• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.77-84
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• 2010

The diffusion and partition coefficients of polyurethane foam (PUF) are estimated using a microbalance experiment and small chamber test. The microbalance is used to measure sorption/desorption kinetics and equilibrium data. When the diffusion condition is controlled in the chamber of the sample, interactions between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and PUF can lead to the estimation of a relatively homogenous rate of mass transfer in the interiors and surfaces of PUF. The estimates of the material/air partition coefficient (K) and the material-phase diffusion coefficient (D) are shown to be independent of the concentrations of VOCs. This approach, if applied to a diffusion-controlled or physically-based model, can facilitate more precise prediction of their source/sink behavior. Although further research and more rigorous validation is needed, an emission model applied with the diffusion and partition coefficients from this research holds promise for the improvement of reliability in predicting the behavior of VOCs emitted from porous building materials by D and K.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2014

Three dimensional self-assembled graphene hydrogels were easily fabricated by electron beam irradiation (EBI) using an aqueous solution of wool/poly(vinyl alcohol) and graphene oxide (GO). After exposure to various levels of EBI radiation, the highly porous, self-assembled, wool-based graphene hydrogels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; to determine the gel fraction, degree of swelling, gel strength, kinetics-of-swelling analyses and removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from the aqueous solution. X-ray diffraction results confirmed that EBI played a significantly important role in reducing GO to graphene. The adsorption equilibrium of Cr(VI) was reached within 80 min and the adsorption capacity was dramatically increased as the acidity of the initial solution was decreased from pH 5 to 2. Changes in ionic strength did not exert much effect on the adsorption behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.232-239
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• 2011

Fabric fibrous filter has been used in various industrial applications owing to the low cost and wide generality. However, the basic properties of fabric materials often limit the practical utilization including hot gas cleaning. This study attempts to find new coatings of porous fibrous filter media in order to overcome its insufficient thermal resistance and durability. Teflon was one of the plausible chemicals to supplement the vulnerability against frequent external thermal impacts. A foaming agent composed of Teflon and some organic additives was tentatively coated on the glass fiber mat. The present test Teflon foam coated filter was fount to be useful for hot gas cleaning, up to $250^{\circ}C$-$300^{\circ}C$. Close examination using XPS(X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) and Contact angle proved the binding interactions between carbon and fluorine, which implies coating stability. The PTFE/Glass foam coated filter consisted of more than 95% (C-F)n bond, and showed super-hydrophobic with good-oleophobic characteristics. The contact angle of liquid droplets on the filter surface enabled to find the filter wet-ability against liquid water or oil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2024

With industrial development, the inevitable increase in both organic and inorganic waste necessitates the exploration of waste treatment and utilization methods. This study focuses on co-pyrolyzing lignin and red mud to generate metalbiochar, aiming to demonstrate their potential as effective adsorbents for water pollutant removal. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed mass loss of lignin below 660℃, with additional mass loss occurring (>660℃) due to the phase change of metals (i.e., Fe) in red mud. Characterization of the metal-biochar indicated porous structure embedded with zero-valent iron/magnetite and specific functional groups. The adsorption experiments with 2,4-dichlorophenol and Cd(II) revealed the removal efficiency of the two pollutants reached its maximum at the initial pH of 2.8. These findings suggest that copyrolysis of lignin and red mud can transform waste into valuable materials, serving as effective adsorbents for diverse water pollutants.

• Carbon letters
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• v.22
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• pp.81-88
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• 2017

In the present study, biomass-based lignin was extracted from industrial waste black liquor and the extracted lignin was characterized by means of attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and $^1H-nuclear$ magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The extracted lignin was carbonized at different temperatures and then activated with steam at $850^{\circ}C$. The extracted lignin in powder state was transformed into a bulky carbonized lignin due to possible fusion between the lignin particles occurring upon carbonization. The carbonized and then pulverized lignin exhibits brittle surfaces, the increased thermal stability, and the carbon assay with increasing the carbonization temperature. The scanning electron microscopic images and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller result indicate that the steam-activated carbon has the specific surface area of $1718m^2/g$, which is markedly greater than the carbonized lignin. This study reveals that biomass-based activated carbon with highly porous structure can be produced from costless black liquor via steam-activation process.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.142-147
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• 2010

Nano-sized $BaNd_2Ti_5O_{14}$ powders were prepared by the spray pyrolysis process. Sucrose used as the organic additive enabled the formation of nano-sized $BaNd_2Ti_5O_{14}$ powders. The powders prepared from the spray solution without sucrose had a spherical shape, dense structure and micron size before and after calcination. However, the precursor powders prepared from the spray solution with sucrose had a large size, and hollow and porous morphology. The precursor powders had an amorphous crystal structure because of the short residence time of the powders inside the hot wall reactor. The complete decomposition of sucrose did not occur inside the hot wall reactor. Therefore, the precursor powders obtained from the spray solution with sucrose of 0.5M had a carbon content of 39.2wt.%. The powders obtained from the spray solution with sucrose of 0.5M had a slightly aggregated structure of nano-sized primary powders of $BaNd_2Ti_5O_{14}$ crystalline phase after calcination at $1000^{\circ}C$. The calcined powders turned into nano-sized $BaNd_2Ti_5O_{14}$ powders after milling. The mean size of the $BaNd_2Ti_5O_{14}$ powders was 125 nm.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2012

In this article, I will introduce recent developments of environmental-friendly materials fabricated using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Advantages of ALD include fine control of the thin film thickness and formation of a homogeneous thin fim on complex-structured three-dimensional substrates. Such advantages of ALD can be exploited for fabricating environmental-friendly materials. Porous membranes such as anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) can be used as a substrate for $TiO_2$ coating with a thickness of about 10 nm, and the $TiO_2$-coated AAO can be used as filter of volatile organic compound such as toluene. The unique structural property of AAO in combination with a high adsorption capacity of amorphous $TiO_2$ can be exploited in this case. $TiO_2$ can be also deposited on nanodiamonds and Ni powder, which can be used as photocatalyst for degradation of toluene, and $CO_2$ reforming of methane catalyst, respectively. One can produce structures, in which the substrates are only partially covered by $TiO_2$ domains, and these structures turns out to be catalytically more active than bare substrates, or complete core-shell structures. We show that the ALD can be widely used not only in the semiconductor industry, but also environmental science.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.427-441
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• 2022

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) serving as a separator that can prevent the permeation of unreacted fuels as well as an electrolyte that selectively transports protons from the anode to the cathode has been considered a key component of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based PEMs, represented by Nafion®, have been commercialized in PEMFC systems due to their high proton conductivity and chemical stability. Nevertheless, these PEMs have several inherent drawbacks including high manufacturing costs by the complex synthetic processes and environmental problems caused by producing the toxic gases. Although numerous studies are underway to address these drawbacks including the development of sulfonated hydrocarbon polymer-based PEMs (SHP-PEMs), which can easily control the polymer structures, further improvement of PEM performances and durability is necessary for practical PEMFC applications. Therefore, this study focused on the various strategies for the development of SHP-PEMs with outstanding performance and durability by 1) introducing cross-linked structures, 2) incorporating organic/inorganic composites, and 3) fabricating reinforced-composite membranes using porous substrates.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.223-228
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• 2012

In this study, a fiber-optic pH sensor based on a pH sol-gel film is fabricated. The sol-gel film is made by co-polymerizing tetramethoxysilane, trimethoxymethylsilane, ethanol and distilled water. As a pH indicator, a neutral red is immobilized in a thin porous film formed by the sol-gel process. The pH change in a sensing probe gives rise to a change in the color of the pH sol-gel film, and the absorbance of reflected light through the pH sol-gel film is also changed. By using a spectrometer, therefore, the spectra of reflected lights in the sensing probe with different pH values are measured. Also, the relationships between the pH values and the absorbance are analyzed on the basis of the color variations of the pH sol-gel films. In repeated experiments, the fiber-optic pH sensor shows that it has reversibility, a high reproducibility and a wide absorbance change in a pH range from pH 5 to 9. Also, we confirmed that the fabricated pH sol-gel film exhibits a fast response time, little or no pH indicator leaching and a dynamic range of 2.04 dB from pH 5 to 9. Based on the results of this study, a fiber-optic pH sensor can be developed for the pH monitoring in the harsh environments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.268-268
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• 2016

Chemical sensors have attracted much attention due to their various applications such as agriculture product, cosmetic and pharmaceutical components and clinical control. A conventional chemical and biological sensor is consists of fluorescent dye, optical light sources, and photodetector to quantify the extent of concentration. Such complicated system leads to rising cost and slow response time. Until now, the most contemporary thin film transistors (TFTs) are used in the field of flat panel display technology for switching device. Some papers have reported that an interesting alternative to flat panel display technology is chemical sensor technology. Recent advances in chemical detection study for using TFTs, benefits from overwhelming progress made in organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) electronic, have been studied alternative to current optical detection system. However numerous problems still remain especially the long-term stability and lack of reliability. On the other hand, the utilization of metal oxide transistor technology in chemical sensors is substantially promising owing to many advantages such as outstanding electrical performance, flexible device, and transparency. The top-gate structure transistor indicated long-term atmosphere stability and reliability because insulator layer is deposited on the top of semiconductor layer, as an effective mechanical and chemical protection. We report on the fabrication of InGaZnO TFTs with silver nanowire as the top gate electrode for the aim of chemical materials detection by monitoring change of electrical properties. We demonstrated that the improved sensitivity characteristics are related to the employment of a unique combination of nano materials. The silver nanowire top-gate InGaZnO TFTs used in this study features the following advantages: i) high sensitivity, ii) long-term stability in atmosphere and buffer solution iii) no necessary additional electrode and iv) simple fabrication process by spray.