• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.23-28
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• 2011

Purpose: To investigate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on chronic low back pain in elderly patients with impaired functioning in daily life. Methods: 35 subjects with chronic low back pain were randomly allocated into two groups, HBOT group and Placebo group. We applied TENS and mechanical massage to the lower back in both groups. Then 35% oxygen at 1.4 ATA was given to the HBOT group and atmospheric oxygen at 1 ATA to the placebo group. Results: Comparing the HBOT group with the placebo group after performing interventions six times in 2 weeks, a statistically significant difference in the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores was observed between the two groups. There was a statistically significant difference in VAS and ODI scores (56% and 34.97% respectively) between the HBOT group and the placebo group. A statistically significant difference was ascertained in the degree of variables VAS and ODI in the HBOT group. Conclusion: Application of HBOT in chronic low back pain could be beneficial for reducing pain and could help in functional recovery.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.164-170
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• 2021

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) have emerged as large-scale energy storage systems (ESS) due to their advantages such as low cross-contamination, long life, and flexible design. However, Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the negative half-cell causes a harmful influence on the performance of the VRFB by consuming current. Moreover, HER hinders V²⁺/V³⁺ redox reaction between electrode and electrolyte by forming a bubble. To address the HER problem, carbon nanotube/graphite felt electrode (CNT/GF) with oxygen functional groups was synthesized through the hydrothermal method in the H₂SO₄ + HNO₃ (3:1) mixed acid solution. These oxygen functional groups on the CNT/GF succeed in suppressing the HER and improving charge transfer for V²⁺/V³⁺ redox reaction. As a result, the oxygen functional group applied electrode exhibited a low overpotential of 0.395 V for V²⁺/V³⁺ redox reaction. Hence, this work could offer a new strategy to design and synthesize effective electrodes for HER suppression and improving the energy density of VRFB.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.358-373
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• 2024

Oxygen evolution reaction is a critical bottleneck for the development of efficient electrochemical hydrogen production because of its sluggish reaction. Among various catalysts, transition metal-based layered double hydroxide has drawn significant attention due to their excellent catalytic properties and cost-effectiveness. This paper begins with basic crystal structures, and then conventional adsorbate evolution mechanism of layered double hydroxide. Strategies for enhancing catalytic properties based on adsorbate evolution mechanism and lattice oxygen mechanism that could surpass theoretical limit of adsorbate evolution mechanism are discussed. This paper ends with a brief discussion on the challenges and future directions of layered double hydroxide-based oxygen evolution reaction catalysts.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.719-725
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• 2019

In this study, activated carbon fibers were treated with oxygen plasma to investigate gas sensing properties of the dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), which is a simulant gas of the chemical warfare agent, according to oxygen functional group contents. As the flow rate of oxygen plasma treatment increased, oxygen groups were introduced to the surface of activated carbon fibers from 6.90 up to 36.6%, increasing the -OH group which influences the DMMP gas sensing properties. However, as the flow rate of oxygen plasma increases, the specific surface area tends to decrease because etching on the surface of activated carbon fibers occurs due to active species generated during the oxygen plasma treatment. The resistance change rate of the DMMP gas sensor increased from 4.2 up to 25.1% as the oxygen plasma treatment flow rate increased. This is attributed to the hydrogen bonding between DMMP gas and introduced hydroxyl functional group on activated carbon fibers by the oxygen plasma treatment. Therefore, the oxygen plasma is considered to be one of the important surface treatment methods for detecting chemical warfare agents at room temperature.

• Carbon letters
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.112-115
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• 2011

The scope of this work investigates the relationship between the amount of oxygen-functional groups and hydrogen adsorption capacity with different concentrations of phosphoric acid. The amount of oxygen-functional groups of activated carbons (ACs) is characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effects of chemical treatments on the pore structures of ACs are investigated by $N_2$/77 K adsorption isotherms. The hydrogen adsorption capacity is measured by $H_2$ isothermal adsorption at 298 K and 100 bar. In the results, the specific surface area and pore volume slightly decreased with the chemical treatments due to the pore collapsing behaviors, but the hydrogen storage capacity was increased by the oxygen-functional group characteristics of AC surfaces, resulting from enhanced electron acceptor-donor interaction at interfaces.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2023

In this study, a device was fabricated to check the possibility of a memory device by controlling the oxygen functional groups in graphene oxide formed with a 45-second exposure time. We discovered that graphene oxide can be formed using the ultraviolet (UV) light treatment method with different exposure times. Moreover, Raman spectroscopy measurement revealed that the oxygen functional groups can be moved by controlling the voltage. We further studied the change in the local graphene oxide region, which was found to be related to the modulation of the electrical properties of the device. Therefore, the fabricated graphene oxide device can be used as a wettability switching membrane and graphene-based ion transport device.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2022

The effect of introducing oxygen functional groups by oxygen plasma treatment of activated carbon on adsorption properties of cesium ions was investigated. During the oxygen plasma treatment, the frequency, power, and oxygen gas flow rates were fixed at 100 kHz, 80 W, and 60 sccm, respectively, while the reaction time was varied. Under the experimental conditions, the amount of cesium ion adsorption increased as the content of oxygen groups on C-O-C and O=C-O bonds increased when the reaction time with oxygen gas was 10 minutes. However, when the reaction time increased to 15 minutes, the oxygen functional group content decreased resulting in the decrease of the adsorbed cesium ion amount. On the other hand, unlike the oxygen content of the surface-treated activated carbon, the specific surface area and pore properties were hardly affected by the oxygen plasma reaction time. As a result, the oxygen plasma-treated activated carbon improved the cesium ion removal rate by up to 97.3% compared to that of the untreated activated carbon. This is considered to be due to the content of oxygen groups on C-O-C and O=C-O bonds introduced on the surface of the activated carbon through oxygen plasma treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.61-61
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• 2010

In the present work, we present the optimized the hybrid structures of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and metal nanocomposites including Cu, Al, Co and Ni using the first principle calculations based on the density functional theory. Introduction of CNTs into a metal matrix has been considered to improve the mechanical properties of the metal matrix. However, the binding energy between metals and pristine CNTs wall is known to be so small that the interfacial slip between CNTs and the matrix occurs at a relatively low external stress. The application of defective or functionalized CNTs has thus attracted great attention to enhance the interfacial strength of CNT/metal nanocomposites. Herein, we design the various hybrid structures of the single wall CNT/metal complexes and characterize the interaction between single wall CNTs and various metals such as Cu, Al, Co or Ni. First, differences in the binding energies or electronic structures of the CNT/metal complexes with the topological defects, such as the Stone-Wales and vacancy, are compared. Second, the characteristics of functionalized CNTs with various surface functional groups, such as -O, -COOH, -OH interacting with metals are investigated.We found that the binding energy can be enhanced by the surface functional group including oxygen since the oxygen atom can mediate and reinforce the interaction between carbon and metal. The binding energy is also greatly increased when it is absorbed on the defects of CNTs. These results strongly support the recent experimental work which suggested the oxygen on the interface playing an important role in the excellent mechanical properties of the CNT-Cu composite[1].

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.273-278
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• 2020

This research is conducted to analyze the compatibility of used monomers and produce the high functional hydrogel ophthalmic polymer containing silane and nanoparticles. VTMS (vinyltrimethoxysilane), TAVS [Triacetoxy(vinyl)silane] and cobalt oxide nanoparticles are used as additives for the basic combination of SilM (silicone monomer), MMA (methyl methacrylate) and MA (methyl acrylate). Also, the materials are copolymerized with EGDMA (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) as cross-linking agent, AIBN (thermal polymerization initiator) as the initiator. It is judged that the lenses of all combinations are optically excellent and thus have good compatibility. Measurement of the optical and physical characteristics of the manufactured hydrophilic ophthalmic polymer are different in each case. Especially for TAVS, the addition of cobalt oxide nanoparticles increases the oxygen permeability. These materials are considered to create synergy, so they can be used in functional hydrogel ophthalmic lenses.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.19 no.1 s.92
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• pp.45-52
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• 2007

Polyacrylonitrile(PAN) fiber was treated with low-temperature plasmas of argon and oxygen for surface modification, and its surface chemical structure and morphology were examined by a field emission scanning electron microscope(FESEM) and a Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy(IMS). The argon-plasma treatment caused the only mechanical effect by sputtering of ion bombardment, whereas the oxygen plasma brought about a chemical effect on the PAN fiber surface. The experimental evidences strongly suggested that cyclization of nitrile group and crosslinking were likely to occur in the oxygen-plasma treatment. On the other hand, with the argon-plasma treatment, numerous my pits resulted in ranging from several tens to hundreds nanometers in radius. The plasma sensitivity of functional groups such as C-H, $C{\equiv}N$, and O-C=O groups in the PAN fiber was dependent on their chemical nature of bonding in the oxygen-plasma, in which the ester group was the most sensitive to the plasma. Vacuum-ultraviolet(VUV) radiation emitted during plasma treatment played no substantial role to alter the surface morphology.