• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.243-248
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• 2017

Pd-doped $SnO_2$ thick film with a pure tetragonal phase was prepared on patterned Pt electrodes by an ink dropping method. Nanostructured $SnO_2$ powder with a diameter of 10 nm was obtained by a modified hydrazine method. Then the ink solution was fabricated by mixing water, glycerol, bicine and the Pd-doped $SnO_2$ powder. When the Pd doping concentration was increased, the grain size of the Pd-doped $SnO_2$ thick film became smaller. However, an agglomerated and extruded surface morphology was observed for the films with Pd addition over 4 wt%. The orthorhombic phase disappeared even at a low Pd doping concentration and a PdO peak was obtained for a high Pd doping concentration. The crack-free Pd-doped $SnO_2$ thick films were able to successfully fill the $30{\mu}m$ gap of the patterned Pt electrodes by the optimized ink dropping method. The prepared 3 wt% Pd-doped $SnO_2$ thick films showed monoxide gas responses ($R_{air}/R_{CO}$) of 4.0 and 35.6 for 100 and 5000 ppm, respectively.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.12 no.2 s.49
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• pp.117-121
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• 2005

Platinum catalysts for the DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) were impregnated on several carbon supports and their catalytic activities were evaluated with cyclic voltammograms of methanol electro-oxidation. To increase the activities of the Pt/C catalyst, carbon supports with high electric conductivity such as mesoporous carbon, carbon nanofiber, and carbon nanotube were employed. The Pt/e-CNF (etched carbon nanofiber) catalyst showed higher maximum current density of $70 mA cm^{-2}$ and lower on-set voltage of 0.54 V vs. NHE than the Pt/Vulcan XC-72 in methanol oxidation. Although the carbon named by CNT (carbon nanotube) series turned out to have larger BET surface area than the carbon named by CNF (carbon nanofiber) series, the Pt catalysts supported on the CNT series were less active than those on the CNF series due to their lower electric conductivity and lower availability of pores for Pt loading. Considering that the BET surface area and electric conductivity of the e-CNF were similar to those of the Vulcan XC-72, smaller Pt particle size of the Pt/e-CNF catalyst and stronger metal-support interaction were believed to be the main reason for its higher catalytic activity.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.456-463
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• 2010

This paper describes the results of the application of Cr-Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films for efficiency improvement through surface modification of spur gear parts in the hydraulic gear pump. Cr-DLC films were successfully deposited on SCM 415 substrates by a hybrid coating process using linear ion source (LIS) and magnetron sputtering method. The characteristics of the films were systematically investigated using FE-SEM, nano-indentation, sliding tester and AFM instrument. The microstructure of Cr-DLC films turned into the dense and fine grains with relatively preferred orientation. The thickness formed in our Cr buffer layer and DLC coating layer were obtained the 487 nm and $1.14\;{\mu}m$. The average friction coefficient of Cr-DLC films considerably decreased to 0.15 for 0.50 of uncoated SCM415 material. The hardness and surface roughness of Cr-DLC films were measured 20 GPa and 10.76 nm, respectively. And then, efficiency tests were performed on the hydraulic gear pump to investigate the efficiency performance of the Cr-DLC coated spur gear. The experimental results show that the volumetric and mechanical efficiency of hydraulic gear pump using the Cr-DLC spur gear were improved up to 2~5% and better efficiency improvement could be attributed to its excellent microstructure, higher hardness, and lower friction coefficient. This conclusion proves the feasibility in the efficiency improvement of hydraulic gear pump for industrial applications.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.395-404
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• 2019

Aluminum nitride (AlN) has excellent electrical insulation property, high thermal conductivity, and a low thermal expansion coefficient; therefore, it is widely used as a heat sink, heat-conductive filler, and heat dissipation substrate. However, it is well known that the AlN-based materials have disadvantages such as low sinterability and poor mechanical properties. In this study, the effects of addition of various amounts (1-6 wt.%) of sintering additives $Y_2O_3$ and $Sm_2O_3$ on the thermal and mechanical properties of AlN samples pressureless sintered at $1850^{\circ}C$ in an $N_2$ atmosphere for a holding time of 2 h are examined. All AlN samples exhibit relative densities of more than 97%. It showed that the higher thermal conductivity as the $Y_2O_3$ content increased than the $Sm_2O_3$ additive, whereas all AlN samples exhibited higher mechanical properties as $Sm_2O_3$ content increased. The formation of secondary phases by reaction of $Y_2O_3$, $Sm_2O_3$ with oxygen from AlN lattice influenced the thermal and mechanical properties of AlN samples due to the reaction of the oxygen contents in AlN lattice.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.77-91
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• 2013

High quality nanoparticles of neodymium barium niobium ($NdBa_2NbO_6$) perovskites have been synthesized using an auto ignition combustion technique for the first time. The nanoparticles thus obtained have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, thermo gravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. UV-Visible absorption and photoluminescence spectra of the samples are also recorded. The structural analysis shows that the nano powder is phase pure with the average particle size of 35 nm. The band gap determined for $NdBa_2NbO_6$ is 3.9 eV which corresponds to UV-radiation for optical inter band transition with a wavelength of 370nm. The nanopowder could be sintered to 96% of the theoretical density at $1325^{\circ}C$ for 2h. The ultrafine cuboidal nature of nanopowders with fewer degree of agglomeration improved the sinterability for compactness at relatively lower temperature and time. During the sintering process the wide band gap semiconducting behavior diminishes and the material turns to a high permittivity dielectric. The microstructure of the sintered surface was examined using scanning electron microscopy. The striking value of dielectric constant ${\varepsilon}_r=43$, loss factor tan ${\delta}=1.97{\times}10^{-4}$ and the observed band gap value make it suitable for many dielectric devices.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2019

Tungsten heavy alloys (W-Ni-Fe) play an important role in various industries because of their excellent mechanical properties, such as the excellent hardness of tungsten, low thermal expansion, corrosion resistance of nickel, and ductility of iron. In tungsten heavy alloys, tungsten nanoparticles allow the relatively low-temperature molding of high-melting-point tungsten and can improve densification. In this study, to improve the densification of tungsten heavy alloy, nanoparticles are manufactured by ultrasonic milling of metal oxide. The physical properties of the metal oxide and the solvent viscosity are selected as the main parameters. When the density is low and the Mohs hardness is high, the particle size distribution is relatively high. When the density is high and the Mohs hardness is low, the particle size distribution is relatively low. Additionally, the average particle size tends to decrease with increasing viscosity. Metal oxides prepared by ultrasonic milling in high-viscosity solvent show an average particle size of less than 300 nm based on the dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy analysis. The effects of the physical properties of the metal oxide and the solvent viscosity on the pulverization are analyzed experimentally.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.182-188
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• 2008

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs) have outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Thus, by placing nanotubes into appropriate matrix, it is postulated that the resulting composites will have enhanced properties. Cold spray can produce thick metal-based composite coatings with very high density, low oxygen content, and phase purity, which leads to excellent physical properties. In this study, we applied cold spray coating process for the consolidation of Cu/CNT composite powder. The precursor powder mixture, in which CNTs were filled into copper particles, was prepared to improve the distribution of the CNT in copper matrix. Pure copper coating was also conducted by cold spraying as a reference. Annealing heat treatment was applied to the coating to examine its effect on the properties of the composite coating. The hardness of Cu/CNT composite coating represented similar value to that of pure copper coating. It was importantly found that the electrical conductivity of the Cu/CNT composite coating significantly increased from 53% for the standard condition to almost 55% in the optimized condition, taking annealed ($500^{\circ}C/1hr$.) copper coating as a reference (100%). The thermal conductivity of Cu/CNT composite coating layer was higher than that of pure Cu coating. It was also found that the electrical and thermal conductivities of Cu/CNT composite could be improved through annealing heat treatment. The microstructural evolution of Cu/CNT coating was also investigated and related to the macroscopic properties.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.228-237
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• 2022

In this study, the effects of the immune stimulator Euglena gracilis (Euglena) in cyclophosphamide (CCP)-induced immunocompromised mice were assessed. The key component β-1,3-glucan (paramylon) constitutes 50% of E. gracilis. Mice were orally administered Euglena powder (250 and 500 mg/kg body weight (B.W.)) or β-glucan powder (250 mg/kg B.W.) for 19 days. In a preliminary immunology experiment, ICR mice were intraperitoneally injected with 80 mg of CCP/kg B.W. during the final 3 consecutive days. In the main experiment, BALB/c mice were treated with CCP for the final 5 days. To evaluate the enhancing effects of Euglena on the immune system, mouse B.W., the spleen index, natural killer (NK) cell activity and mRNA expression in splenocytes lungs and livers were determined. To detect cytokine and receptor expression, splenocytes were treated with 5 ㎍/ml concanavalin A or 1 ㎍/ml lipopolysaccharide. The B.W. and spleen index were significantly increased and NK cell activity was slightly enhanced in all the experimental groups compared to the CCP-only group. In splenocytes, the gene expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, and IL-12 receptor were increased in the E. gracilis and β-glucan groups compared to the CCP-only group, but there was no significant difference. Treatment with 500 mg of Euglena/kg B.W. significantly upregulated dectin-1 mRNA expression in the lung and liver compared to the CCP-only group. These results suggest that Euglena may enhance the immune system by strengthening innate immunity through immunosuppression.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.315-328
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• 2023

The main goal of the present study was to assess the effects of eggshell powder (ESP) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) on the mechanical properties of abaca fiber (AF)-reinforced natural composites. For this purpose, a limited number of indentation tests were first performed on the AF/polypropylene (PP) composites for different HNT and ESP loadings (0 wt.% ~ 6 wt.%), load amplitudes (150, 200, and 250 N), and two types of indenters (Vickers or conical). The Young's modulus, hardness and plasticity index of each specimen were calculated using the indentation test results and Oliver-Pharr method. The accuracy of the experimental results was confirmed by comparing the values of the Young's modulus obtained from the indentation test with the results of the conventional tensile test. Then, a feed-forward shallow artificial neural network (ANN) with high efficiency was trained based on the obtained experimental data. The trained ANN could properly predict the variations of the mentioned mechanical properties of AF/PP composites incorporated with different HNT and ESP loadings. Furthermore, the trained ANN demonstrated that HNTs increase the elastic modulus and hardness of the composite, while the incorporation of ESP reduces these properties. For instance, the Young's modulus of composites incorporated with 3 wt.% of ESP decreased by 30.7% compared with the pure composite, while increasing the weight fraction of ESP up to 6% decreased the Young's modulus by 34.8%. Moreover, the trained ANN indicated that HNTs have a more significant effect on reducing the plasticity index than ESP.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.236-243
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• 2009

Proton Engineering Frontier Project (PEFP) has supplied the metal ions to users by using an installed metal ion implanter of 120 keV. At present a feasibility study is being performed for a cobalt ion implantation. For a cobalt ion extraction we studied to sustain the high temperature($648^{\circ}C$) for metal ions vaporization from a cobalt chloride powder by using an alumina crucible in the ion source. The temperature condition of the crucible was satisfied with the plasma generation at the arc current of 120V and EHC power of 250W. The extracted beam current of $Co^+$ ions was dependent on the arc current in the plasma. The maximum beam current was $100{\mu}A$ at 0.18A of the arc current. The 3 peak currents of the extracted ions such as $Co^+$, $CoCl^+$ and $Cl^+$ were obtained by adjusting a mass analyzing magnet and the $Co^+$ ion beam peak current fraction as around 70% in the sum of the peak currents. The fluence of the implanted cobalt ions at the $10{\mu}A$ of the beam current and 90 minutes of the implantation time into an aluminum sample as measured around $1.74{\times}10^{17}#/cm^2$ by a quantitative analysis method of RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry).