• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.781-797
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• 2023

Recently, there has been a rapid response from mineral-demanding countries for securing critical minerals in a high tech industries. Graphite, while overwhelmingly dominated by China in production, is changing in global supply due to the exponential growth in EV battery sector, with active exploration in East Africa. Rare earth elements are essential raw materials widely used in advanced industries. Globally, there are ongoing developments in the production of REEs from three main deposit types: carbonatite, laterite, and ion-adsorption clay types. While China's production has decreased somewhat, it still maintains overwhelming dominance in this sector. Recent changes over the past few years include the rapid emergence of Myanmar and increased production in Vietnam. Nickel has been used in various chemical and metal industries for a long time, but recently, its significance in the market has been increasing, particularly in the battery sector. Worldwide, nickel deposits can be broadly classified into two types: laterite-type, which are derived from ultramafic rocks, and ultramafic hosted sulfide-type. It is predicted that the development of sulfide-type, primarily in Australia, will continue to grow, while the development of laterite-type is expected to be promoted in Indonesia. This is largely driven by the growing demand for nickel in response to the demand for lithium-ion batteries. The global lithium ores are produced in three main types: brine lake (78%), rock/mineral (19%), and clay types (3%). Rock/mineral type has a slightly higher grade compared to brine lake type, but they are less abundant. Chile, Argentina, and the United States primarily produce lithium from brine lake deposits, while Australia and China extract lithium from both brine lake and rock/mineral sources. Canada, on the other hand, exclusively produces lithium from rock/mineral type. Vanadium has traditionally been used in steel alloys, accounting for approximately 90% of its usage. However, there is a growing trend in the use for vanadium redox flow batteries, particularly for large-scale energy storage applications. The global sources of vanadium can be broadly categorized into two main types: vanadium contained in iron ore (81%) produced from mines and vanadium recovered from by-products (secondary sources, 18%). The primary source, accounting for 81%, is vanadium-iron ores, with 70% derived from vanadium slag in the steel making process and 30% from ore mined in primary sources. Intermediate vanadium oxides are manufactured from these sources. Vanadium deposits are classified into four types: vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM), sandstone-hosted, shale-hosted, and vanadate types. Currently, only the VTM-type ore is being produced.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.435-441
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• 1998

Li-SGICs as a anode of lithium ion battery were synthesized by high-pressure method as a function of the Li-contents. The characteristics of these prepared compounds were determined from the studies with X-ray diffraction method and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) analysis. From the results of X-ray diffraction, it was found that the lower stage intercalation compounds were formed with increase of Li-contents. The mixed stages in these compounds were also observed. In the case of the $Li_{30;wt%}$-SGIC, the compounds in the stage 1 structure were formed predominantly, but the structure of only pure stage 1, due to the structural defect of synthetic graphite, was not observed. The enthalpy and entropy changes of the compounds could be obtained from the differential scanning calorimetric analysis results. From the results, it was found that exothermic and endothermic reactions of Li-SGICs are related to thermal stability of lithium between artificial graphite layers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.462-462
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• 2009

$CeO_2$는 고체 산화물 연료전지 (SOFC, soild oxide fuel cell)의 전해질 재료와 CMP(Chemical Mechanical Polishing) 슬러리 재료, 자동차의 3원 촉매, gas sensor, UV absorbent등 여러 분야에서 사용되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 위의 활용범위 외에 $CeO_2$의 구조적 안정성과 빠른 $Ce^{3+}/Ce^{4+}$의 전환 특성을 이용하여 lithium ion battery의 anode 재료로서 전기화학적 특성을 알아보고자 실험을 실시하였다. $CeO_2$ 합성에 사용되는 전구체인 cerium carbonate의 형상 및 크기, 비표면적과 같은 물리화학적 특성이 $CeO_2$ 분말의 특성에 직접적인 영향을 주기 때문에 전구체의 합성 단계에서 입자의 특성을 조절하였다. 전구체 합성의 출발원료로 cerium nitrate hexahydrate 와 ammonium carbonate를 사용하였고 반응온도 및 농도 등을 변화시켜 입자의 형상 및 결정상을 fiber형태의 orthorombic $Ce_2O(CO_3)_2{\cdot}H_2O$와 구형의 hexagonal $CeCO_3OH$의 세리아 전구체를 합성하였다. 이를 $300^{\circ}C$에서 30분 동안 하소하여 전구체의 입자형상을 유지하는 cubic $CeO_2$를 합성하고 X-ray diffraction, FE-SEM, micropore physisorption analyzer 분석을 통하여 입자의 결정상과 형상, 비표면적 등을 비교 분석하고 $Li/CeO_2$ couple의 충,방전 용량과 수명특성을 비교 분석하여 $CeO_2$의 전기화학적 특성을 알아보았다.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.56-62
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• 2005

Chemical analyses are generally used to assess contaminated soils and to monitor the efficiency of soil remediation. In this study, the ecotoxicological methods was suggested to evaluate soil pollution by using a battery of bioassay. Plant assay and earthworm assay were conducted to evaluate ecotoxicity o soils contaminated by heavy metals (cadmium and copper) and oil (BTEX compounds, toluene). Test plants were Zea may, Triticum aestivum, Cucumis sativus, and Sorghum bicolor. The presence of heavy metals decreased the seedling growth. Cucumis sativus and Sorghum bicolor seemed to be good indicator plants which are sensitive to heavy metal pollution as well as BTEX contamination. An earthworm bioassay was performed to predict the ecotoxicity in toluene-contaminated soils, based on a simple contact method. Perionyx excavatus was adopted as a test earthworm species, and the severity of response increased with increasing toluene concentration. The present study demonstrated that ecotoxicological methods could be a quantitative approach to evaluate contaminated soils.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.16 no.2 s.76
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• pp.32-39
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• 2007

The measurement of physicochemical properties of ASR incineration ash has been carried dot and the preparation of light-weight material has also been performed using ASR ash for recycling point of view as building or construction materials. For this aim, chemical composition, particle size distribution, and heavy metal leachability were examined for 2 bottom ashes and 4 fly ashes obtained from the domestic ASR incinerator. In the present work, attempt has been made to prepare the lightweight material using boiler ash as a raw material, which is prepared by forming the mixture of boiler ash, lightweisht filler and inorganic binder and followed by calcination at elevated temperature. As a result, the content of Cu in bottom ash was as high as about 3wt% so that the recovery of Cu from ash was required. The major compound of SDR #5 and Bag filter #6 was found to be $CaCl_2{\cdot}Ca(OH)_2{\cdot}H_2O\;and\;CaCl_2{\cdot}4H_2O$, respectively. It is thought that heavy metal teachability of lightweight material prepared with boiler ash was significantly decreased due to the encapsulation or stabilization of heavy metal compounds.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.258-265
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• 2016

Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized using ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The morphologies, crystal structures, chemical bonding states, and electrochemical properties of the nanoparticles are investigated. The FTO nanoparticles show uniform morphology and size distribution in the range of 6-10 nm. The FTO nanoparticles exhibit excellent electrochemical performance with high discharge specific capacity and good cycling stability ($620mAhg^{-1}$ capacity retention up to 50 cycles), as well as excellent high-rate performance ($250mAhg^{-1}$ at $700mAg^{-1}$) compared to that of commercial $SnO_2$. The improved electrochemical performance can be explained by two main effects. First, the excellent cycling stability with high discharge capacity is attributed to the nano-sized FTO particles, which are related to the increased electrochemical active area between the electrode and electrolyte. Second, the superb high-rate performance and the excellent cycling stability are ascribed to the increased electrical conductivity, which results from the introduction of fluorine doping in $SnO_2$. This noble electrode structure can provide powerful potential anode materials for high-performance lithiumion batteries.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.45-49
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• 2006

Electrochemical hydrogenation/dehydrogenation properties were studied for a single particle of a Mm-based(Mm : minh metal) hydrogen storage alloy($MmNi_{3.55}Co_{0.75}Mn_{0.4}Al_{0.3}$) for fuel cell and Ni-MH batteries. A carbon fiber microelectrode was manipulated to make electrical contact with an alloy particle, and the potential-step experiment was carried out to determine the apparent chemical diffusion coefficient of hydrogen atom($D_{app}$) in the alloy. Since the alloy particle we used here was a dense, conductive sphere, the spherical diffusion model was employed for data analysis. $D_{app}$ was found to vary the order between $10^{-9}\;and\;10^{-10}[cm^2/s]$ over the course of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation process. Compared with the conventional composite film electrodes, the single particle measurements using the microelectrode gave more detailed, true information about the hydrogen storage alloy.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2012

Carbon-supported manganese oxide composite were fabricated as an air cathode material for Li-air batteries by hydrothermal method. The composite materials of carbon and manganese oxide were investigated by the implementation of X-ray diffraction, FE-SEM and BET surface area measurer. The manganese oxide synthesized at $170^{\circ}C$ for 12 h has a rod like shape morphology with 40-50 nm long in size. A Lithium-air battery with coin type, of which electrodes are composed of cathode composite materials synthesized $170^{\circ}C$-12 h and lithium metal anode, reveals its first discharge capacity of 3,852 mAh/g and four discharge-charge cycles.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.447-453
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• 2017

In this study, $Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode material and LiPON solid electrolyte were manufactured into thin films, and the possibility of their use in thin-film batteries was researched. When the RTP treatment was performed after $Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode thin-film deposition on the SUS substrate by a sputtering method, a ${\beta}-Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode thin film was successfully manufactured. The LiPON solid electrolyte was prepared by a reactive sputtering method using a $Li_3PO_4$ target and $N_2$ gas, and a homogeneous and flat thin film was deposited on a $Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode thin film. In order to evaluate the electrochemical properties of the $Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode thin films, coin cells using only a liquid electrolyte were prepared and the charge/discharge test was conducted. As a result, the amorphous thin film of RTP treated at $600^{\circ}C$ showed the highest initial discharge capacity of about $60{\mu}Ah/cm^2$. In cases of coin cells using liquid/solid double electrolyte, the discharge capacities of the $Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode thin films were comparable to those without solid LiPON electrolyte. It was revealed that $Li_2MnSiO_4$ cathode thin films with LiPON solid electrolyte were applicable in thin film batteries.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.531-536
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• 2011

Al doped $LiMn_2O_4$ ($LiMn_2O_4:Al$) synthesized by several Al doping process and Solid State method. The Al contents in $Mn_{1-x}Al_xO_2$ for $LiMn_2O_4:Al$ were analyzed 1.7 wt% by EDS. The $LiMn_2O_4:Al$ confirmed cubic spinel structure and approximately 5 ${\mu}m$ particles regardless of three kinds of doping process by solid state method. In the result of electrochemical performances, initial discharge capacity had 115 mAh/g in case of $LiMn_2O_4$ and 111 mAh/g of $LiMn_2O_4:Al$ after 100th cycle at room temperature. But the capacity retention results showed that $LiMn_2O_4$ and $LiMn_2O_4:Al$ were 44% and 69% respectively in the 100th cycle at 60$^{\circ}C$. Therefore we are confirmed that $LiMn_2O_4:Al$ increased the capacity retention about 25% than $LiMn_2O_4$, thus the effect of Al dopping on $LiMn_2O_4$ capacity retention.