• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.64-72
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• 2023

Biopolymer is a versatile material used in food processing, medicine, construction, and soil reinforcement. 𝛽-glucan is one of the biopolymers that improves the soil water content and ion adsorption in a drought or toxic metal contaminated land for plant survival. We analyzed drought stress damage reduction in sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas L. cv. Sodammi) by measuring the growth and major protein expression and activity under 𝛽-glucan soil amendment. The result showed that sweet potato leaf length and width were not affected by drought stress for 14 days, but sweet potatoes grown in 𝛽-glucan-amended soil showed an effect in preventing wilting caused by drought in phenotypic changes. Under drought stress, sweet potato leaves did not show any changes in electrolyte leakage, but the relative water content was higher in sweet potatoes grown in 𝛽-glucan-amended soil than in normal soil. 𝛽-glucan soil amendment increased the expression of plasma membrane (PM) H⁺-ATPase, but it decreased the aquaporin PIP2 (plasma membrane intrinsic protein 2) in sweet potatoes under drought stress. Moreover, water maintenance affected the PM H⁺-ATPase activity, which contributed to tolerance under drought stress. These results indicate that 𝛽-glucan soil amendment improves the soil water content during drought and affects the water supply in sweet potatoes. Consequently, 𝛽-glucan is a potential material for maintaining soil water contents, and analysis of the major PM proteins is one of the indicators for evaluating the biopolymer effect on plant survival under drought stress.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.674-678
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• 2023

The effect of Pt was investigated to the catalytic methane decomposition of CH₄ to H₂ over Pt(1)-Fe(30)/MCM-41 and Fe(30)/MCM-41 using a fixed bed flow reactor under atmosphere. The Fe₂O₃ and Pt crystal phase behavior of fresh Pt(1)-Fe(30)/MCM-41 were obtained via XRD analysis. SEM, EDS analysis, and mapping were performed to show the uniformed distribution of nano particles such as Fe, Pt, Si, O on the catalyst surface. XPS results showed O^2-, O^- species and metal ions such as Pt⁰, Pt²⁺, Pt⁴⁺, Ft⁰, Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺ etc. When 1 wt% of Pt was added to Fe(30)/MCM-41, automic percentage of Fe2p increased from 13.39% to 16.14%, and Pt4f was 1.51%. The yield of hydrogen over Pt(1)-Fe(30)/MCM-41 was 3.2 times higher than Fe(30)/MCM-41. The spillover effect of H₂ from Pt to Fe increased the reduction of Fe particles and moderate interaction of Fe, Pt and MCM-41 increased the uniform dispersion of fine nanoparticles on the catalyst surface, and improved hydrogen yield.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2024

In this study, LiDAR-detective black material is synthesized by recycling silicon sludge (SS) that is generated from semiconductor manufacturing process, and its recognition is confirmed using two types of LiDAR sensors (MEMS and Rotating LiDAR). In detail, metal impurities on the surface of SS is removed, followed by coating of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and subsequent chemical reduction to obtain SS-derived black TiO₂ (SS/bTiO₂) material. As-prepared SS/bTiO₂ is mixed with transparent paint to prepare hydrophilic black paints and applied to a glass substrate using a spray gun. SS/bTiO₂-based paint shows similar blackness (L^*=15.7) compared to commercial carbon black-based paint, and remarkable NIR reflectance (26.5R%, 905nm). Furthermore, MEMS and Rotating LiDAR have successfully detected the SS/bTiO₂-based paint. This is attributed to the occurrence of high reflection of light at the interface between the black TiO₂ and the silicon sludge according to the Fresnel's reflection principle. Hence, the new application field to effectively recycle silicon sludge generated in the semiconductor manufacturing process has been presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2024

Heavy metals emitted from urban development do not decompose in the soil and remain for long periods, continually impacting the environment. Since the mid-1990s, there has been increasing societal concern in South Korea regarding soil contamination, prompting various legislative revisions to reduce pollution. This study utilizes the Environmental Impact Assessment Support System (EIASS) to investigate projects in the metropolitan area that have exceeded the Ministry of Environment's soil contamination concern levels from 1989 to 2022 and to examine improvements in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The results reveal that the average concentrations of nine contaminants-cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), and fluoride (F)-have all increased over the years. Among these, Zn had the highest relative proportion, with 37.5% of the 40 sites exceeding environmental concern levels. Investigation of 19 specific projects at these exceedance sites showed that only 7 had documented analyses of contamination causes and remediation plans, and just one had contracted additional remediation services, though results from these efforts were found to be lacking. Furthermore, since 2019, a significant proportion of these sites were involved in residential developments, likely due to government initiatives in new city development and extensive housing supply plans. This research emphasizes the importance of public disclosure of the processes and outcomes of remediation efforts on historically contaminated soils prior to project development. It discusses improvements to the EIA by reviewing current legislation and international examples. The findings of this study are expected to heighten public awareness about heavy metal contamination and enhance transparency in soil remediation efforts, contributing to sustainable environmental management and development.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.432-440
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• 2015

Biochar, a by-product from pyrolysis of biomass, is a promising option to mitigate climate change by increasing soil carbon sequestration. This material is also considered to have potential to remediate a soil with heavy metal pollution by increasing the soil's adsorptive capacity. This study conducted the assessment of two biochars considering the climate change mitigation potential and heavy metal removal capacity at the same time. Two kinds of biochars (BC_Ch, TW_Ch) were prepared by pyrolyzing the biomass of burcucumber (BC_Bm) and tea waste (TW_Bm). The soils polluted with Pb were mixed with biochars or biomass and incubated for 60 d. During the incubation, $CO_2$, $CH_4$, and $N_2O$ were regularly measured and the soil before and after incubation was analyzed for chemical and biological parameters including the acetate extractable Pb. The results showed that only the BC_Ch treatment significantly reduced the amount of Pb after 60 d incubation. During the incubation, the $CO_2$ and $N_2O$ emissions from the BC_Ch and TW_Ch were decreased by 24% and 34% compared to the BC_Bm and TW_Bm, respectively. The $CH_4$ emissions were not significantly affected by biochar treatments. We calculated the GWP considering the production of amendment materials, application to the soils, removal of Pb, and soil carbon storage. The BC_Ch treatment had the most negative value because it had the higher Pb adsorption and soil carbon sequestration. Our results imply that if we apply biochar made from burcucumber, we could expect the pollution reduction and climate change mitigation at the same time.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.207-214
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• 2015

Due to the limitations of conventional removable partial denture prostheses to treat a cleft lip & palate patient who shows scar tissue on upper lip, excessive absorption of the maxillary residual alveolar ridge, and class III malocclusion with narrow palate and undergrowth of the maxilla, 4 implants were placed on the maxillary edentulous region and a maxillary removable implant-supported partial denture was planned using a CAD/CAM milled titanium bar. Unlike metal or gold casting technique which has shrinkage after the molding, CAD/CAM milled titanium bar is highly-precise, economical and lightweight. In practice, however, it is very hard to obtain accurate friction-fit from the milled bar and reduction in retention can occur due to repetitive insertion and removal of the denture. Various auxiliary retention systems (e.g. $ERA^{(R)}$, $CEKA^{(R)}$, magnetics, $Locator^{(R)}$ attachment), in order to deal with these problems, can be used to obtain additional retention, cost-effectiveness and ease of replacement. Out of diverse auxiliary attachments, $Locator^{(R)}$ has characteristics that are dual retentive, minimal in vertical height and convenient of attachment replacement. Drill and tapping method is simple and the replacement of the metal female part of $Locator^{(R)}$ attachment is convenient. In this case, the $Locator^{(R)}$ attachment is connected to the milled titanium bar fabricated by CAD/CAM, using the drill and tapping technique. Afterward, screw holes were formed and 3 $Locator^{(R)}$ attachments were secured with 20 Ncm holding force for additional retention. Following this procedure, satisfactory results were obtained in terms of aesthetic facial form, masticatory function and denture retention, and I hereby report this case.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.100-101
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• 2012

The plasma damage free and room temperature processedthin film deposition technology is essential for realization of various next generation organic microelectronic devices such as flexible AMOLED display, flexible OLED lighting, and organic photovoltaic cells because characteristics of fragile organic materials in the plasma process and low glass transition temperatures (Tg) of polymer substrate. In case of directly deposition of metal oxide thin films (including transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS)) on the organic layers, plasma damages against to the organic materials is fatal. This damage is believed to be originated mainly from high energy energetic particles during the sputtering process such as negative oxygen ions, reflected neutrals by reflection of plasma background gas at the target surface, sputtered atoms, bulk plasma ions, and secondary electrons. To solve this problem, we developed the NBAS (Neutral Beam Assisted Sputtering) process as a plasma damage free and room temperature processed sputtering technology. As a result, electro-optical properties of NBAS processed ITO thin film showed resistivity of $4.0{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}m$ and high transmittance (>90% at 550 nm) with nano- crystalline structure at room temperature process. Furthermore, in the experiment result of directly deposition of TCO top anode on the inverted structure OLED cell, it is verified that NBAS TCO deposition process does not damages to the underlying organic layers. In case of deposition of transparent conductive oxide (TCO) thin film on the plastic polymer substrate, the room temperature processed sputtering coating of high quality TCO thin film is required. During the sputtering process with higher density plasma, the energetic particles contribute self supplying of activation & crystallization energy without any additional heating and post-annealing and forminga high quality TCO thin film. However, negative oxygen ions which generated from sputteringtarget surface by electron attachment are accelerated to high energy by induced cathode self-bias. Thus the high energy negative oxygen ions can lead to critical physical bombardment damages to forming oxide thin film and this effect does not recover in room temperature process without post thermal annealing. To salve the inherent limitation of plasma sputtering, we have been developed the Magnetic Field Shielded Sputtering (MFSS) process as the high quality oxide thin film deposition process at room temperature. The MFSS process is effectively eliminate or suppress the negative oxygen ions bombardment damage by the plasma limiter which composed permanent magnet array. As a result, electro-optical properties of MFSS processed ITO thin film (resistivity $3.9{\times}10^{-4}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$, transmittance 95% at 550 nm) have approachedthose of a high temperature DC magnetron sputtering (DMS) ITO thin film were. Also, AOS (a-IGZO) TFTs fabricated by MFSS process without higher temperature post annealing showed very comparable electrical performance with those by DMS process with $400^{\circ}C$ post annealing. They are important to note that the bombardment of a negative oxygen ion which is accelerated by dc self-bias during rf sputtering could degrade the electrical performance of ITO electrodes and a-IGZO TFTs. Finally, we found that reduction of damage from the high energy negative oxygen ions bombardment drives improvement of crystalline structure in the ITO thin film and suppression of the sub-gab states in a-IGZO semiconductor thin film. For realization of organic flexible electronic devices based on plastic substrates, gas barrier coatings are required to prevent the permeation of water and oxygen because organic materials are highly susceptible to water and oxygen. In particular, high efficiency flexible AMOLEDs needs an extremely low water vapor transition rate (WVTR) of $1{\times}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$. The key factor in high quality inorganic gas barrier formation for achieving the very low WVTR required (under ${\sim}10^{-6}gm^{-2}day^{-1}$) is the suppression of nano-sized defect sites and gas diffusion pathways among the grain boundaries. For formation of high quality single inorganic gas barrier layer, we developed high density nano-structured Al2O3 single gas barrier layer usinga NBAS process. The NBAS process can continuously change crystalline structures from an amorphous phase to a nano- crystalline phase with various grain sizes in a single inorganic thin film. As a result, the water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film have improved order of magnitude compared with that of conventional $Al_2O_3$ layers made by the RF magnetron sputteringprocess under the same sputtering conditions; the WVTR of the NBAS processed $Al_2O_3$ gas barrier film was about $5{\times}10^{-6}g/m^2/day$ by just single layer.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.625-634
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• 2004

The objective of this experiment is to study the possibility of lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) enzyme to prevent lactate accumulation in the rumen, For understanding capacity of bacterial LDH in rumen environments, this study was conducted to explore the effects of temperature, pH, VFAs and metal ions on Lactobacillus sp. FFy111-1's LDH activity, and the LDH activation in rumen fluid accumulated lactate. The optimum pH and temperature of LDH were pH 7.5 and 40$^{\circ}C$, respectively. The LDH activity had a good thennostability at range from 30 to 50$^{\circ}C$. The highest pH stability of the enzyme was at ranges from pH 7.0 to 8.0 and the enzyme activities showed above 64% level of non-treated one at pH 6.0 and 6.5. The LDH was inactivated by VFAs treatments but was enhanced by metal ion treatments without NaCl and $CuSO_4$ Especially, the LDH activity was increased to 127% and 124% of its original activity by 2 mM of $BaCl_2$ and $MnSO_4$, addition, respectively. When the acidic rumen fluid was treated by LDH enzyme of Lactobacillus sp. FFy111-1, the lactate concentration in the rumen fluid was lower compared with non-treated rumen fluid(P<0.05). This lactate reduction was resulted from an action of LDH. It was proved by result of purified D,L-LDH addition that showed the lowest lactate concentration among the treatments(P<0.05). Although further investigation of microbial LDH and ruminal lactate is needed, these findings suggest that the bacterial LDH has the potential capability to decrease the lactate accumulated in an acidic rumen fluid. Also, screening of super LDH producing bacteria and technical development for improving enzyme activity in rumen environment are essential keys for practical application.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.8-25
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• 2020

Industrialization has increased the production of road-deposited sediments (RDS) and the level of heavy metals in those RDS, which can have a significant impact on the surrounding aquatic environments through non-point pollution. Although the relationship between contamination characteristics and particle size of RDS is important for pollution control, there is very little information on this. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of grain size distribution and heavy metal concentrations in the road-deposited sediments (RDS) collected from 25 stations in Shihwa Industrial Complex. The environmental impact of RDS with particle size is also studied. I_geo, the contamination assessment index of each metal concentration, represents the RDS from Shihwa Industrial Complex are very highly polluted with Cu, Zn, Pb and Sb, and the levels of those metals were 633~3605, 130~1483, 120~1997, 5.5~50 mg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of heavy metals in RDS increased with the decrease in particle size. The particle size fraction below 250 ㎛ was very dominant with mass and contamination loads, 78.6 and 70.4%, respectively. Particles less than 125 ㎛ of RDS were highly contaminated and toxic to benthic organisms in rivers. RDS particles larger than 250 ㎛ and smaller than 250 ㎛ were contaminated by the surrounding industrial facility and vehicle activities, respectively. As a result of this study, the clean-up of fine particles of RDS, smaller than 125-250 ㎛, is very important for the control and reduction of non-point pollution to nearby water in Shihwa Industrial Complex.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.329-336
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• 2006

Iron manufacturing process involves production of various by-product including slag, sludge, sintering and EAF(Electric Arc furnace dust). Some of the by-products such as EAF and sintering dust are disposed of as waste due to their high heavy metal contents. It has been notice for many years that the EAF dust also contain about 65% of Fe(0) and Fe(II) and then the possible utilization of the iron. One possibility is to apply the EAF as a lining material in conjunction with clay or HDPE liners, in waste landfill. The probable reaction between the leachate containing toxic elements such as TCE, PCE dioxine and $Cr^{6+}$ is reduction of the toxic materials in corresponding to the oxidation of the reduced iron and therefore diminishing the toxicity of the leachate. It is, however, prerequisite to evaluate the leaching characteristics of the EAF dust before application. Amelioration of the leachate would be archived only when the level of toxic elements in the treated leachate is less than that of in the untreated leachate. Several leaching techniques were selected to cover different conditions and variable environments including time, pH and contact method. The testing methods include availability test, pH-stat test and continuous column test. Cr and Zn are potentially leachable elements among the trace metals. The pH of the EAF dust is highly alkaline, recording around 12 and Zn is unlikely to be leached under the condition. On the contrary Cr is more leachable under alkaline environment. However, the released Cr should be reduced to $Cr^{3+}$ and then removed as $Cr(OH)_3$. Removal of the Cr is observed in the column test and further study on the specific reaction of Cr and EAF dust is underway.