• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.65-65
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• 2012

Copper zinc tin sulfide ($Cu_2ZnSnS_4$, CZTS) is a very promising material as a low cost absorber alternative to other chalcopyrite-type semiconductors based on Ga or In because of the abundant and economical elements. In addition, CZTS has a band-gap energy of 1.4~1.5eV and large absorption coefficient over ${\sim}10^4cm^{-1}$, which is similar to those of $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$(CIGS) regarded as one of the most successful absorber materials for high efficient solar cell. Most previous works on the fabrication of CZTS thin films were based on the vacuum deposition such as thermal evaporation and RF magnetron sputtering. Although the vacuum deposition has been widely adopted, it is quite expensive and complicated. In this regard, the solution processes such as sol-gel method, nanocrystal dispersion and hybrid slurry method have been developed for easy and cost-effective fabrication of CZTS film. Among these methods, the hybrid slurry method is favorable to make high crystalline and dense absorber layer. However, this method has the demerit using the toxic and explosive hydrazine solvent, which has severe limitation for common use. With these considerations, it is highly desirable to develop a robust, easily scalable and relatively safe solution-based process for the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of a high quality CZTS absorber layer with a thickness of 1.5~2.0 ${\mu}m$ and micrometer-scaled grains using two different non-vacuum approaches. The first solution-processing approach includes air-stable non-toxic solvent-based inks in which the commercially available precursor nanoparticles are dispersed in ethanol. Our readily achievable air-stable precursor ink, without the involvement of complex particle synthesis, high toxic solvents, or organic additives, facilitates a convenient method to fabricate a high quality CZTS absorber layer with uniform surface composition and across the film depth when annealed at $530^{\circ}C$. The conversion efficiency and fill factor for the non-toxic ink based solar cells are 5.14% and 52.8%, respectively. The other method is based on the nanocrystal dispersions that are a key ingredient in the deposition of thermally annealed absorber layers. We report a facile synthetic method to produce phase-pure CZTS nanocrystals capped with less toxic and more easily removable ligands. The resulting CZTS nanoparticle dispersion enables us to fabricate uniform, crack-free absorber layer onto Mo-coated soda-lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$, which exhibits a robust and reproducible photovoltaic response. Our simple and less-toxic approach for the fabrication of CZTS layer, reported here, will be the first step in realizing the low-cost solution-processed CZTS solar cell with high efficiency.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2005

This paper describes design, fabrication, and application of the silicon based temperature controllable micro reactor. In order to achieve fast temperature variation and low energy consumption, reaction chamber of the micro reactor was thermally isolated by etching the highly conductive silicon around the reaction chamber. Compared with the model not having thermally isolated structure, the thermally isolated micro reactor showed enhanced thermal performances such as fast temperature variation and low energy consumption. The performance enhancements of the micro reactor due to etched holes were verified by thermal experiment and numerical analysis. Regarding to 42 percents reduction of the thermal mass achieved by the etched holes, approximately 4 times faster thermal variation and 5 times smaller energy consumption were acquired. The total size of the fabricated micro reactor was $37{\times}30{\times}1mm^{3}$. Microchannel and reaction chamber were formed on the silicon substrate. The openings of channel and chamber were covered by the glass substrate. The Pt electrodes for heater and sensor are fabricated on the backside of silicon substrate below the reaction chamber. The dimension of channel cross section was $200{\times}100{\mu}m^{2}$. The volume of reaction chamber was $4{\mu}l$. The temperature of the micro reactor was controlled and measured simultaneously with NI DAQ PCI-MIO-16E-l board and LabVIEW program. Finally, the fabricated micro reactor and the temperature control system were applied to the thermal denaturation and the trypsin digestion of protein. BSA(bovine serum albumin) was chosen for the test sample. It was successfully shown that BSA was successfully denatured at $75^{\circ}C$ for 1 min and digested by trypsin at $37^{\circ}C$ for 10 min.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.25-32
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• 2001

Ethyl cyanoacrylate (ECA) is used as an instant adhesive, and it can be readily polymerized by moisture in air without any initiator and applied for industrial products and ohome use. However, pure ECA monomer is low-viscosity liquid at room temperature that flows into substrate surface. To thicken the instant adhesive, poly(methyl methacylate)(PMMA) is often added in it commercially. Another disadvantage of instant adhesive polymer is its brittleness In this study, functional polymers including PMMA for an additive of ECA were prepared to increase viscosity of the monomer and flexibility of the adhesive atthe same time The additives, P(MMA-VAc-EVE), were synthesized by radical copolymerization of MMA with VAc and EVE having low glass transition temperature (Tg). The additives were added to ECA to get functional instant adhesives. The chemical structures of the additives and ECA polymers were confirmed by $^1H$ NMR and FTIR, and their physical and mechanical properites were also evaluated. The Tg of the obtained additives decreased with increasing the content of VAc or VAc-EVE, indicating more improved flexibility. In addition, functional instant adhesive containing the additives showed higher bonding strength than that of the existing one.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.238-244
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• 2010

Currently, in vitro suspension tests using tubes are used as a authorized test method for sanitizers and disinfectants. However, the methods could not accurately assess the efficacy of sanitizers and disinfectant on the food-contacted surfaces in the field. This study evaluated the effectiveness of 5 kinds of representative sanitizers and disinfectants against E. coli and S. aureus to compare three quantitative surface testing methods that have been internationally standardized. As a result, the ASTM E2111-05 (ASTM(1)) test method obtained 5.18 $\pm$ 0.03 and 5.27 $\pm$ 0.04 log cfu/carrier reduction in dealing with E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, the ASTM E2197-02 (ASTM(2)) test method obtained 4.63 $\pm$ 0.04 and 3.97 $\pm$ 0.03 log cfu/carrier reduction and the CEN EN 13697 test method should 6.14 $\pm$ 0.05 and 5.31 $\pm$ 0.10 log cfu/carrier reduction in clean condition (CEN(1)) but 4.37 $\pm$ 0.02 and 4.06 $\pm$ 0.01 log cfu/carrier reduction in dirty condition (CEN(2)). Among them, CEN(1) showed the highest bactericidal effects, whereas ASTM(2) and CEN(2) revealed low performance (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the bactericidal effects of the ASTM(2) method and the CEN EN 13697 method adopting stainless steel were lower than the ASTM(1) method, which uses glass. The effectiveness assessment results among nationally accredited test methods were different each other. This implies that they could not fit for in the accurate evaluation of sanitization and disinfection on food-contact surfaces in practical food-processing fields. These results could be used as a basic data for establishment of an official surface test methods applicable in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 2008

In order to apply for transparent conductive oxide(TCO), we deposited ZnO thin films on the glass at room temperature by RF magnetron sputtering method. Deposition conditions for high transmittance and low resistivity were optimized in our previous studies. Under the deposition condition with the RF power of 200 W, target to substrate distance of 30 mm and working pressure of 5 mTorr, highly conductive($7.4{\times}10^{-3}{\Omega}cm$) and transparent(over 85%) ZnO films were prepared. Highly oriented ZnO film in the [002] direction were obtained with specifically designed ZnO targets. Systematic study on dependence of deposition parameters on electrical and optical properties of the as-grown ZnO films were mainly investigated in this work. And for application tests using these films as transparent conductive oxide anodes, wet chemical etching behaviors of ZnO films were also investigated using various chemicals. Wet-chemical etching behavior of ZnO films were investigated using various acid solutions. The concentrations of these different acid solutions were controlled to study the etching shapes and etching rate. ZnO films were anisotropically etched at various concentrations and wet etching led to crater-like surface structure. Also we firstly found that the etching rate and etching shapes of ZnO films strongly depended on the etchant concentrations (i.e. pH) and the etching rate is exponentially decreased with increasing pH values regardless of the acid etchants.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.1175-1181
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• 2015

A heat insulating material used in the industrial site normally derives its heat insulating performance by using a low thermal conductivity material such as glass fiber. In case of the metal insulation for nuclear power plant, in contrast, only TP 304 stainless steel foil having high thermal conductivity is the only acceptable material. So, it is required to approach in structural aspect to ensure the insulation performance. In this study, the design factors related to the metal insulation internal structure were determined considering the three modes of heat transfer, i.e., conduction, convection, and radiation. The analysis of heat flow was used to understand the ratio of the heat transfer from each factor to the overall heat transfer from all the factors. Based on this study, in order to minimize the convection phenomenon caused by the internal insulation, a multiple foil was inserted in the insulation. The increase in the conduction heat transfer rate was compared, and the insulation performance under the three modes of heat transfer was analyzed in order to determine the internal geometry.

• 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.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.141-152
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• 2023

Objective: We performed a meta-analysis of epidemiological results for the association between occupational exposure as a firefighter and cancer as part of the broader evidence synthesis work of the IARC Monographs program. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify cohort studies of firefighters followed for cancer incidence and mortality. Studies were evaluated for the influence of key biases on results. Random-effects meta-analysis models were used to estimate the association between ever-employment and duration of employment as a firefighter and risk of 12 selected cancers. The impact of bias was explored in sensitivity analyses. Results: Among the 16 included cancer incidence studies, the estimated meta-rate ratio, 95% confidence interval (CI), and heterogeneity statistic (I²) for ever-employment as a career firefighter compared mostly to general populations were 1.58 (1.14-2.20, 8%) for mesothelioma, 1.16 (1.08-1.26, 0%) for bladder cancer, 1.21 (1.12-1.32, 81%) for prostate cancer, 1.37 (1.03-1.82, 56%) for testicular cancer, 1.19 (1.07-1.32, 37%) for colon cancer, 1.36 (1.15-1.62, 83%) for melanoma, 1.12 (1.01-1.25, 0%) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 1.28 (1.02-1.61, 40%) for thyroid cancer, and 1.09 (0.92-1.29, 55%) for kidney cancer. Ever-employment as a firefighter was not positively associated with lung, nervous system, or stomach cancer. Results for mesothelioma and bladder cancer exhibited low heterogeneity and were largely robust across sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: There is epidemiological evidence to support a causal relationship between occupational exposure as a firefighter and certain cancers. Challenges persist in the body of evidence related to the quality of exposure assessment, confounding, and medical surveillance bias.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.27.1-27.12
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• 2023

Background: Environmental exposure is characterized by low concentration, chronic, and complex exposure. Traditional epidemiological studies show limitations in reflecting these characteristics since they usually focus on a single or very limited number of exposure factors at a time. In this study, we adopted the methodology of environment-wide association study (EWAS) to figure out the association of human liver function with various environmentally hazardous substances. Methods: We analyzed 2,961 participants from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey Cycle 4 (2018-2020). Using generalized linear model (GLM) analysis, we analyzed the association of 72 variables with 3 liver function indices (aspartate aminotransferase [AST], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], and gamma glutamyl transferase [GGT]). Finally, we visualized our results with Manhattan plot. Results: In GLM analysis, perfluorooctanesulfonate were positively associated with ALT (odds ratio [OR]: 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39-3.46; p_adjusted = 0.0147) and perfluorodecanoic acid showed positive association with GGT (OR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.36-5.5; p_adjusted = 0.0256). Plasma mercury showed positive association with GGT (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.14-1.84; p_adjusted = 0.0315). Using a plastic container while keeping food in the refrigerator was associated with elevated GGT compared to using a glass container (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.16-1.95; p_adjusted = 0.0153). 2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl phthalate, showed a negative trend with all 3 indices, with AST (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.39-0.73; p_adjusted = 0.00357), ALT (OR: 0.5; 95% CI: 0.34-0.75; p_adjusted = 0.036), GGT (OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.4-0.76; p_adjusted = 0.00697). Bisphenol S and frequent use of sunblock cream showed negative association with ALT (OR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.66-0.89), and GGT (OR: 0.25; 95% CI: 0.11-0.55), respectively. Conclusions: We conducted an exploratory study on environmental exposure and human liver function. By using EWAS methodology, we identified 7 factors that could have potential association with liver function.