• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.396-400
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• 2016

Laser speckle patterns were used to monitor variations of thermal voltages of a cathode during a battery discharge. Discharge voltages measured with an oscilloscope were utilized as a figure of merit of thermal voltages in Zn metal. Using an optical imaging system, speckle patterns were taken for zinc metal surface over a time period of 3 minutes. Pixel sum distribution functions (PSDFs) were extracted from speckle patterns. Accumulated pixel sums quantified from PSDFs over an optimized grayscale range strongly correlated with discharge voltages. This suggested that dark matter or particles may have the capability of both absorbing and radiating thermal energies simultaneously. The black body-like properties were able to be validated by identifying coincidences with distinct features of a black body spectrum. The pixels belonging to the grayscale range were confirmed to represent dark matter of a speckle pattern. It was clear that dark matter was part of surface plasmon carriers. The proposed sensing system can be applied to monitor thermal energy variations in any material.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.115-119
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• 2010

Zinc (Zn) is an essential element required for growth and development of plants. However, Zn can be toxic to plants when it presents excessive amount. Phytoextraction is an economic and environment-friendly technique using plants to clean-up metal-contaminated soils. However, the technique cannot be applied in highly metal-contaminated areas because plants will not normally grow in such conditions. Therefore, this research focuses on identifying chelating agents which are biodegradable and applicable to highly metalcontaminated areas. Zn as a target metal and cysteine (Cys), histidine (His), malate, citrate oxalate, succinate, and ethylenediamine (EDA) as biodegradable chelating agents were selected. Plants were grown on agar media containing various chelating agents with Zn to analyze the effect on plant growth. Malate and His slightly increased the inhibitory effect of Zn on root growth of plants, whereas Cys, citrate, oxalate, and succinate did not show significant effects. However, EDA strongly diminished the inhibitory effect of Zn on root growth. The effect of EDA is correlated with decreased Zn uptake into the plants. In conclusion, as biodegradable chelating agents, EDA is a good candidate for growth of plants in highly Zn-contaminated areas.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.317-327
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• 2014

In order to develop nano-devices with much lower power consumption for beyond-CMOS applications, the fundamental understanding and precise control of the electronic properties of ultrathin transition metal oxide (TMO) films are strongly required. The metal-insulator transition (MIT) is not only an important issue in solid state physics, but also a useful phenomenon for device applications like switching or memory devices. For potential use in such application, the electronic structures of MIT, observed for TMO nano-structures, have been investigated using a synchrotron radiation angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy system combined with a laser molecular beam epitaxy chamber and a scanning photoelectron microscopy system with 70 nm spatial resolution. In this review article, electronic structures revealed by soft X-ray nano-spectroscopy are presented for i) polarity-dependent MIT and thickness-dependent MIT of TMO ultrathin films of $LaAlO_3/SrTiO_3$ and $SrVO_3/SrTiO_3$, respectively, and ii) electric field-induced MIT of TMO nano-structures showing resistance switching behaviors due to interfacial redox reactions and/or filamentary path formation. These electronic structures have been successfully correlated with the electrical properties of nano-structured films and nano-devices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.424.1-424.1
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• 2014

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a strongly correlated oxide exhibiting a first-order metal-insulator transition (MIT) that is accompanied by a structural phase transition from a low temperature monoclinic phase to a high-temperature rutile phase. VO2 has attracted significant attention because of a variety of possible applications based on its ultrafast MIT. Interestingly, the transition nature of VO2 is significantly affected by stress due to doping and/or interaction with a substrate and/or surface tension as well as defects. Accordingly, there have been considerable efforts to understand the influences of such factors on the phase transition and the fundamental mechanisms behind the MIT behavior. Here, we present the influences of oxygen deficiency, hydrogen doping, and substrate-induced stress on MIT phenomena in single-crystalline VO2 nanobeams. Specifically, the work function and the electrical resistance of the VO2 nanobeams change with the compositional variation due to the oxygen-deficiency-related defects. In addition, the VO2 nanobeams during exposure to hydrogen gas exhibit the reduction of transition temperature and the complex phase inhomogenieties arising from both substrate-induced stress and the formation of the hydrogen doping-induced metallic rutile phase.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1041-1046
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• 2010

Phytoextraction is a technique which uses plants to clean up metal-contaminated soils. Recently, various chelating agents were introduced into this technique to increase the bioavailability of metals in soils. Even though the technique is an economic and environment-friendly method, this cannot be applied in highly metal-contaminated areas because plants will not normally grow in such conditions. Therefore, this research focuses on identifying chelating agents which are biodegradable and applicable to highly metal-contaminated areas. Alunimum (Al) as a target metal and cysteine (Cys), histidine (His), citrate, malate, oxalate, succinate, and ethylenediamine (EDA) as biodegradable chelating agents were selected. Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) was used as a comparative standard. Plants were grown on agar media containing various chelating agents with Al to analyze the effect on plant growth. His slightly diminished the inhibitory effect of Al on root growth of plants, whereas, Cys, citrate, malate, oxalate, and succinate did not show significant effects. Both EDTA and EDA strongly diminished the inhibitory effect of Al on root growth. The effect of EDA is correlated with decreased Al uptake into the plants. In conclusion, as a biodegradable chelating agent, EDA is a good candidate for highly Al-contaminated areas.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.2306-2310
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• 2010

Corrosion is a complex series of oxidation/reduction reactions between at the water-metal surfaces and materials in which the water is stored or transported. With respect to the corrosion potential of drinking water, the primary concerns include the potential presence of toxic metals, such as lead and copper; deterioration and damage to the household plumbing, and aesthetic problems such as stained laundry, and bitter taste. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of corrosion inhibitors on corrosion rates, Fe and Cu release concentration in water distribution pipes. Decrease of corrosion rates were strongly related to phosphate corrosion inhibitors. Considering that typical corrosion processes consists of a series of electrochemical reaction at the metal surface in contact with water, corrosion rates were positively correlated with Fe release.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.1745-1753
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• 2014

Sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC), equipped with Zn, Al, Cu, Fe or graphite felt (GF) anode and marine sediment, was performed. Graphite felt was used as a common cathode. SMFC was single chambered and did not use any redox mediator. The aim of this work was to find efficient anodic material. Oxidation reduction potential (ORP), cell voltage, current density, power density, pH and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were measured for SMFC's performance.. The order of maximum power density was $913mWm^{-2}$ for Zn, $646mWm^{-2}$ for Fe, $387.8mWm^{-2}$ for Cu, $266mWm^{-2}$ for Al, and $127mWm^{-2}$ for graphite felt (GF). The current density over voltage was found to be strongly correlated with metal electrodes, but the graphite felt electrode, in which relatively weaker electricity was observed because of its bio-oriented mechanism. Metal corrosion reactions and/or a complicated microbial electron transfer mechanism acting around the anodic compartment may facilitate to generate electricity. We presume that more sophisticated selection of anodic material can lead to better performance in SMFC.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.143-151
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• 2003

In the present study, we made measurements of PM-bound metal concentrations from seven different urbanized locations in Seoul for the period covering March 2001 through May 2002. The measurement data were analyzed to explore the possible influences of spatial factors on metal distribution characteristics. To check for the importance of such aspects on metal distribution characteristics, the measured data were compared between different metals and between different sites by several criteria including (1) coefficient of variation (CV) values; (2) temporal variability; and (3) the abundance of strongly correlated pairs. The overall results of our study indicate strong diversity in the distribution characteristics of different metals. It is found that some metals (like Fe, Mn, and Pb) tend to exhibit strong compatibility among different study sites. However, no such compatibility appears to exist for certain metals like Cu. To account for the importance of spatial factors, complex relationships between source/sink processes and geochemical characteristics of a given metallic component may have to be examined in a systematic manner.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.97-126
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• 1992

Greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of lime, fly ash and ash(from rice straw) on the cadmium and lead translocation from soil to radish. The soils with low metal contents(Cd 1.52 ppd and Pb 25.37ppm) were prepared and high metal contents (Cd 8.99 rpm and Pb 50.81ppm) were prepared and amended with 0.25%, 0.5%, 1.095, 2.055 each of lime, fly ash and ash. Radishes(Raphanus satiuus) were cultivated and cropped on the soils during 25, 50 and 75 days after sprout, and then cadmium and lead contents of radishes were analyzed by roots and tops. The results obtained are as follows. 1. Lime and ash were effective in raising the soil pH, but fly ash was not effective. 2. The growth of radishes were not impaired by the cadmium and lead contamination but, impaired by soil pH 7.5 or more. 3. Cadmium was accumulated very strongly in radishes and the greater concentration was found in tops than roots, but lead showed no evidence of accumulation in radishes. 4. In general, when the concentrations of lime and ash in soils increased, the uptake of cadmium and lead by radishes decreased, and lime was more effective than ash, while fly ash revealed no effect of reducing the translocation of cadmium and lead from soils to radishes. 5. The uptake of cadmium by radishes decreased more effectively than lead and the uptake of Cd or Pb by radishes grown in the soils with high metal contents decreased more effectively than low metal con tents. 6. Cadmium and lead contents of radishes were negatively correlated with soil pH values and the relationship in cadmium content was stronger than that in lead content.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2000.02a
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• pp.174-174
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• 2000

A strong antiferromagnetic coupling in Fe/Si multilayered films (MLF) had been recently discovered and much consideration has been given to whether the coupling in the Fe/Si MLF system has the same origin as the metal/metal MLF. Nevertheless, the nature of the interfacial ron silicide is still controversial. On one hand, a metal/ semiconductor structure was suggested with a narrow band-gap semiconducting $\varepsilon$-FeSi spacer that mediates the coupling. However, some features show that the nature of coupling can be well understood in terms of the conventional metal/metal multilayered system. It is well known that both magneto-optical (MO) and optical properties of a metal depend strongly on their electronic structure that is also correlated with the atomic and chemical ordering. In this study, the nature of the interfacial regions is the Fe/Si multilayers has been investigated by the experimental and computer-simulated MO and optical spectroscopies. The Fe/Si MLF were prepared by rf-sputtering onto glass substrates at room temperature with the number of repetition N=50. The thickness of Fe sublayer was fixed at 3.0nm while the Si sublayer thickness was varied from 1.0 to 2.0 nm. The topmost layer of all the Fe/Si MLF is Fe. In order to carry out the computer simulations, the information on the MO and optical parameters of the materials that may constitute a real multilayered structure should be known in advance. For this purpose, we also prepared Fe, Si, FeSi2 and FeSi samples. The structural characterization of Fe/Si MLF was performed by low- and high -angle x-ray diffraction with a Cu-K$\alpha$ radiation and by transmission electron microscopy. A bulk $\varepsilon$-FeSi was also investigated. The MO and optical properties were measured at room temperature in the 1.0-4.7 eV energy range. The theoretical simulations of MO and optical properties for the Fe/Si MLF were performed by solving exactly a multireflection problem using the scattering matrix approach assuming various stoichiometries of a nonmagnetic spacer separating the antiferromagnetically coupled Fe layers. The simulated spectra of a model structure of FeSi2 or $\varepsilon$-FeSi as the spacer turned out to fail in explaining the experimental spectra of the Fe/Si MLF in both intensity and shape. Thus, the decisive disagreement between experimental and simulated MO and optical properties ruled out the hypothesis of FeSi2 and $\varepsilon$-FeSi as the nonmagnetic spacer. By supposing the spontaneous formation of a metallic ζ-FeSi, a reasonable agreement between experimental and simulated MO and optical spectra was obtained.