• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.32-43
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• 2023

The worldwide use of polyurethane foam products generates large amounts of waste, which in turn has detrimental effects on the surroundings. Hence, finding an economical and environmentally friendly way to dispose of or recycle foam waste is an utmost priority for researchers to overcome this problem. In that sense, the glycolysis of waste flexible polyurethane foam (WFPF) from automotive seat cushions using different industrial-grade glycols and potassium hydroxide as a catalyst to produce recovered polyol was investigated. The effect of different molecular weight polyols, catalyst concentration, and material ratio (PU foam: Glycols) on the reaction conversion and viscosity of the recovered polyols was determined. The obtained recovered polyols are obtained as single or split-phase reaction products. Besides, the foaming characteristics and physical properties such as cell morphology, thermal stability, and compressive stress-strain nature of the regenerated flexible foams based on the recovered polyols were discussed. It was observed that the regenerated flexible foams displayed good seating comfort properties as a function of hardness, sag factor, and hysteresis loss compared to the reference virgin foam. With the growing demand for a sustainable and circular economy, a global valorization of glycolysis products from polyurethane scraps can be realized by transforming them into profitable substances.

• The Korean Journal of Food & Health Convergence
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

Secondary metabolites in the culture filtrates of lactic acid bacteria offer varied chiral moieties, making them a valuable resource for drug design scaffolding. Our previous methodology included using a combination of anion exchange resins, Amberlite IRA-67 and Purolite A420S, to purify significant quantities of Lactobacillus plantarum LBP-K10 peptidyl compounds. However, current experimental evidence regarding the impact of native culture extracts and/or filtrates on pathogenic fungi in vivo/in vitro is insufficient. This study analyzed the antifungal properties of two different probiotic cultures: the CH₂Cl₂-extracted filtrate of Chinese cabbage kimchi (CH₂Cl₂-extracted CCK_WLB and CH₂Cl₂-extracted CCK_WOLB) and the non-extracted filtrate of Chinese cabbage kimchi (non-extracted CCK_WLB and non-extracted CCK_WOLB). The samples were divided into two groups: one group was inoculated with probiotics while the other group remained non-inoculated. Filtrates from both experimental groups were utilized for antifungal assays. The treatments employing CCK_WLB, with an initial inoculation of Lb. plantarum LBP-K10 as a starter, demonstrated significant antifungal activity under various experimental conditions. Our study offers new perspectives on the antifungal properties of CH₂Cl₂-extracted kimchi filtrates, which are naturally produced by lactobacilli. The efficacy of antifungal compounds is supported by substantial evidence demonstrating their efficient uptake by cells and the antifungal properties exerted by metabolites.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.412-419
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• 2008

Genetic algorithms are efficient techniques for searching optimum solution but have the premature convergence problem getting stuck in the local optimum according to the evolutionary operator. In this paper we analyzed the reason for converging to the local optimum and proposed the method which able transit to the global optimum from the local optimum. In these methods we used the variable evolutionary operator with the average hamming distance, to maintain the genetic diversity of the population for getting out of the local optimum. The theoretical results are proved by the simulation experiments.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.478-493
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• 2020

We designed a new meta-heuristic algorithm named Photon Search Algorithm (PSA) in this paper, which is motivated by photon properties in the field of physics. The physical knowledge involved in this paper includes three main concepts: Principle of Constancy of Light Velocity, Uncertainty Principle and Pauli Exclusion Principle. Based on these physical knowledges, we developed mathematical formulations and models of the proposed algorithm. Moreover, in order to confirm the convergence capability of the algorithm proposed, we compared it with 7 unimodal benchmark functions and 23 multimodal benchmark functions. Experimental results indicate that PSA has better global convergence and higher searching efficiency. Although the performance of the algorithm in solving the optimal solution of certain functions is slightly inferior to that of the existing heuristic algorithm, it is better than the existing algorithm in solving most functions. On balance, PSA has relatively better convergence performance than the existing metaheuristic algorithms.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.325-330
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• 2019

Band convergence is known to be effective in improving thermoelectric performance by increasing the Seebeck coefficient without significantly reducing electrical conductivity. Decoupling of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity in converged bands is the key requirement. Yet, the degree of decoupling depends on the band parameters of the converging bands. Herein, we report theoretical transport properties of two valence bands as their energy difference changes from 0.25 eV to 0 eV. In order to demonstrate the effect of band parameters in transport, we first conducted calculations for the case where the two bands have the same parameters. Then, we conducted the same calculation by doubling the density-of-states effective mass of one valence band. Given that there are two bands, each band's effective mass was doubled one at a time while the other band's effective mass remained constant. We found that the decoupling was strongest when the bands participating in convergence had the same band parameters.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.52
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• pp.10.1-10.15
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• 2022

The effect of carbon doping contents on the microstructure, hardness, and corrosion properties of heat-treated AISI steel grades of plain carbon steel was investigated in this study. Various microstructures including coarse ferrite-pearlite, fine ferrite-pearlite, martensite, and bainite were developed by different heat treatments i.e. annealing, normalizing, quenching, and austempering, respectively. The developed microstructures, micro-hardness, and corrosion properties were investigated by a light optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, electromechanical (Vickers Hardness tester), and electrochemical (Gamry Potentiostat) equipment, respectively. The highest corrosion rates were observed in bainitic microstructures (2.68-12.12 mpy), whereas the lowest were found in the fine ferritic-pearlitic microstructures (1.57-6.36 mpy). A direct correlation has been observed between carbon concentration and corrosion rate, i.e. carbon content resulted in an increase in corrosion rate (2.37 mpy for AISI 1020 to 9.67 mpy for AISI 1050 in annealed condition).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.875-879
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• 2010

In this study, we have characterized the roles of $Cr_2O_3$ on the sintering and electrical properties of ZnO. The densification and grain growth of Cr-doped ZnO (ZCr) system was mainly influenced by Cr contents. In the beginning of sintering, the densification of ZnO was retarded as reducing the Zni concentration in ZnO lattice with Cr doping. And the densification and grain growth of ZnO was more retarded due to a formation of spinel phase with increasing the Cr contents. ZCr system revealed varistor behavior with nonlinear coefficient $\alpha$ of 3~23 depending on the sintering temperature, implying double Schottky barrier formation on the grain boundary of ZnO. Especially the best varistor characteristics should be developed with 0.1~0.5 at% Cr contents and under $1100^{\circ}C$ in ZCr systems.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.705-709
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• 2017

Effective surface area and morphology of a sensitive thin film are important factors for its applications in sensor systems for the analysis of physical properties. In this study, we investigated the morphologies, electrochemical properties, and applicability of zinc oxide multilayer thin films fabricated by electrodeposition and annealing. The microstructure and electrochemical properties of the zinc oxide films were dependent on temperature and applied voltage. The best characteristics were obtained at an applied voltage of -1.4 V and a temperature of $50^{\circ}C$. The morphologies also changed upon annealing. The results suggest that the zinc oxide films fabricated by electrodeposition and annealing can be applied as various sensor materials.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.550-556
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• 2006

Photosensitive carbon nanotube (CNT) pastes are explored to develop a CNT field emitter for field emission display (FED) application. We formulated a photosensitive paste including multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs) for screen printing. The photosensitive CNT paste was synthesized by mixing of MWNTs, inorganic fillers (nano metal), organic vehicle, monomers and photo initiator. The CNT paste films were patterned by using backside exposure technique. The CNTs were strongly fixed on a cathode by formation of carbon residue during firing process. For the CNT emitters, current-voltage(I-V) characteristics and images of field emission were evaluated. The emission properties of CNT emitters are dependent on the paste composition. A turn-on electric field for the CNT field emitters is measured to be 1 V/$\mu$m. Additionally, the effect of heat treatment parameter on field emission properties was discussed. The newly formulated photosensitive CNT paste can be potentially applicable to highly reliable CNT field emitters.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.330-333
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• 2017

$Co_xMn_{3-x}O_4$ ($1.48{\leq}x{\leq}1.63$) ceramics were fabricated using the solid-state reaction method. Structural and electrical properties of specimens based on the composition ratio of Co were observed in order to investigate their applicability in NTC thermistors. All specimens showed a single spinel phase with a homogeneous tetragonal structure. The $Co_{1.57}Mn_{1.43}O_4$ specimen showed a maximum average grain size of approximately $6.47{\mu}m$. In all specimens, TCR properties displayed excellent characteristics of over $-4.2%/^{\circ}C$. The resistivity at 298 K and B-value of the $Co_{1.57}Mn_{1.43}O_4$ specimen were approximately $418{\Omega}-cm$ and 4300, respectively.