• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 1996

A surfatron-type microwave induced plasma (MIP) cavity has been constructed, which can be easily interfaced with a gas chromatograph. Various plasma gases such as He, Ar and N2 were used to generate the MIP and small amounts of CO2 gases were injected through the MIP to obtain characteristic spectrum of each plasma gas and to study feasibility of the MIP as a soft ionization source. Since He and Ar plasmas have high metastable state energy, it was not possible to detect sample gas in molecular state. With N2 plasma, however, a strong emission of molecular ions could be detected owing to its low metastable state energy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.251.1-251.1
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• 2013

Combination of oxidative vacuum annealing and oxygen plasma treatment can serve as a simple and efficient method of line-width modification of imprinted nanopatterns. Since the vacuum annealing and oxygen plasma could lead mass loss of polymeric materials, either one of the process can yield a narrowed patterns. However, the vacuum annealing process usually demands quite high temperatures (${\geq}300^{\circ}C$) and extended annealing time to get appreciable line-width reduction. Although the plasma treatment may be considered as an effective low temperature rapid process for the line-width reduction, it is also suffering for the lowered controllability on application to very fine patterns. We have found that the vacuum annealing temperature can be lowered by introducing the oxygen in the vacuum process and that the combination of oxygen plasma treatment with the vacuum annealing could yield the best result in the line-with reduction of the imprinted polymeric nanopatterns. Well-defined line width reduction by more than 50% was successfully demonstrated at relatively low temperatures. Furthermore, it was verified that this process was applicable to the nanopatterns of different shapes and materials.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2010

To improve the antifouling characteristics of polypropylene hollow fiber microporous membranes in a submerged membrane-bioreactor for wastewater treatment, the surface-modification was conducted by Ar plasma treatment. Surface hydrophilicity was assessed by water contact angle measurements. The advancing and receding water contact angles reduced after the surface modification, and hysteresis between the advancing and receding water contact angles was enlarged after Ar plasma treatment due to the increased surface roughness after surface plasma treatment. After continuous operation in a submerged membrane-bioreactor for about 55 h, the flux recovery after water cleaning and the flux ratio after fouling were improved by 20.0 and 143.0%, while the reduction of flux was reduced by 28.6% for the surface modified membrane after 1 min Ar plasma treatment, compared to those of the unmodified membrane. Morphological observations showed that the mean membrane pore size after Ar plasma treatment reduced as a result of the deposition of the etched species; after it was used in the submerged membrane-bioreactor, the further decline of the mean membrane pore size was caused by the deposition of foulants. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy confirmed that proteins and polysaccharide-like substances were the main foulants in the precipitate.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.335-338
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• 2010

In this study, the atmospheric plasma treatment with $He/O_2$ was conducted to modify the surface chemistry of carbon fibers. The effects of plasma treatment parameters on the surface energetics of carbon fibers were experimentally investigated with respect to gas flow ratio, power intensity, and treatment time. Surface characteristics of the carbon fibers were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Zeta-potential, and contact angle measurements. The results indicated that oxygen plasma treatment led to a large amount of reactive functional groups onto the fiber surface, and these groups can form together as physical intermolecular bonding to improve the surface wettability with a hydrophilic polymer matrix.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.19-25
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• 2009

Polymerization of tetraethoxysilane on a glass substrate was investigated by remote microwave plasma using argon with portions of nitrous oxide as carrier gas. Transparent layer like a thickness of 0.5 ${\mu}m$ 3 ${\mu}m$ were obtained, differing in chemical composition, depending on plasma power and treatment time as well as on ageing time. In general the milder the treatment and the shorter the ageing was, the higher was the content of organic structural elements in the layer. We have identified that the chemical structure of our samples composed of mainly Si O and Si C groups containing aliphatics, carbonyl groups. These results were obtained by X ray photon spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope combined with Energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.145-150
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• 2003

Polypropylene nonwoven fabrics were exposed to He/$O_2$ atmospheric pressure glow discharge plasma. Surface chemical analysis and contact angle measurement revealed the surface oxidation by formation of new functional groups after plasma treatment. Weight loss (%) measurement and scanning electron microscopy analysis showed a significant plasma etching effect. It was investigated in low-stress mechanical properties of the fabrics using Kawabata Evaluation System (KES-FB). The surface morphology change by plasma treatment increased surface friction due to an enhancement of fiber-to-fiber friction, resulting in change of other low-stress mechanical properties of fabric.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.109-126
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• 2013

Surface modification by low-pressure ammonia ($NH_3$) plasma on commercial thin-film composite (TFC) membranes was investigated in this study. Surface hydrophilicity, total surface free energy, ion exchange capacity (IEC) and zeta (${\zeta}$)-potentials were determined for the TFC membranes. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the membrane surface chemistry were conducted by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy. Results showed that the $NH_3$ plasma treatment increased the surface hydrophilicity, in particular at a plasma treatment time longer than 5 min at 50 W of plasma power. Total surface free energy was influenced by the basic polar components introduced by the $NH_3$ plasma, and isoelectric point (IEP) was shifted to higher pH region after the modification. A ten (10) min $NH_3$ plasma treatment at 90 W was found to be adequate for the TFC membrane modification, resulting in a membrane with better characteristics than the TFC membranes without the modification for water treatment. The thin-film chemistry (i.e., fully-aromatic and semi-aromatic nature in the interfacial polymerization) influenced the initial stage of plasma modification.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.184-189
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• 2015

We report a simple way to enhance the size gradient of an imprinted nanopattern through oxygen plasma etching under a nonuniform magnetic field. A sample substrate was placed next to a magnet, and then a nonuniform magnetic field condition was formed around the sample. Using oxygen plasma etching, a line pattern having an initial width of 273 nm was gradually modified from 248 nm at one end to 182 nm at the other end. Controlling the arrangement of the magnet and sample, we could induce a triangular shape size gradient. We verified that the gradually modified nanopatterns we produced are applicable to continual optical property control, showing a possibility to be utilized for optical components such as gratings and polarizers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2003

Plasma polymerized organic thin films were deposited on Si(100) glass and metal substrates using thiophene and ethylcyclohexane precursors by PECVD method. In order to compare electrochemical properties of the as-grown thin films, the effects of the RF plasma power in the range of 30~100 W. AFM showed that the polymer films with smooth surface and sharp interface could be grown under various deposition conditions. Impedance analyzer was utilized for the determination of I-V curve for leakage current density and C-V for dielectric constants, respectively. To obtain C-V curve, we used a MIM structure of metal(Al)-insulator(plasma polymerized thin film)-metal(Pt) structure. Al as the electrode was evaporated on the thiophene films that grew on Pt coated silicon substrates, and the dielectric constants of the as-grown films were then calculated from C- V data measured at 1MHz. From the electrical property measurements such as I-V and C-V characteristics, the minimum dielectric constant and the best leakage current of thiophene thin films were obtained to be about 3.22 and $1{\;}{\times}10^{-11}{\;}A/cm^2$. However, in case of ethylcyclohexane thin films, the minimum dielectric constant and the best leakage current were obtained to be about 3.11 and $5{\;}{\times}10^{-12}{\;}A/cm^2$.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.71-77
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• 2022

To increase biomass utilization, rice husk-based activated carbon (RHAC) followed by nitrogen plasma surface treatment was prepared and the electric double-layer capacitor performance was investigated. Through nitrogen plasma surface treatment, up to 2.17% of nitrogen was introduced to the surface of RHAC, and in particular the sample reacted for 5 min with nitrogen plasma showed dominant formation of pyrrolic/pyridine N functional groups. In addition, mesopores were formed on the RHAC material by the removal of silica, and the surface roughness of the carbon material increased by nitrogen plasma surface treatment, resulting in the formation of many micropores. As a result of cyclic voltammetry measurement, at a scan rate of 5 mV/s, the specific capacitance of the RHAC treated with nitrogen plasma increased up to 200 F/g, showing an 80.2% improvement compared to that of using untreated RHAC (111 F/g). This is attributed to the synergetic effect of the introduction of pyrrolic/pyridine-based nitrogen functional groups and the increase of the micropore volume on the surface of the carbon material. This study has a positive effect on the environment in terms of recycling waste resources and using plasma surface treatment.