• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.251-255
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• 2021

a-Si is commonly considered as a primary candidate for the formation of passivation layer in heterojunction (HIT) solar cells. However, there are some problems when using this material such as significant losses due to recombination and parasitic absorption. To reduce these problems, a wide bandgap material is needed. A wide bandgap has a positive influence on effective transmittance, reduction of the parasitic absorption, and prevention of unnecessary epitaxial growth. In this paper, the adoption of a-SiO_x:H as the intrinsic layer was discussed. To increase lifetime and conductivity, oxygen concentration control is crucial because it is correlated with the thickness, bonding defect, interface density (D_it), and band offset. A thick oxygen-rich layer causes the lifetime and the implied open-circuit voltage to drop. Furthermore the thicker the layer gets, the more free hydrogen atoms are etched in thin films, which worsens the passivation quality and the efficiency of solar cells. Previous studies revealed that the lifetime and the implied voltage decreased when the a-SiOx thickness went beyond around 9 nm. In addition to this, oxygen acted as a defect in the intrinsic layer. The D_it increased up to an oxygen rate on the order of 8%. Beyond 8%, the D_it was constant. By controlling the oxygen concentration properly and achieving a thin layer, high-efficiency HIT solar cells can be fabricated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.603-616
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• 2007

Roy Huddle, having invented the coated particle in Harwell 1957, stated in the early 1970s that we know now everything about particles and coatings and should be going over to deal with other problems. This was on the occasion of the Dragon fuel performance information meeting London 1973: How wrong a genius be! It took until 1978 that really good particles were made in Germany, then during the Japanese HTTR production in the 1990s and finally the Chinese 2000-2001 campaign for HTR-10. Here, we present a review of history and present status. Today, good fuel is measured by different standards from the seventies: where $9*10^{-4}$ initial free heavy metal fraction was typical for early AVR carbide fuel and $3*10^{-4}$ initial free heavy metal fraction was acceptable for oxide fuel in THTR, we insist on values more than an order of magnitude below this value today. Half a percent of particle failure at the end-of-irradiation, another ancient standard, is not even acceptable today, even for the most severe accidents. While legislation and licensing has not changed, one of the reasons we insist on these improvements is the preference for passive systems rather than active controls of earlier times. After renewed HTGR interest, we are reporting about the start of new or reactivated coated particle work in several parts of the world, considering the aspects of designs/ traditional and new materials, manufacturing technologies/ quality control quality assurance, irradiation and accident performance, modeling and performance predictions, and fuel cycle aspects and spent fuel treatment. In very general terms, the coated particle should be strong, reliable, retentive, and affordable. These properties have to be quantified and will be eventually optimized for a specific application system. Results obtained so far indicate that the same particle can be used for steam cycle applications with $700-750^{\circ}C$ helium coolant gas exit, for gas turbine applications at $850-900^{\circ}C$ and for process heat/hydrogen generation applications with $950^{\circ}C$ outlet temperatures. There is a clear set of standards for modem high quality fuel in terms of low levels of heavy metal contamination, manufacture-induced particle defects during fuel body and fuel element making, irradiation/accident induced particle failures and limits on fission product release from intact particles. While gas-cooled reactor design is still open-ended with blocks for the prismatic and spherical fuel elements for the pebble-bed design, there is near worldwide agreement on high quality fuel: a $500{\mu}m$ diameter $UO_2$ kernel of 10% enrichment is surrounded by a $100{\mu}m$ thick sacrificial buffer layer to be followed by a dense inner pyrocarbon layer, a high quality silicon carbide layer of $35{\mu}m$ thickness and theoretical density and another outer pyrocarbon layer. Good performance has been demonstrated both under operational and under accident conditions, i.e. to 10% FIMA and maximum $1600^{\circ}C$ afterwards. And it is the wide-ranging demonstration experience that makes this particle superior. Recommendations are made for further work: 1. Generation of data for presently manufactured materials, e.g. SiC strength and strength distribution, PyC creep and shrinkage and many more material data sets. 2. Renewed start of irradiation and accident testing of modem coated particle fuel. 3. Analysis of existing and newly created data with a view to demonstrate satisfactory performance at burnups beyond 10% FIMA and complete fission product retention even in accidents that go beyond $1600^{\circ}C$ for a short period of time. This work should proceed at both national and international level.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.109-121
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• 2001

Water environment and freshwater algae were studied in the upstream of the Tamjin River Dam. Among the environmental factors, DO concentration in the Tamjin River ranged from 9.0 mg $O_2/l$ to 9.2 mg $O_2/l$, pH from 7.0 to 7.1 and conductivity from $98{\mu}S/cm$ to $100{\mu}S/cm$. Average concentration of $NH_4$ and $NO_3$ ranged from $40{\mu}g\;N/l$ to $56{\mu}g\;N/l$ and from $489{\mu}g\;N/l$ to $611{\mu}g\;N/l$, respectively. $NO_3$ was more plentiful above 9~15 fold than that of $NH_4$. Average concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus and soluble reactive silicon were $2{\mu}g\;P/l$ and 1.6 mg Si/l, respectively. Particulaly, Si nutrient increased by heavy rain events during summer season. The ratios of N/P and Si/P ranged from 248 to 261 and from 640 to 740, respectively. It is assumed that P would be limiting nutrient on the freshwater algal growth. Average content of planktonic chlorophyll-a ranged from $5{\mu}g/l$ to $13{\mu}g/l$. Mean contents of chlorophyll-a, phaeo-pigment and ash-free dry matter of periphyton were $50.3mg/m^2$, $11.9mg/m^2$, $11.5g/m^2$ in the main stream and $30.1mg/m^2$, $5.6mg/m^2$, $7.8g/m^2$ in the tributary. By comparison of the epilithon biomass, the main stream was higher with 1.5~2.1 fold than the tributary. The impotant algae were composed of diatom Achnanthes linearis, A. minutissima, Fragilaria crotonensis, Gomphonema gracile, Tabellaria flocculosa and blue-green algae Microcystis aeruginosa. In the relative abundance of the phytoplankton and epilithon, the serial dominance were diatom > green algae > blue-green algae, and diatoms were very abundant in comparison with other algal phylum.