• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.32-39
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• 2009

This study was conducted in order to get the scientific background for soil pollution criteria. The 92 soil samples derived from various geological units were taken and analyzed to survey natural heavy metal background levels using aqua regia digestion method and 0.1N HCl extraction method. From these results, the average natural contents of metals were 0.287 mg/kg for Cd, 15.26 mg/kg for Cu, 18.43 mg/kg for Pb, 25.36 mg/kg for Cr, 54.27 mg/kg for Zn, 17.68 mg/kg for Ni, 6.83 mg/kg for As by the aqua regia method, and 0.040 mg/kg for Cd, 0.48 mg/kg for Cu, 3.06 mg/kg for Pb, 0.09 mg/kg for Cr, 1.54 mg/kg for Zn, 0.27 mg/kg for Ni, 0.089 mg/kg for As by the 0.1N HCl extraction method. Ratios of soluble contents and total contents were Cd 0.14, Cu 0.03, Pb 0.17, Cr 0.004, Zn 0.03, Ni 0.02, As 0.013 and the correlation coefficients of soluble contents and total contents were 0.24(As), 0.88(Cd), 0.43(Cr), 0.65(Cu), 0.70(Pb), 0.61(Ni), 0.24(Zn). The correlation factor decreased in the order of Cd > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cr > Zn $\approx$ As.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.76-89
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• 2018

The distribution of the combined heat and power system is active as a solution to the instability of energy supply and environmental pollution caused by continuous industrial development. In Korea, the safety standards for combined heat and power system using a gas engine are insufficient therefore the study on this is needed. In this study, the safety performance and structural/material assessment items of domestic and international standards applied to the combined heat and power system were analyzed to carry out a standardization study on safety performance applicable to 20 kW gas engine combined heat and power system. In addition, the safety performance assessment (plan) of the gas engine combined heat and power system was derived by performing risk analysis and risk assessment using HAZOP. Assessment items include engine ignition systems related to safety performance, piping tight performance, watering and temperature rise performance, combustion performance, electrical efficiency, thermal efficiency, overall efficiency and humidity performance. Gas and water pipes, gas control and shut-off valves, durability, heat resistance, and cold resistance of metal or non-metallic materials related to the structure and materials of the gas engine combined heat and power systems.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.173-182
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• 2019

Much research has been made for finding new and eco-friendly alternative sources of energy to solve the problems related with the pollution caused by emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide as the use of fossil fuels increases worldwide. Among them, fuel cells draws particular interests as an eco-friendly energy generator because only water is obtained as a by-product. Anion exchange membrane-based alkaline fuel cell (AEMFC) that uses anion exchange membrane as an electrolyte is of increased interest recently because of its advantages in using low-cost metal catalyst unlike the PEMFC (potton exchange membrane fuel cell) due to the high-catalyst activity in alkaline conditions. The main properties required as an anion exchange membrane are high hydroxide conductivity and chemical stability at high pH. Recently we reported a chemically crosslinked poly(2-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) by reacting PPO with N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,6-hexanediamine as novel anion exchange membranes. In the current work, we further developed the same crosslinked polymer but having enhanced physicochemical properties, including higher conductivity, increased mechanical and dimensional stabilities by using the PPO with a higher molecular weight and also by increasing the crosslinking density. The obtained polymer membrane also showed a good cell performance.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2019

This study has its aim to judge both applicability and suitability of recycling of waste soil for the use of farmland amelioration and low-lying farmland reclamation through growth and development experiment and component analysis. As results of physical characteristic evaluation on recycling of waste soil, the classification based on unified soil classification system has investigated as SW and SP affiliation and soil classification has appeared to be a loamy sand. As results of chemical component analysis, pH has appeared to be 7.0~8.4 which is relatively higher than general soil, however, heavy metal has investigated within the 1 region's standard value of soil pollution standards. As results of germination experiment, when using it by mixing recycling soil less than 75%, there is no significant influence on germination, and in the growth and development experiment, when using horticultural bed soil which is mixed with less than 40% of recycling of waste soil, it has confirmed that there is no significance difference with general soil. In case of farmland, the growth disorder of recycling of waste soil rate no more than 40% has shown that it has relatively small influences, and in case of using it by mixing with agricultural soil, it has evaluated to require concrete review of factors which may restrict growth condition including nutrition and pH.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.463-475
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• 2020

Presence of microplastics in soil and groundwater has recently been reported and environmental concerns are raised as to the plastic pollution. In the subsurface environment, clay minerals and metal oxide minerals are commonly found as finely dispersed states. Because the minerals have high sorption capacities for diverse pollutants, interactions with mineral surface play an important role in the transport of microplastics in groundwater. Accordingly, environmental mineralogy investigating the interactions between microplastics and mineral surfaces is the essential research area to understand the fate and transport of microplastics in the subsurface environment. The microplastic-mineral surface research requires molecular- to nano-scale analyses to be able to probe the relatively weak interactions between them. The current report introduces a nano-scale analysis tool called quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) that can measure the sorbed/desorbed mass of nanoplastics on mineral surfaces at the level of a few nanograms (~10-9 g). This report briefly reviews the main principles in the QCM measurement and discusses applications of QCM to the environmental mineralogy research.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2020

This study was carried out to investigated changes in sediments in the eight weir sections of Nakdong River. Sediments were collected and analyzed for Grain Size, Ignition loss, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus, and Meta. The upstream of the weir was found that fine-grained sediments have repeated increases and decreases. It was found that coarse-grained sediments were being maintained in the downstream part of the weir. The sediments Ignition Loss, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, Total Phosphorus are strongly correlated with Grain Size, and these increased at the point where sediments are fine. In the case of metal, the concentration increased across the board, and the correlation with Grain Size, Ignition loss, Total Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen, and Total Phosphorus was weak. Although there were some sections where fine-grained sediments, organic materials, nutrients, metals increased in the Nakdong River, the overall pollution level is considered weak.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.125-140
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• 2022

Road Deposited Sediment (RDS) is the solids formed from the wear of road, wear of vehicles, exhausts, and the input of the emissions from various sources out of the roads. RDS is seriously polluted by organic matter, nutrients, and metals. RDS plays an important role as the sink and the transport medium of the associated pollutants because RDS can be carried to the adjacent water system via stormwater runoff. In this regard, the heavy metals in RDS were investigated based on the publications. The contents of the metals in RDS were highly variable. The concentration of Cr, Ni, Cu, Fe, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb in urban RDS in various regions was in a range of 3.16-3,410, 1.15-1,382, 20.2-9,069, 2,980-124,853, 81-2,550, 2.3-214, 0.19-21.3, and 15.21-1,125 mg/kg, respectively. The anthropogenic enrichment of the metals in RDS was confirmed by the high concentration of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb. The contents of the metals were higher in industrial and traffic areas than in residential areas, while they were generally increased with decreasing particle size. It is believed that this study's results would contribute to quantifying the metals' load via RDS and establishing control strategies.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.357-372
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• 2021

The energy harvesting device is known to be promising as an alternative to solve the resource shortage caused by the depletion of petroleum resources. In order to overcome the limitations (environmental pollution and low mechanical properties) of piezoelectric elements capable of converting mechanical motion into electrical energy, many studies have been conducted on a polymer matrix-based composite piezoelectric energy harvesting device. In this paper, the output performance and related applications of the reported piezoelectric composites are reviewed based on the applied materials and processes. As for the piezoelectric fillers, zinc oxide, which is advantageous in terms of eco-friendliness, biocompatibility, and flexibility, as well as ceramic fillers based on lead zirconate titanate and barium titanate, were reviewed. The polymer matrix was classified into piezoelectric polymers composed of polyvinylidene fluoride and copolymers, and flexible polymers based on epoxy and polydimethylsiloxane, to discuss piezoelectric synergy of composite materials and improvement of piezoelectric output by high external force application, respectively. In addition, the effect of improving the conductivity or the mechanical properties of composite material by the application of a metal or carbon-based secondary filler on the output performance of the piezoelectric harvesting device was explained in terms of the structure of the composite material. Composite material-based piezoelectric harvesting devices, which can be applied to small electronic devices, smart sensors, and medicine with improved performance, can provide potential insights as a power source for wireless electronic devices expected to be encountered in future daily life.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.411-417
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• 2022

Environmental issues such as global warming due to fossil fuel use are now major worldwide concerns, and interest in renewable and clean energy is growing. Of the various types of renewable energy, green hydrogen energy has recently attracted attention because of its eco-friendly and high-energy density. Electrochemical water splitting is considered a pollution-free means of producing clean hydrogen and oxygen and in large quantities. The development of non-noble electrocatalysts with low cost and high performance in water splitting has also attracted considerable attention. In this study, we successfully synthesized a NiCo₂O₄/NF electrode for an oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline water splitting using a hydrothermal method, which was followed by post-heat treatment. The effects of heat treatment on the electrochemical performance of the electrodes were evaluated under different heat-treatment conditions. The optimized NCO/NF-300 electrode showed an overpotential of 416 mV at a high current density of 50 mA/cm² and a low Tafel slope (49.06 mV dec^-1). It also showed excellent stability (due to the large surface area) and the lowest charge transfer resistance (12.59 Ω). The results suggested that our noble-metal free electrodes have great potential for use in developing alkaline electrolysis systems.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.134-148
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• 2023

Background: The conducting of health effect surveys (HESs) in environmentally contaminated vulnerable areas (ECVAs) by the central and local governments has been increasing apace with the increase in demand for HESs since the Environmental Health Act was enacted in South Korea in 2008. Objectives: This study aimed to review the HESs of residents in ECVAs conducted in South Korea. Methods: An analysis was performed on 125 reports obtained from the Environment Digital Library, PRISM, and local government websites after selecting from 803 projects obtained as ECVAs from the Korea ON-Line E-Procurement System (1997~2021), National Institute Environment Research (2000~2021), and Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (2009~2021). The reports were classified by background (residents' demand, HES, and more), research design (cross-sectional study, cohort, ecological study, and panel), pollution source (abandoned metal mine (AMM), industrial complex (IC), and more), and assessment method of exposure and health effects. The survey area was converted into administrative district codes for geographical mapping. Results: There were 37, 34, 18, and 10 cases associated with AMM, IC, waste incinerators, and coal-fired power plants, respectively. Most of the studies conducted were cross-sectional studies and ecological studies. The proportion of epidemiological investigations by residents' demand showed an increase from 0.0% to 8.9% for the central government while decreasing from 16.7% to 14.3% for local governments after 2008 compared to before 2008. HESs increased at both the central and local government levels since 2014. For the evaluation method, 365 environmental hazards, 319 health outcomes, and 302 biological markers were investigated, with the most commonly investigated items being metals, cancer, and blood metals. Conclusions: HESs of residents in ECVAs in South Korea have been continuously developed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Future improvements are expected, and systematic review and classification of the HESs is warranted.