• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.246-249
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• 2013

Nano-sized ${\beta}$-SiC nanoparticles were synthesized combined with a sol-gel process and a carbothermal process. TEOS and carbon black were used as starting materials for the silicon source and carbon source, respectively. $SiO_2$ nanoparticles were synthesized using a sol-gel technique (Stober process) combined with hydrolysis and condensation. The size of the particles could be controlled by manipulating the relative rates of the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) within the micro-emulsion. The average particle size and morphology of synthesized silicon dioxide was about 100nm and spherical, respectively. The average particles size and morphology of the used carbon black powders was about 20nm and spherical, respectively. The molar ratio of silicon dioxide and carbon black was fixed to 1:3 in the preparation of each combination. $SiO_2$ and carbon black powders were mixed in ethanol and ball-milled for 12 h. After mixing, the slurries were dried at $80^{\circ}C$ in an oven. The dried powder mixtures were placed in alumina crucibles and synthesized in a tube furnace at $1400{\sim}1500^{\circ}C$ for 4 h with a heating rate of $10^{\circ}C$/min under flowing Ar gas (160 cc/min) and furnace cooling down to room temperature. SiC nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, TEM, and SAED. The XRD results showed that high purity beta silicon carbide with excellent crystallinity was synthesized. TEM revealed that the powders are spherical shape nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 15 to 30 nm with a narrow distribution.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.49-52
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• 2012

For TEM study of biological samples or polymers that are contained in organic structure, it is often required that the sample is prepared by using ultramicrotome and stained with proper agents to increase the contrast of organic structure. In this study, we investigated an efficient TEM sample preparation method for ductile heterogeneity material by using ultramicrotomy. Cryo-ultramicrotomy is a suitable method that is capable of rendering sample hardness for various ductile materials. However, it has several factors to consider, such as experimental cost, working time and finding the optimal staining conditions. To satisfy these considerations, we prepared TEM sample by using ultramicrotome without cryofunction, and secured the sample hardness by applying the staining process prior to ultrathin sectioning. The cross-linked polyethylene structure in the sample was stained with the 2% $RuO_4$ solution in a sealed test tube for 24 hours at $4^{\circ}C$. After the sample staining, ultrathin sections of sample were prepared using ultramicrotome. As a result, it was revealed that the difficulties associated with staining of ultrathin sections prepared by low-temperature conditions were improved. In addition, appropriate staining depth of sample could be selected for sectioning process. The quality of TEM sample obtained by using this method was better than that of cryo-ultramicroscopy. Finally, it is expected that our method could be effectively applied in TEM sample preparation for a variety of nano-bio convergence materials.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.35-40
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• 2017

The rearside of concrete lining of tunnels constructed in cold region might experience on freezing due to the low temperature. This causes damage of concrete lining resulting in adverse affect on the durability as well as integrity of tunnel structure by causing damage to the concrete lining. In order to prevent the rearside of tunnel lining from freeing, the temperature change inside the concrete lining was measured by attaching a heating element to the tunnel lining surface and generating heat for a certain period of time. A special freezing chamber was developed to conduct the experiments considering in-situ environment. The carbone nanotube (CNT) was used as a heating element in this study. The temperature distribution of the concrete lining was measured by applying the heat to the heating element. The effect of the outside temperature and heating duration were analyzed.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2059-2066
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• 2018

This study explored the feasibility of utilizing an SWCNT-coated fabric sensor for the development of a wearable motion sensing device. The extent of variation in electric resistance of the sensor material was evaluated by varying the fiber composition of the SWCNT-coated base fabrics, attachment methods, number of layers, and sensor width and length. 32 sensors were fabricated by employing different combinations of these variables. Using a custom-built experimental jig, the amount of voltage change in a fabric sensor as a function of the length was measured as the fabric sensors underwent loading-unloading test with induced strains of 30 %, 40 %, and 50 % at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. First-step analysis revealed the following: characteristics of the strain-voltage curves of the fabric sensors confirmed that 14 out of 32 sensors were evaluated as more suitable for measuring human joint movement, as they yield stable resistance values under tension-release conditions; furthermore, significantly stable resistance values were observed at each level of strain. Secondly, we analyzed the averaged maximum, minimum, and standard deviations at various strain levels. From this analysis, it was determined that the two-layer sensor structure and welding attachment method contributed to the improvement of sensing accuracy.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.388-393
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• 2020

In this study, a PbS quantum dots (QDs)-based H₂ gas sensor with a Pd electrode was proposed. QDs have a size of several nanometers, and they can exhibit a high surface area when forming a thin film. In particular, the NH₂ present in the ligand of PbS QDs and H₂ gas are combined to form NH₃⁺, subsequently the electrical characteristics of the QDs change. In addition to the resistance change owing to the reaction between Pd and H₂ gas, the resistance change owing to the reaction between the NH₂ of PbS QDs and H₂ gas increases the current signal at the sensor output, which can produce a high output signal for the same concentration of H₂ gas. Using the XRD and absorbance properties, the synthesis and particle size of the synthesized PbS QDs were analyzed. Using PbS QDs, the sensitivity was significantly improved by 44%. In addition, the proposed H₂ gas sensor has high selectivity because it has low reactivity with heterogeneous gases such as C₂H₂, CO₂, and CH₄.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.3627-3632
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• 2015

We investigated mechanical, rheological and electrical properties of graphite/PP/LCP composites for a bipolar plate of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. The composites containing very low molecular weighted PP showed much higher electrical conductivity compared with other thermoplastics. This was attributed to the enhanced dispersion of graphite particles due to the low viscosity of the PP. The conductivity of the composites was increased in a great extent by incorporation of small amount of carbon nano tube (CNT). However, the acid treated CNT which contains oxygen atoms did not increase the conductivity of the composite. From this result, it is concluded that the CNT has higher affinity with non polar polymer. The composite with low molecular weighted PP provided good processability so that the composites can be processed by an injection molding while the mechanical strength is deficient compared to other polymers. In order to reinforce the low mechanical property, LCP/PP was used as a binder and the graphite/PP/LCP composite showed the higher conductivity and moderate mechanical strength maintaining suitable processability.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.416-424
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• 2018

Microstructure of oxide formed on Zr-Nb-Sn tube sample was intensively examined by scanning transmission electron microscopy after exposure to simulated primary water chemistry conditions of various concentrations of Zn (0 or 30 ppb) and dissolved hydrogen ($H_2$) (30 or 50 cc/kg) for various durations without applying desirable heat flux. Microstructural analysis indicated that there was no noticeable change in the microstructure of the oxide corresponding to water chemistry changes within the test duration of 100 days (pretransition stage) and no significant difference in the overall thickness of the oxide layer. Equiaxed grains with nano-size pores along the grain boundaries and microcracks were dominant near the water/oxide interface, regardless of water chemistry conditions. As the metal/oxide interface was approached, the number of pores tended to decrease. However, there was no significant effect of $H_2$ concentration between 30 cc/kg and 50 cc/kg on the corrosion of the oxide after free immersion in water at $360^{\circ}C$. The adsorption of Zn on the cladding surface was observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and detected as ZnO on the outer oxide surface. From the perspective of $OH^-$ ion diffusion and porosity formation, the absence of noticeable effects was discussed further.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.999-1005
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• 2011

The effects of strain-induced crystallization (SIC) on the mechanical properties of elastomeric composites as functions of extension ratio (${\lambda}$), multiwalled carbon nanotube (CNT) content, and carbon black (CB) content are investigated. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis shows that the degree of crystallinity increases with the increase in the CB and CNT content. As ${\lambda}$ increases, the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the composites increases, and the latent heat of crystallization (LHc) of the composites is maximum at ${\lambda}$=1.5. It is found that the mechanical properties have a linear relation with LHc, depending on the CNT content. According to the TGA (thermogravimetric analysis), the weight loss of the composite matrix is 94.3% and the weight of the composites decreases with the filler content. The ratio of tensile modulus ($E_{comp}/E_{matrix}$) is higher than that of tensile strength (${\sigma}_{comp}/{\sigma}_{matrix}$) because of the CNT orientation inside the elastomeric composites.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.330-338
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• 2021

An integral electrode-bipolar plate assembly, which is composed of electrode, conductive adhesive film (CAF) and bipolar plate, has been developed and evaluated for application with a vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) to decrease contact resistance between electrode and bipolar plate. The CAF, made of EVA (ethylene-vinyl-acetate) material with carbon black or CNT (Carbon Nano Tube), is applied between the electrode and the bipolar plate to enable an integral assembly by adhesion. In order to evaluate the integral assembly of VRB by adhesive film, the resistivity of integral assembly and the performance of single cell were investigated. Thus, it was verified that the integral assembly is applicable to redox flow battery. Through resistance and contact resistance of bare EVA and CAF films on bipolar plate were changed. Among the adhesive films, CAF film coated with carbon black showed the lowest value in through resistance, and CAF film coated with CNT showed the lowest value in contact resistance, respectively. The efficiency of VRB single cell was improved by applying CAF films coated with carbon black and CNT, resulting in the reduced overvoltage in charging process. Therefore, the energy efficiency of both CAF films, about 84%, were improved than that of blank cell, about 79.5 % under current density at 40 mA cm^-2. The energy efficiency of the two cells were similar, but carbon black coated CAF improved the coulomb efficiency and CNT coated CAF improved the voltage efficiency, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.527-536
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• 2022

The radiation shielding characteristic of neutron shielding material has been studied as the preliminary study in order to design cosmic-ray shielding material. Specially, Soft Magnetic Material, known to be effective in EMP and radiation shielding, has been investigated to check if the material would be applicable to cosmic-ray shielding. In this work, thermal neutron shielding experiment was conducted and the Monte Carlo N-Particle(MCNP) was applied to employ skymap.dat, which is cosmic-ray data embedded in MCNP. As a result, polyethylene, borated polyethylene, and carbon nano tube, containing carbon or hydrogen, have been found to be effective in reduction of neutron flux below 20 MeV (including thermal, epithermal, evaporation). In contrast, the materials composed of iron such as SS316 and Soft Magnetic Material show a good shielding performance in the cascade energy range (above 20 MeV). Since Soft Magnetic Material is consisting of 13% of boron, it can also decrease thermal neutron flux, so it is expected that it would show a significant reduction on the entire range of neutron energy if the Soft Magnetic Material is used with hydrogen and carbon, so called low Z material.