• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.332-338
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• 2009

Rheological behavior of natural hydrogel produced from seeds of three Salvia spp. (S. miltiorrhiza (SM), S. sclarea (SS), S. viridis (SV)) was investigated by using a Rheometer equipped with a cone and plate geometry measuring system under never-dried condition. Different chemical contents of such hydrogels give significant effects on their rheological properties. Because of incomplete penetration of water inside the hydrogels after drying before-dried hydrogels were used for rheological analysis. To know molecular interactions which predominated in the gel formation, some constituents were externally added to the 1.0% (w/w) hydrogel. Addition of urea to disrupt hydrogen bonds reduced 3.4-67% viscosity of the untreated hydrogels and changed viscoelastic properties from gel to liquid-like behavior. Neutral salts added to the hydrogel solution at 0.1 M also lowered the viscosity in a manner related with increase in size of cations and temperature. Changing from gel state to liquid-like state was also easily confirmed by oscillation measurement (storage, G', and loss, G", modulii) typically observed in the cases of potassium sulfate and potassium thiocyanate. Influence of pH variation on the viscosity explained that weak alkaline condition (pH 8-9) creates a higher resistance to flow due to increasingly electrostatic repulsions between negative charges ($COO^-$) Importance of calcium bridges was also demonstrated by recovery of viscosity of the hydrogels by addition of calcium after acidification. The summarized results indicate that electrostatic repulsion is a major contributor for production of hydrogel structure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.381-387
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• 2017

Dehydrogenation from the hydrolysis of a sodium borohydride ($NaBH_4$) solution has been of interest owing to its high theoretical hydrogen storage capacity (10.8 wt.％) and potentially safe operation. An experimental study has been performed on the catalytic reaction rate and pressure drop of a $NaBH_4$ solution over both a single microchannel with a hydraulic diameter of $300{\mu}m$ and a staggered array of micro pin fins in the microchannel with hydraulic diameter of $50{\mu}m$. The catalytic reaction rates and pressure drops were obtained under Reynolds numbers from 1 to 60 and solution concentrations from 5 to 20 wt.％. Moreover, reacting flows were visualized using a high-speed camera with a macro zoom lens. As a result, both the amount of hydrogenation and pressure drop are 2.45 times and 1.5 times larger in a pin fin microchannel array than in a single microchannel, respectively.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.177-187
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• 2016

Ammonia borane $NH_3BH_3$ solubilized in organic solvent is a potential liquid-state chemical hydrogen storage material. In this study, metal acetylacetonates like $Fe(O_2C_5H_7)_3$, $Co(O_2C_5H_7)_2$, $Ni(O_2C_5H_7)_2$, $Pd(O_2C_5H_7)_2$, $Pt(O_2C_5H_7)_2$ and $Ru(O_2C_5H_7)_3$ are considered for assisting dehydrocoupling of ammonia borane in diglyme (0.135 M) at $50^{\circ}C$. The molar ratio between ammonia borane and metal acetylacetonate is fixed at 100. A protocol for the separation of the soluble and insoluble fractions present in the slurry is proposed; it consists in using acetonitrile to make the precipitation of metal-based compounds easier and to solubilize boron-based intermediates/products. The nature of the metal does not affect the dehydrocoupling mechanisms, the $^{11}B\{^1H\}$ NMR spectra showing the formation of the same reaction intermediates. The aforementioned metal acetylacetonates do mainly have effect on the kinetics of dehydrocoupling. Dehydrocoupling takes place heterogeneously and dehydrogenation of ammonia borane in these conditions leads to the formation of polyborazylene via intermediates like e.g., B-(cyclodiborazanyl) amine-borane and borazine. Our main results are reported and discussed herein.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2013

In this work, we present the catalytic dehydrogenation of hydrazine borane $N_2H_4BH_3$ (HB) using supported nickel catalysts at $50^{\circ}C$. In the presence of monometallic nickel catalysts, the dehydrogenation of HB is a one-step reaction consisting of the hydrolysis of the $BH_3$ group only. The challenge is to activate nickel to make it reactive towards the $N_2H_4$ moiety of HB. A set of 52 catalysts were prepared by using 2 supports ($Al_2O_3$ and $TiO_2$), 5 nickel precursors and 3 preparation methods. For the first time, we show that the supported nickel catalysts are able to dehydrogenate the $NH_3$ moiety of HB. In our experimental conditions, the best results were obtained with 20 wt% Ni-$Al_2O_3$ and 20 wt% Ni-$TiO_2$, with ca. 190 mL $H_2+N_2$ generated over a total theoretical volume of 283 mL, suggesting $H_2$ selectivity of 37 and 32%, respectively. Both catalysts were then characterized by EDX, XPS, and XRD. Our achievement is the first step forward and opens new perspectives for developing catalysts for the total dehydrogenation of HB.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.03a
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• pp.267-273
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• 2012

Solar reforming of methane with CO2 was successfully tested with a direct irradiated absorber on a parabolic dish capable of 5kWth solar power. And the new type of double-layer absorber-the front layer, porous metal foam which absorbs the radiation and transfers the heat from material to gas, and the back layer, catalytically-activated metal foam-was prepared, and its activity was tested by using electric furnace. Ni was applied as the active metal on the gamma-Al2O3 coated Ni metal foam for the preparation of the catalytically-activated metal foam layer. Compared to conventional direct irradiation of the catalytically activated metal foam absorber, this new type of double layer absorber is found to exhibit a superior reaction and thermal storage performance at the fluctuating incident solar radiation. In addition, unlike direct irradiation of the foam absorber, double layer absorber has better thermal resistance, which prevents the emergence of cracks caused by mechanical or thermal shock. The total solar power absorbed reached up to 3.25kW and the maximum CH4 conversion was almost 59%.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1992

In this energy and environment conscious age, methanol has come to attention increasingly since the well established process is commercially available to produce methanol from abundant low grade carbonaceous resources ; methane, carbon dioxide, coal and biomass etc. Methanol is a Clean energy source which is a readily storable and transportable liquid. It is elaborated to correlate power generation, city gas and chemical feed stocks including transportation fuel, enhancing the national efficiency of resource utilization as well as reducing the environmental problems for the future via C1 technology. It is emphasized that $CO_2$ could be used to produce methanol as a mean of hydrogen storage as in the nature, which will alleviate the environmental problem such as green house effect.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.80-86
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• 2011

Solar reforming of methane with CO2 was successfully tested with a direct irradiated absorber on a parabolic dish capable of 5kWth solar power. And the new type of double-layer absorber - the front layer, porous metal foam which absorbs the radiation and transfers the heat from material to gas, and the back layer, catalytically-activated metal foam - was prepared, and its activity was tested by using electric furnace. Ni was applied as the active metal on the gamma-Al2O3 coated Ni metal foam for the preparation of the catalytically-activated metal foam layer. Compared to conventional direct irradiation of the catalytically activated metal foam absorber, this new type of double layer absorber is found to exhibit a superior reaction and thermal storage performance at the fluctuating incident solar radiation. In addition, unlike direct irradiation of the foam absorber, double layer absorber has better thermal resistance, which prevents the emergence of cracks caused by mechanical or thermal shock. The total solar power absorbed reached up to 3.25kW and the maximum CH4 conversion was almost 59%.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.201-207
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• 2011

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are members of nuclear receptors and their activation induces regulation of fatty acid storage and glucose metabolism. Therefore, the $PPAR\gamma$ is a major target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In order to generate pharmacophore model, 1080 known agonists database was constructed and a training set was selected. The Hypo7, selected from 10 hypotheses, contains four features: three hydrogen-bond acceptors (HBA) and one general hydrophobic (HY). This pharmacophore model was validated by using 862 test set compounds with a correlation coefficient of 0.903 between actual and estimated activity. Secondly, CatScramble method was used to verify the model. Hence, the validated Hypo7 was utilized for searching new lead compounds over 238,819 and 54,620 chemical structures in NCI and Maybridge database, respectively. Then the leads were selected by screening based on the pharmacophore model, predictive activity, and Lipinski's rules. Candidates were obtained and subsequently the binding affinities to $PPAR\gamma$ were investigated by the molecular docking simulations. Finally the best two compounds were presented and would be useful to treat type 2 diabetes.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2011

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been attracted much attention since they have been expected to be used in various areas by virtue of their outstanding physical, electrical, and chemical properties. In order to make full use of their prominent electric conductivity in some areas such as electron emission sources, device interconnects, and electrodes in energy storage devices, direct growth of CNT with vertical alignment is definitely beneficial issue because they can maintain mechanical stability and high conductivity at the interface between substrates. Here, we report direct growth of vertically aligned CNT (VCNT) on Cu foils using thermal chemical vapor deposition and characterize the field emission property of the VCNT. The VCNT's height was controlled by changing the growth temperature, growth time, and catalytic layer thickness. Optimum growth condition was found to be $800^{\circ}C$ for 20 min with acetylene and hydrogen mixtures on Fe catalytic layer of 1 nm thick. The diameter of VCNT grown was smaller than that of usual multi walled CNT. Based on the result of field emission characterization, we concluded that the VCNT on Cu foils can be useful in various potential applications where high conductivity through the interface between CNT and substrate is required.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.496-504
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• 2023

Countries worldwide are striving to find new sources of sustainable energy without carbon emission due to the increasing impact of global warming. With the advancement of the fourth industrial revolution on a global scale, there has been a substantial rise in energy demand. Simultaneously, there is a growing emphasis on utilizing energy sources with minimal or zero carbon content to ensure a stable power supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this comprehensive overview, a comparative analysis of carbon reduction policies of government was conducted. Based on international carbon neutrality scenarios and the presence of remaining thermal power generation, it can be categorized into two types: "Rapid" and "Safety". For the domestic scenario, the projected power demand and current greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with "The 10th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand" was examined. Considering all these factors, an overview of the current status of carbon neutrality technologies by focusing on the energy sector, encompassing transitions, hydrogen, transportation and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) was offered followed by summarization of key technological trends and government-driven policies. Furthermore, the central aspects of the domestic carbon reduction strategy were proposed by taking account of current mega trends in the energy sector which are highlighted in international scenario analyses.