• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.226-236
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• 2020

Antibiotic resistance by pathogenic bacteria and fungi is one of the most serious global public health problems in the 21^st century, directly affecting human health and lifestyle. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus with strong resistance to the common antibiotics have been isolated from Intensive Care Unit patients at Zagazig Hospital. Thus, in this study we assessed the biocidal activity of nanoparticles of silver, copper and zinc synthesized by Fusarium solani KJ 623702 against these multidrug resistant-bacteria. The synthesized Metal Nano-particles (MNPs) were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Zeta potential. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) result showed the presence of different functional groups such as carboxyl, amino and thiol, ester and peptide bonds in addition to glycosidic bonds that might stabilize the dispersity of MNPs from aggregation. The antimicrobial potential of MNPs by F. solani against the multidrug-resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in addition to the mycotoxigenic Aspergillus awamori, A. fumigatus and F. oxysporum was investigated, based on the visual growth by diameter of inhibition zone. Among the synthesized MNPs, the spherical AgNPs (13.70 nm) displayed significant effect against P. aeruginosa (Zone of Inhibition 22.4 mm and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration 21.33 ㎍/ml), while ZINC oxide Nano-Particles were the most effective against F. oxysporum (ZOI, 18.5 mm and MIC 24.7 ㎍/ml). Transmission Electron Microscope micrographs of AgNP-treated P. aeruginosa showed cracks and pits in the cell wall, with internalization of NPs. Production of pyocyanin pigment was significantly inhibited by AgNPs in a concentration-dependent manner, and at 5-20 ㎍ of AgNPs/ml, the pigment production was reduced by about 15-100%, respectively.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2018

Soil washing is one of the most frequently used remediation technologies for heavy metal-contaminated soils. Inorganic and organic acids and chelating agents that can enhance the removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils have been employed as soil washing agents. However, the toxicity, low removal efficiency and high cost of these chemicals limit their use. Given that humic substance (HS) can effectively chelate heavy metals, the development of an eco-friendly, performance-efficient and cost-effective soil washing agent using a nano-scale chelator composed of HS was examined in this study. Copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) were selected as target heavy metals. In soil washing experiments, HS concentration, pH, soil:washing solution ratio and extraction time were evaluated with regard to washing efficiency and the chelation effect. The highest removal rates by soil washing (69% for Cu and 56% for Pb) were achieved at an HS concentration of 1,000 mg/L and soil:washing solution ratio of 1:25. Washing with HS was found to be effective when the pH value was higher than 8, which can be attributed to the increased chelation effect between HS and heavy metals at the high pH range. In contrast, the washing efficiency decreased markedly in the low pH range due to HS precipitation. The chelation capacities for Cu and Pb in the aqueous phase were determined to be 0.547mmol-Cu/g-HS and 0.192mmol-Pb/g-HS, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.73-73
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• 2011

We will report a few methods to improve the efficiency and stability in small molecule based organic solar cells, including the formation of bulk heterojunctions (BHJs) through alternative thermal deposition (ATD), the use of a micro-cavity structure and interface modifications. By ATD which is a simple modification of conventional thermal evaporation, the thicknesses of alternative donor and acceptor layers were precisely controlled down to 0.1 nm, which is critical to form BHJs. The formation of a BHJ in copper(II) phthalocyanine (CuPc) and fullerene (C60) systems was confirmed by AFM, GISAXS and absorption measurements. From analysis of the data, we found that the CuPc|C60 films fabricated by ATD were composed of the nanometer sized disk shaped CuPc nano grains and aggregated C60, which explains the phase separation of CuPc and C60. On the other hand, the co-deposited CuPc:C60 films did not show the existence of separated CuPc nano grains in the CuPc:C60 matrix. The OPV cells fabricated using the ATD method showed significantly enhanced power conversion efficiency compared to the co-deposited OPV cells under a same composition [1]. We will also present by numerical simulation that adoption of microcavity structure in the planar heterojunction can improve the short circuit current in single and tandem OSCs [2]. Interface modifications also allowed us to achieve high efficiency and high stability OSCs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.144-144
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• 2013

Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasmas have recently garnered much attention due to their unique physical and chemical properties that are sometimes significantly different from those of low pressure plasmas. It can offer many possible application areas including nano and bio/medical areas. Many different types of plasma sources have been developed for specific needs, which can be one of the important merits of the atmospheric pressure plasmas since characteristics of the produced plasma depend significantly on operating parameters such as driving frequency, supply gas type, driving voltage waveform, gas flow rate, gas composition, geometrical factor etc. Among many source configurations, parallel plate type geometry is one of the simplest configurations so that it can offer many insights for understanding basic underlying physics. Traditionally, the parallel plate type set up has been studied actively for understanding low pressure plasma physics along with extensive employment in industries for the same reason. By considering that understanding basic physics, in conjunction with plasma-surface interactions especially for nano & bio materials, should be pursued in parallel with applications, we investigated atmospheric pressure discharge characteristics in a parallel plate type capacitive discharge source with two parallel copper electrodes of 60 mm in diameter and several millimeters in gap distance. In this presentation, some plasma characteristics by varying many operating variables such as inter-electrode distance, gas pressure, gas composition, driving frequency etc will be discussed. The results may be utilized for plasma control for widening application flexibility.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.97-100
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• 2004

Tetragonal $K_2NiF_4$-type $La_{2-2x}Sr_{2x}Cu_{1-x}Fe_xO_{4-y}$ solid-solution have been synthesized by citrate based sol-gel method. The valence state of iron was determined by Mossbauer spectroscopy and subsequent iodometric titration clearly showed that the copper ions in this solid-solution are in the mixed valence state Cu(II/III). When x ${\geq}$ 0.3, Fe(III) is competing with the mixture of Cu(II) and Cu(III) and $La_{2-2x}Sr_{2x}Cu_{1-x}Fe_xO_{4-y}$ exhibits a metallic character. No evidence for Cu(II)-O-Fe(IV) ${\leftrightarrow}$ Cu(III)-O-Fe(III) valence degeneracy was observed. In contrast, a small amount of Fe(IV) is observed with increasing x (x = 0.4 and 0.5), revealing a semiconducting behavior. These results suggest that the electronic interaction of Cu(III)-O-Fe(III) contributes greatly to the metallic character, while the electronic interaction of Cu(II)-O-Fe(IV) deteriorates the metallic character of $La_{2-2x}Sr_{2x}Cu_{1-x}Fe_xO_{4-y}$.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.24-27
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• 2014

In this study, the effects of Mn-doping and the electrode materials on the memory characteristics of $ZnO_xS_{1-x}$ resistive random access memory (ReRAM) devices on plastic are investigated. Compared with the undoped Al/$ZnO_xS_{1-x}$/Au and Al/$ZnO_xS_{1-x}$/Cu devices, the Mn-doped ones show a relatively higher ratio of the high resistance state (HRS) to low resistance state (LRS), and narrower resistance distributions in both states. For the $ZnO_xS_{1-x}$ devices with bottom electrodes of Cu, more stable conducting filament paths are formed near these electrodes, due to the relatively higher affinity of copper to sulfur, compared with the devices with bottom electrodes of Au, so that the distributions of the set and reset voltages get narrower. For the Al/$ZnO_xS_{1-x}$/Cu device, the ratio of the HRS to LRS is above $10^6$, and the memory characteristics are maintained for $10^4$ sec, which values are comparable to those of ReRAM devices on Si or glass substrates.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.145-152
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• 2016

In this study, CuO was introduced on MWCNTs dispersed with Au nanoparticles to improve the glucose sensing capability of electrochemical biosensors. Nano-cluster shaped CuO was synthesized due to the presence of Au nanoparticle, which affects glucose sensing performance. The biosensor featuring CuO/Au@MWCNTs nanocomposite as an electrode material when 0.1 mole of CuO was synthesized showed the highest sensitivity of $504.1{\mu}A\;mM^{-1}cm^{-2}$, which is 4 times better than that of MWCNTs based biosensors. In addition, it shows a wider linear range from 0 to 10 mM and lower limit of detection (LOD) of 0.008 mM. These results demonstrate that CuO/Au@MWCNTs nanocomposite sensors are superior to other CuO based biosensors which are attributed that the nano-cluster shaped CuO is favorable for the electrochemical reaction with glucose molecules.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.104-114
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• 2023

Three dimensional (3D) porous structures consisting of Cu@CoO core-shell-type nano-dendrites were synthesized and tested as the anode materials in lithium secondary batteries. For this purpose, first, the 3D porous films comprising Cu@Co core-shell-type nano-dendrites with various thicknesses were fabricated through the electrochemical co-deposition of Cu and Co. Then the Co shells were selectively anodized to form Co hydroxides, which was finally dehydrated to get Cu@CoO nanodendrites. The resulting electrodes exhibited very high reversible specific capacity almost 1.4~2.4 times the theoretical capacity of commercial graphite, and excellent capacity retention (~90%@50^th cycle) as compared with those of the existing transition metal oxides. From the analysis of the cumulative irreversible capacity and morphology change during charge/discharge cycling, it proved that the excellent capacity retention was attributed to the unique structural feature of our core-shell structure where only the thin CoO shell participates in the lithium storage. In addition, our electrodes showed a superb rate performance (70.5%@10.8 C-rate), most likely due to the open porous structure of 3D films, large surface area thanks to the dendritic structure, and fast electron transport through Cu core network.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.48.2-48.2
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• 2009

구리 나노분말은 우수한 전기전도도와 상대적으로 저렴한 가격으로 주목을 받고 있어이를 이용한 다양한 기술들이 개발 중에 있다. 이들 중 잉크젯 프린팅용 구리 나노잉크는 기존의 포토리소그래피방식의 복잡한 공정단계와 이로 인한 단가 인상을 해결할 수 있는 공정으로 기대되는 잉크젯 프린팅에 구리를 사용할 수 있게 해주어 광범위한 응용이가능할 것으로 기대되어 많은 연구가 진행되고 있는 분야이다. 실제로 구리 나노분말의 이용하게 될 때에있어서 어려운 점 중 하나가 바로 빠른 표면 산화의 문제이다. 이를 막기 위해 본 연구에서는 건식 분말코팅 방법을 이용해 octanethiol 자기조립박막을 구리 표면에 부착한 분말을 사용하여 구리 나노분말용액을 제조하는 실험을 수행하였다. 건식 분말 코팅에 의해 산화 방지막이 부착된 분말을 표면 활성제인 Diethanolamine을 이용해 안정적으로 분산시켜 잉크로 사용이 가능한 용액을 제조해 보고, 분산된 용액의 안정도를 확인하기 위해 zetapotential analyzer를이용하여 분산도를 분석하였다. 또한 분산된 용액의 활용 실험을 위해 유리 기판에 바른 용액을 질소 분위기의튜브로에서 $250^{\circ}C$, $300^{\circ}C$, $400^{\circ}C$의 온도에서 30분간 소결을 진행한 후 probe-station을 이용하여 전기 전도도를 측정하였다. 이렇게제작된 샘플은 Scanning Electronic Microscope 를 이용하여 소결된 상태의 표면의 사진을 찍어 서로 비교해보았다. $300^{\circ}C$에서 소결한 시편부터 소결이 시작되어 $400^{\circ}C$에서 소결한 시편은 다량의 소결목이 형성되었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2016.11a
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• pp.148-148
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• 2016

디스플레이 시장이 rigid에서 flexible로 변화하기 시작하면서 유연 투명전극 소재에 대한 수요가 증가하고 있다. 투명전극으로 대표되는 Indium Tin Oxide(ITO)는 고투과 저저항의 장점을 가지지만 유연성이 떨어져 이를 대체 할 투명전극 소재로 Metal mesh, Ag nano-wire, CNT, Graphene, Conductive polymer 등에 대한 응용 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 Metal mesh 용 Cu thin film 형성을 위해 플라즈마 표면처리 기술로 플라스틱 기판과 Cu 박막 사이의 밀착력을 향상시키고자 공정 연구를 수행하였다. 고품질의 Cu thin film 제작을 위해 양산용 roll to roll 장비를 이용하였고, 선형이온소스를 적용하여 플라즈마 표면처리를 수행하였다. 이후 마그네트론 스퍼터링을 통해 Ni buffer layer 및 Cu 박막 증착 공정을 in-situ로 진행하였다. 이러한 공정을 통해 제작한 Cu thin film의 밀착력을 평가하기 위해 cross cut test(ASTM D3359)를 수행하였다. 그 결과 플라스틱 기판과 Cu 금속 박막 사이의 밀착력이 0B에서 5B까지 향상된 것을 확인하였고, 플라즈마 표면처리 공정을 통해서 저항 또한 감소되는 결과를 얻을 수 있었다. 본 연구를 통해 polyethylene terephthalate(PET)뿐만 아니라 polyimide(PI) 기판 상에서도 플라즈마 표면처리를 통해 금속 박막의 밀착력이 향상되는 결과를 확인하였으며, flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) 같은 유연 정보 소자 분야에 응용 가능할 것으로 기대된다.