⁺ alloying in the CZTSSe thin films. Moreover, there was a slight decrease in small grain distribution as well as voids near the CZTSSe/Mo interface after Cd²⁺ alloying. The solar cells prepared using the most promising CZTSSe absorber thin films with Cd²⁺ alloying (8 min. 30 sec.) exhibited a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.33 %, J_sc of 34.0 mA/cm², and fill factor (FF) of 62.7 %, respectively.