• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2016

In this study, the organic-inorganic composite membranes composed of iron oxide (Ferroxane) and Nafion were developed as an alternative proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Acetic acid-stabilized lepidocrocite (${\gamma}$-FeOOH) nanoparticles (ferroxane) was synthesized, and the ferroxane-Nafion composite membranes were prepared by mixing Nafion with the ferroxane. The composite membranes were investigated in terms of ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), FT-IR, thermal stability, etc. As a result, the ferroxane-Nafion composite membranes showed higher proton conductivity, IEC, thermal stability than Nafion recast membranes. The proton conductivity and IEC of the composite membrane with the best performance were $0.09S\;cm^{-1}$ and $0.906meq\;g^{-1}$, respectively.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.379-383
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• 2018

Silica is used in shell materials to minimize oxidation and aggregation of nanoparticles. Particularly, porous silica has gained attention because of its performance in adsorption, catalysis, and medical applications. In this study, to investigate the effect of the density of the silica coating layer on the color of the pigment, we arbitrarily change the structure of a silica layer using an etchant. We use NaOH or $NH_4OH$ to etch the silica coating layer. First, we synthesize ${\alpha}-FeOOH$ for a length of 400 nm and coat it with TEOS to fabricate particles with a 50 nm coating layer. The coating thickness is then adjusted to 30-40 nm by etching the silica layer for 5 h. Four different shapes of ${\alpha}-FeOOH$ with different colors are measured using UV-vis light. From the color changes of the four different shapes of ${\alpha}-FeOOH$ features during coating or etching, the $L^*$ value is observed to increase and brighten the overall color, and the $b^*$ value increases to impart a clear yellow color to the pigment. The brightest yellow color was that coated with silica; if the sample is etched with NaOH or $NH_4OH$, the $b^*$ value can be controlled to study the yellow colors.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.393-398
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• 2008

A propofol delivery system was prepared using two biocompatible polymeric surfactants, poloxamer 407 and PEG 400. The nanoparticular stability of the micellar system was evaluated in terms of temperature change, storage time and composition. The particle size of the system was slightly increased with elevating temperature from $4^{\circ}C$ to $25^{\circ}C$, but its distribution was unimodal. At $40^{\circ}C$, the system presented a bimodal particle size distribution and the increase in the fraction of particles larger than 15 nm. This result might be due to the expansion of the nanoparticles through micellar swelling at the high temperature. It was found that propofol was gradually come out of the system, stored for a month at three different temperatures (4, 25 and $40^{\circ}C$). The drug loss was apparently dependent on temperature and the system composition. Increasing temperature induced the acceleration of the drug loss of $7{\sim}10%$ at $4^{\circ}C$ and $14{\sim}16 %$ at $40^{\circ}C$. This may be owing to the high diffusivity resulting from the swelling of the hydrophilic surface of the nanoparticle at high temperature. However, the addition of PEG 400 to the system led to the reduction of the drug loss. This result is associated with the previous investigation that PEG coverage decreased diffusion coefficient because of the formation of the denser structure on the surface of nanoparticulate. Nevertheless, the limited amount of PEG, less than 2% (w/v), should be used to prevent the precipitation and discoloration of the system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.87-96
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• 2014

In the present study, a yeast species isolated from CETP, Vellore, Tamilnadu was identified as Cryptococcus sp. VITGBN2 based on molecular techniques and was found to be a potent producer of acidic diacetate sophorolipid in mineral salt media containing vegetable oil as additional carbon source. The chemical structure of the purified biosurfactant was identified as acidic diacetate sophorolipid through GC-MS analysis. This sophorolipid was used as a stabilizer for synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZON). The formation of biofunctionalized ZON was characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activities of naked ZON and sophorolipid functionalized ZON were tested based on the diameter of inhibition zone in agar well diffusion assay, microbial growth rate determination, protein leakage analysis, and lactate dehydrogenase assay. Bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica and fungal pathogen Candida albicans showed more sensitivity to sophorolipid biofunctionalized ZON compared with naked ZON. Among the two pathogens, S. enterica showed higher sensitivity towards sophorolipid biofunctionalized ZON. SEM analysis showed that cell damage occurred through cell elongation in the case of S. enterica, whereas cell rupture was found to occur predominantly in the case of C. albicans. This is the first report on the dual role of yeast-mediated sophorolipid used as a biostabilizer for ZON synthesis as well as a novel functionalizing agent showing antimicrobial property.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.101-107
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• 2013

Cerium compounds such as Cerium hydroxide ($Ce(OH)_3$), Cerium chloride ($CeCl_3{\cdot}nH_2O$), Cerium carbonate hydrate ($Ce_2(CO_3)_3{\cdot}8H_2O$), Cerium oxide ($CeO_2$) were synthesized using recycled Ce precursor. Cerium(IV) oxide of nanoparticles were obtained by Ultra-sonication. Cerium-sodium- sulfate compound was synthesized through acid-leaching and addition of sodium sulfate from 99 wt% purity of Ce precursor as a starting material that was recycled from the waste polishing slurry. Moreover Cerium hydroxide was obtained from Cerium-sodium-sulfate compound by adding to sodium hydroxide solution. Then Cerium chloride was synthesized by adding of hydrochloric acid to Cerium hydroxide. Needle-shaped Cerium carbonate hydrate was synthesized in the continuous process and Cerium(IV) oxide with 30~40 nm size was subsequently obtained by the calcinations and dispersion.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2010

In this study, we have demonstrated the fine structure effect of PdCo electrocatalyst on oxygen reduction reaction activity with different alloy composition and heat-treatment time. In order to identify the intrinsic factors for the electrocatalytic activity, various X-ray analyses were used, including inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometer, and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy technique. In particular, extended X-ray absorption fine structure was employed to extract the structural parameters required for understanding the atomic distribution and alloying extent, and to identify the corresponding simulated structures by using FEFF8 code and IFEFFIT software. The electrocatalytic activity of PdCo alloy nanoparticles for the oxygen reduction reaction was evaluated by using rotating disk electrode technique and correlated to the change in structural parameters. We have found that Pd-rich surface was formed on the Co core with increasing heating time over 5 hours. Such core shell structure of PdCo/C showed that a superior oxygen reduction reaction activity than pure Pd/C or alloy phase of PdCo/C electrocatalysts, because the adsorption energy of adsorbates was apparently reduced by lowering the dband center of the Pd skin due to a combination of the compressive strain effect and ligand effect.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.1030-1036
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• 2001

Hydroxyapatite[COL] nanocomposite was prepared through coprecipitation process. The chemical bond formation between HAP and COL was confirmed by diffusive reflectance FT-IR and TEM observation. Higher concentration of COL in the preparation induced tiny nanocrystalline composite particles, but lower concentration of COL contributed to form the well developed HAP particles. From TEM observation and ED(Electron Diffraction) pattern the embedded HAP nanoparticles were oriented along the c-axis of COL fiber. In an aqueous system of constant [Ca$\^$2+/] and [PO$_4$$\^$3-/], quantity of soluble COL matrix was doing an important role of controlling the heterogeneous nucleation site for the formation of HAP nanocrystals. Higher concentration of COL will provide more nucleation sites for Ca$\^$2+/ and so the concentration of calcium ions for the total number of active nucleation sites will be getting relatively dilute.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.476-479
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• 2013

$CoSb_3$ with its high electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and rather low thermal conductivity is quite a promising material for thermoelectric conversion applications. A potentially high figure of merit (ZT) can be achieved by a nanostructure evolution of thermoelectric materials. In this work, $CoSb_3$ nanoparticles were synthesized through a thermal decomposition method in cooperation with a hot injection technique. Nano-sized $CoSb_3$ particles were obtained through the thermal decomposition reaction between the pre-heated cobalt-oleate at $320^{\circ}C$ and the injected antimony oleate with room temperature. The results showed that the particle size was increased with increasing synthesis temperature and the crystallinity of particles was improved with temperature but the decomposition of $CoSb_3$ was observed at $320^{\circ}C$. The $CoSb_3$ particles synthesized at $300^{\circ}C$ showed a high purity and an homogeneous shape with average particle size of 26 nm.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.497-505
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• 2019

Lanthanum-based transition metal cations containing perovskites have emerged as potential catalysts for the intermediate-temperature (600-800℃) oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, we report a facile acetylacetone-assisted combustion route for the synthesis of nanostructured La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3-δ (LSCF6428) cathodes for intermediate-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs). The as-prepared powder was analyzed by thermogravimetry analysis-differential scanning calorimetry. The powder calcined at 800℃ was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electrode microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area measurements. It was found that the porosity of the air electrode significantly increased by utilizing the nanostructured LSCF6428 instead of commercial powder. The performance of a single cell fabricated with the nanostructured LSCF6428 cathode increased by 112%, from 0.4 to 0.85 W cm^-2, at 700℃. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed a considerable reduction in the area-specific resistance and activation energy from 133.5 to 61.5 kJ/mol, resulting in enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward ORR and overall cell performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.441-442
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• 2008

For this study, Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) particles co-doped with $Ce^{3+}$ and $Eu^{3+}$ were prepared via the combustion process using the 1:1 ratio of metal ions to reagents. The characteristics of the synthesized nano powder were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and photoluminescence (PL). The various YAG peaks, with the (420) main peak, appeared at all Eu concentrationin XRD patterns. The YAG phase crystallized with results that are in good agreement with the JCPDS diffraction file 33-0040. The SEM image showed that the resulting YAG:Ce,Eu powders had uniform sizes and good homogeneity. The grain size was about 50nm. The photoluminescence spectra of the YAG:Ce,Eu nanoparticles were investigated to determine the energy level of electron transition related to luminescence processes. It was composed a broad band of $Ce^{3+}$ activator into the weak line peak of $Eu^{3+}$ in YAG host. The PL intensity of $Ce^{3+}$ has the wavelengths of 480-650 nm and The PL intensity of $Eu^{3+}$ has main peak at 590nm.