• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1995.04a
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• pp.1-4
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• 1995

The microstructure of polymer membranes produced via thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) of polymer solutions is a strong function of both the early-stage (by spinodal decomposition or nucleation & growth) and the late-stage phase separation (referred to in general as coarsening). In the case of early stage effects, the membrane morphology resulting from a nucleation & growth mechanism is either a poorly interconnecsed, stringy, beady structure which is mechanically fragile or a well interconnected structure with highly nonuniform pore sizes. In contrast, spinodal decomposition results in a well interconnected, mechanically strong membrane with highly uniform pore sizes. Here I describe recent quantitative studies of the coarsening effects on the microstructure of membranes produced via TIPS process. The dependence of microstructure on coarsening time, quench depth, solution viscosity, and polymer molecular weight was investigated in order to distinguish among three possible coarsening mechanisms, Ostwald ripening, coalescence, and hydrodynamic flow, which may be responsible for structural evolution after the early-stage phase Separation (spinodal decomposition or nucleation & growth).

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1054-1058
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• 1994

Different behavior on the formation of soluble intermediate was observed depending on the substrate employed during the nucleation of lead dioxide from plumbous ion using a rotating ring-disk electrode. It was found that no soluble intermediate was formed at glassy carbon electrode, while the presence of soluble intermediate could be detected at platinum substrate. From the different anodic behavior of two substrates, the formation of a probable Pb(Ⅲ) soluble intermediate was suggested. A most probable nucleation mechanism at the platinum substrate involving a second order chemical reaction was derived on the basis of rotating disk electrode experiments.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.1541-1546
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• 2012

The early stages of bismuth (Bi) electrodeposition on glass carbon electrode from alkaline electrolyte were studied by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The CV analysis showed that the electrodeposition of Bi was determined to be quasireversible process with diffusion controlled. The current transients for Bi electrodeposition were analyzed according to the Scharifker-Hills model and the Heerman-Tarallo model. It can be concluded that the nucleation and growth mechanism was carried out under a 3D instantaneous nucleation, which was confirmed by SEM analysis. The kinetic growth parameters were obtained through a nonlinear fitting. In addition, the Bi film obtaining at -0.86 V for 1 hour was of compact and uniform surface with good smoothness, small roughness and a very high purity. The Bi film were indexed to rhombohedral crystal structure with preferred orientation of (0 1 2) planes to growth.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.327-337
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• 1997

The current understanding of the mechanism of inoculation of the eutectic in commercial Fe-C-Si alloys using either silicon containing alloys or graphite has been discussed. The mechanism whereby inclusion formation within a cast iron melt is essential for inoculation effectiveness in ferro silicon inoculation has been reviewed. The role of graphitic inoculants has been presented, including the results of recent research that confirms the inoculating capability of graphite and demonstrates those factors which must be considered in evaluating inoculation effectiveness. Fading of inoculation, both ferro silicon and graphite, and the mechanism whereby this occurs, has also been discussed.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4 s.46
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• pp.237-248
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• 2005

Results from in-situ high temperature X-ray diffraction measurements show that $Mg_{2}SiO_{4}{-}$spinel converts back to olivine phase only when heated in vacuum, and that at some high temperature, the olivine phase grows with time at the expense of the spinel phase strongly suggesting a 'nucleation and growth' type transition. In order to obtain the activation energy of spinel-olivine back transformation, kinetics measurements were performed on $Mg_{2}SiO_{4}{-}$spinel in vacuum at high temperatures between 1023 and 1116 K. Activation energy was determined using 'time to a given fraction method'. By employing the Avrami equation, it was found that n values generally increase with increasing temperature in a wide range implying that the nucleation and growth mechanism is probably temperature-dependent. It is likely that in spinel, at a relatively lower transformation temperature, after nucleation sites saturated, the growth of the new phase starts on the surface and gradually moves inwards. At high temperatures, however, after nucleation sites saturated, the growth starts both on the surface as well as at the interior.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.2 s.273
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• pp.94-98
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• 2005

$RuO_2$ is widely studied as a lower electrode material for high dielectric capacitors in DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memories) and FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memories). In this study, the effects of hydrogen, oxygen, and argon Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma pretreatments on deposited by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) $RuO_2$ nucleation was investigated using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analyses. Argon ECR plasma pretreatment was found to offer the highest $RuO_2$ nucleation density among these three pretreatments. The mechanism through which $RuO_2$ nucleation is enhanced by ECR plasma pretreatment may be that the argon or the hydrogen ECR plasma removes nitrogen and oxygen atoms at the TiN film surface so that the underlying TiN film surface is changed to Ti-rich TiN.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.202-211
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• 2018

In this work, Fe-Pd alloy films have been electrodeposited on different substrates using an electrolyte containing $[Pd(NH_3)_4]^{2+}$ (0.02 M) and $[Fe-Citrate]^{2+}$ (0.2 M). The influences of substrate and overpotential on chemical composition, nucleation and growth kinetics as well as the electrodeposited films morphology have been investigated using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), current-time transients, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. In all substrates - brass, copper and sputtered fluorine doped tin oxide on glass (FTO/glass) - Fe content of the electrodeposited alloys increases by increasing the overpotential. Also the cathodic current efficiency is low due to high rate of $H_2$ co-reduction. Regarding the chronoamperometry current-time transients, it has been demonstrated that the nucleation mechanism is instantaneous with a typical three dimensional (3D) diffusion-controlled growth in the case of brass and copper substrates; while for FTO, the growth mode changes to 3D progressive. At a constant overpotential, the calculated number of active nucleation sites for metallic substrates is much higher than that of FTO/glass; however by increasing the overpotential, the number of active nucleation sites increases. The SEM micrographs as well as the XRD patterns reveal the formation of Fe-Pd alloy thin films with nanostructure arrangement and ultra-fine grains.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.361-366
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• 2001

It is difficult to obtain high Cu nucleation density and continuous Cu films in Cu-MOCVD without cleaning the TiN substrate prior to Cu deposition. In this study effects of plasma precleaning on the Cu nucleation density were investigated using SEM, XPS, AES, AFM analyses. Direct plasma pretreatment is much more effective than remote plasma pretreatment in enhancing Cu nucleation. Cleaning effects are enhanced with increasing the rf-power and the plasma exposure time in hydrogen plasma pretreatment. The mechanism through which Cu nucleation is enhanced by plasma pretreatment is as follows: Hydrogen ion\ulcorner in the hydrogen plasma react with TiN to form Ti and $NH_3$ Cu nucleation is easier on the Ti substrate than TiN substrate.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.541-551
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• 2009

Amyloidogenesis defines a condition in which a soluble and innocuous protein turns to insoluble protein aggregates known as amyloid fibrils. This protein suprastructure derived via chemically specific molecular self-assembly process has been commonly observed in various neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Prion diseases. Although the major culprit for the cellular degeneration in the diseases remains unsettled, amyloidogenesis is considered to be etiologically involved. Recent recognition of fibrillar polymorphism observed mostly from in vitro amyloidogeneses may indicate that multiple mechanisms for the amyloid fibril formation would be operated. Nucleation-dependent fibrillation is the prevalent model for assessing the self-assembly process. Following thermodynamically unfavorable seed formation, monomeric polypeptides bind to the seeds by exerting structural adjustments to the template, which leads to accelerated amyloid fibril formation. In this review, we propose another in vitro model of amyloidogenesis named double-concerted fibrillation. Here, two consecutive assembly processes of monomers and subsequent oligomeric species are responsible for the amyloid fibril formation of $\alpha$-synuclein, a pathological component of Parkinson's disease, following structural rearrangement within the oligomers which then act as a growing unit for the fibrillation.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.45-50
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• 2020

The formation characteristics of calcium carbonates are closely related to the durability and mechanical properties of cement-based materials. In this regard, a deep understanding of the reaction pathway of calcium carbonates is critical. Recently, non-classical nucleation theory was summarized and it was presumed that prenucleation clusters are present. The formation of the prenucleation cluster at undersaturated condition (≈ 0.1 ml) in the present study was investigated via electrical characteristics of an electrolytic solution. Calcium chloride dihydrate (CaCl2·2H2O) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) were used as starting materials to supply calcium and carbonate sources, respectively. Furthermore, the reaction pathway of calcium carbonates was investigated by time-resolved polarization and depolarization characteristics of the electrolytic solution. The time-resolved polarization and depolarization tests were conducted by switching polarity with an interval of 20 seconds for 1 hr and by measuring the variation of electrical resistance. It can be inferred from the results obtained in the present study that the reactive constituent for the formation of calcium carbonates was mostly consumed in the period possibly associated with the prenucleation and the reaction pathways may be governed by the monomer-addition mechanism.