• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.453-458
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• 2010

DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) is an operational terminology for organic carbon molecules dissolved in natural waters. DOC has been studied by ecologists extensively, because it plays a key role in various ecological functions such as substrates for secondary production and the carbon cycle. DOC also represents a substrate for microbial growth within potable water distribution systems, and can react with disinfectants (e.g., chloride) to form harmful disinfection by-products. In addition, residual DOC may carry with it organically bound toxic heavy metals. DOC in aquatic ecosystems may ultimately be transported to the oceans, or released back to the atmosphere by heterotrophic respiration, which can accelerate global climate change. There is evidence that DOC concentrations in aquatic ecosystems are increasing in many regions of the world including Europe, North America, and even in Korea. Land use changes, elevated temperature, elevated $CO_2$, recovery from acidification, and nitrogen deposition have been proposed as mechanisms for the trend. However, the key driving mechanism is yet to be conclusively determined. We propose that more extensive and longer-term observations, research of chemical properties of DOC, impacts of elevated DOC on environmental issues and interdisciplinary approaches are warranted as future studies to fill the gaps in our knowledge about DOC dynamics.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.339-349
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• 2020

This study aims to identify participating resident awareness of the improvements to forest carbon cycle villages created by the Korea Forest Service by introducing a system for district heating basedon forest biomass in mountainous areas. Hwacheon Forest Carbon Circulation village was established in Paroho-neureup village in Yuchon-ri, Hwacheon-gun between 2011 and 2013. However, its operation has not been smooth due to the increasing number of households rapidly leaving the district heating system. This study surveyed 76 households that participated in the district heating system using forest biomass in the early stages of the project. This includes households participating in the district heating system(participating households) and households not currently participating in the district heating system(withdrawal households) from September 2019. Surveys focused on the process of participating in forest carbon cycle village projects, and satisfaction in local heating and policy requirements. Of the 67 households, excepting those not allowed to participate in the survey due to death or having moved elsewhere, 36 households participated and 31 households the were in the process of leaving the village were also included. As a result, there was a significant difference between participating and exiting households in the motivation and satisfaction level of district heating. The results of this study are expects to reflect the importance of awareness of residents in the operation of the forest carbon cycle village. This will be utilized as an important dataset for improvement as a means to promote the re-entry if outgoing households. It will also help set the direction of the forest town revitalization project, utilizing forest biomass in the future.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2023

Silicon (Si) is considered as a promising substitute for the conventional graphite due to its high theoretical specific capacity (3579 mAh/g, Li₁₅Si₄) and proper working voltage (~0.3V vs Li⁺/Li). However, the large volume change of Si during (de)lithiation brings about severe degradation of battery performances, rendering it difficult to be applied in the practical battery directly. As a one feasible candidate of industrial Si anode, silicon monoxide (SiO_x) demonstrates great electrochemical stability with its specialized strategy, downsized Si nanocrystallites surrounded by Li⁺ inactive buffer phase (Li₂O and Li₄SiO₄). Nevertheless, SiO_x inherently has the initial irreversible capacity and poor electrical conductivity. To overcome those issues, conformal carbon coating has been performed on SiO_x utilizing ethylbenzene as the carbon precursor of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Through various characterizations, it is confirmed that the carbon is homogeneously coated on the surface of SiO_x. Accordingly, the carbon-coated SiOx from CVD using ethylbenzene demonstrates 73% of the first cycle efficiency and great cycle life (88.1% capacity retention at 50th cycle). This work provides a promising synthetic route of the uniform and scalable carbon coating on Si anode for high-energy density.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.488-492
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• 2023

In this study, a carbon film derived from a polymer/lignin composite precursor was produced by a carbonization cycle with a controlled temperature profile. The feasibility of successful formation of the carbon film using the carbonization cycle was monitored. The adsorption behavior of the carbon film toward various molecules, such as nonpolar and polar organic molecules, and dyes was investigated using ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) spectroscopy compared with that of carbonized lignin. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis proved that a robust carbon film was prepared by the carbonization cycle. It was also demonstrated that the carbonized lignin and carbon film showed adsorption capability toward all types of organic molecules, in particular organic dyes, owing to the carbonized lignin. This work provides important information for future relevant research.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.163-168
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• 2018

Biomass waste-derived carbon is an attractive alternative with environmental benignity to obtain carbon material. In this study, we prepare carbon from coffee grounds as a biomass precursor using a simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly method through physical activation using only steam. The coffee-derived carbon, having a micropore-rich structure and a low extent of graphitization of disordered carbon, is developed and directly applied to lithium-ion battery anode material. Compared with the introduction of the Ketjenblack (KB) conducting agent (i.e., coffee-derived carbon with KB), the coffee-derived carbon itself achieves a reversible capacity of ~200 mAh/g (0.54 lithium per 6 carbons) at a current density of 100 mA/g after 100 cycles, along with excellent cycle stability. The origin of highly reversible lithium storage is attributed to the consistent diffusion-controlled intercalation/de-intercalation reaction in cycle life, which suggests that the bulk diffusion of lithium is favorable in the coffee-derived carbon itself, in the absence of a conducting agent. This study presents the preparation of carbon material through physical activation without the use of chemical activation agents and demonstrates an application of coffee-derived carbon in energy storage devices.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.35-41
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• 2023

The carbon-coated silicon monoxide (c-SiO_x), which is a negative electrode active material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), has a limited cycle performance due to severe volume changes during cycles, despite its high specific capacity. In particular, the significant volume change of the active material can deform the electrode structure and easily damage the electron transfer pathway. To improve performance and mitigate electrode damage caused by volume changes, we replaced parts of the carbon black conducting agent with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) having a linear shape. The content of the entire conductive material in the electrode was fixed at 10% by mass, and the relative content of CNTs ranged from 0% to 25% by mass to prepare electrodes and evaluate electrochemical performance. As the CNT content in the electrode increased, both cycle life and rate capability improved. Even a small amount of CNT can significantly improve the electrochemical performance of a c-SiO_x negative electrode with large volume changes. Furthermore, dispersing CNTs effectively can lead to achieving the equivalent performance with a reduced quantity of CNTs.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2021

Global warming due to increased carbon dioxide is perceived as one of the factors threatening the future. Efforts are being made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in each industry around the world. In particular, environmental loads and impacts during the life cycle of SOC structures and buildings have been quantitatively assessed through a quantitative method called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, the construction sector has gone through difficulty in quantitative assessment for several reasons: 1) LCI DB is not fully established; 2) the life cycle is very long; 3) the building structures are unique. Therefore, it takes enormous effort and time to carry out LCA. Rather than estimating carbon emissions with accuracy, this study aims to present a simplified estimation model that allows owners or designers to easily estimate carbon dioxide emissions with little effort, given that rapid and rough decisions regarding environmental load reduction are to be made. This study performs the LCA using data from 25 road construction projects across the country, followed by multiple regression analyses to derive a simplified carbon estimation model (SLCA). The study also carries out a comparative analysis with values estimated by performing a typical LCA. The comparison analysis shows an error rate of less than 5% for 16 road projects.

• Atmosphere
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.301-316
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• 2017

This study analyzes the spatio-temporal variability of terrestrial carbon flux and the response of land carbon sink with climate factors to improve of understanding of the variability of land-atmosphere carbon exchanges accurately. The coupled carbon-climate models of CMIP5 (the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project) and CT (CarbonTracker) are used. The CMIP5 multi-model ensemble mean overestimated the NEP (Net Ecosystem Production) compares to CT and GCP (Global Carbon Project) estimates over the period 2001~2012. Variation of NEP in the CMIP5 ensemble mean is similar to CT, but a couple of models which have fire module without nitrogen cycle module strongly simulate carbon sink in the Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, and some areas of the United States. Result in comparison with climate factor, the NEP is highly affected by temperature and solar radiation in both of CT and CMIP5. Partial correlation between temperature and NEP indicates that the temperature is affecting NEP positively at higher than mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, but opposite correlation represents at other latitudes in CT and most CMIP5 models. The CMIP5 models except for few models show positive correlation with precipitation at $30^{\circ}N{\sim}90^{\circ}N$, but higher percentage of negative correlation represented at $60^{\circ}S{\sim}30^{\circ}N$ compare to CT. For each season, the correlation between temperature (solar radiation) and NEP in the CMIP5 ensemble mean is similar to that of CT, but overestimated.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.23-38
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• 2011

● The current world is suffering abnormal climate caused by global warming. The main cause of global warming is greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide. The carbon labeling system and carbon traceability system being pushed ahead in the agricultural sector is the policy for responding to climate change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To make this policy more effective and enhanced, the amount of carbon emissions should be calculated based on the kind of crops or the various businesses in the agricultural sector. Therefore, in order to estimate the accurate amount of carbon emissions, it is necessary to establish carbon dioxide emission intensity of various agricultural materials added onto the agriculture, and to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emission for each crop according to agricultural production. The purpose of this study is to establish the amount of emission, emission per agricultural materials, of agricultural materials being added for crop production as a basic step, and emission intensity which can be used in the future market in order to estimate accurate amount of carbon emission in all the policies being promoted in the agricultural sector. Therefore, in this study, in order to build LCI D/B about organic fertilizers among many organic materials added onto the organic agriculture sector, one leading company in organic fertilizer production was selected and LCA was conducted for this leading company. We had to build the intensity and integrated average concept of intensity upon the two cases once production farmers for their own consumption and farms besides organic fertilizer company were categorized even if it's little amount. But in this study, individually produced organic fertilizers were excluded. Calculated results are following. Carbon emission of mixed expeller cake fertilizer in organic fertilizer was 1,106,966.89kg-$CO^2$ and emission intensity was 0.01606kg-$CO^2$, respectively. Total emission of mixed organic fertilizers was 241,523.2kg-$CO^2$ and emission intensity was 0.01705kg-$CO^2$. And total emission of organic compound fertilizers was 94,592.66kg-$CO^2$ and emission intensity was 0.01769kg-$CO^2$, respectively.

• Atmosphere
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.415-427
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• 2012

$CO_2$ is the most important trace gas related to climate change. Therefore, understanding surface carbon sources and sinks is important when seeking to estimate the impact of $CO_2$ on the environment and climate. CarbonTracker, developed by NOAA, is an inverse modeling system that estimates surface carbon fluxes using an ensemble Kalman filter with atmospheric $CO_2$ measurements as a constraint. In this study, to investigate the capability of CarbonTracker as an analysis tool for estimating surface carbon fluxes in Asia, an experiment with a nesting domain centered in Asia is performed. In general, the results show that setting a nesting domain centered in Asia region enables detailed estimations of surface carbon fluxes in Asia. From a rank histogram, the prior ensemble spread verified at observational sites located in Asia is well represented with a relatively flat rank histogram. The posterior flux in the Eurasian Boreal and Eurasian Temperate regions is well analyzed with proper seasonal cycles and amplitudes. On the other hand, in tropical regions of Asia, the posterior flux does not differ greatly from the prior flux due to fewer $CO_2$ observations. The root mean square error of the model $CO_2$ calculated by the posterior flux is less than the model $CO_2$ calculated by the prior flux, implying that CarbonTracker based on the ensemble Kalman filter works appropriately for the Asia region.