• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2007

The issue of acid precipitation and related environmental problems in East Asia has been emerging. To evaluate the acidity and chemical characteristics of rainwater in Korea, its chemical properties during cultivation season from April to October in 2005 were investigated at Taean. Also, to estimate the contribution of ions on acidity, ion composition characteristics and neutralization effects by cations were determined. The electrical conductivity balance between measured and estimated values showed a high correlation. Rainwater was highly distributed in the range of pH $4.5{\sim}5.0$. The acidity of rainwater was relatively low during the month of June compared with other monitored periods. $Na^+$ was the main cation, followed by $H^+>Ca^{2+}>NH_4^+>K^+>Mg^{2+}$. Among these ions, $Na^+,\;NH_4^+,\;Ca^{2+}$ and $H^+$ comprised over 94% of the total cations. Rainwater anion composition was more than 80% with $SO_4^{2-}$ and $NO_3^-$. In rainwater samples, $NH_4^+$ and $Ca^{2+}$ contributed greatly to neutralizing the rain acidity. The sulfate content decreased until September, and sea salt derivatives were higher in May and October than during other monitored periods. Also, 78% of the soluble sulfate in rainwater was nss-$SO_4^{2-}$ (non-sea salt sulfate).

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.839-845
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• 2001

In order to vitrify the Ion-Exchange Resin(IER), Dry Active Waste(DAW), and borate concentrate generated from the commercial nuclear facilities, the glass formulation study based on the their compositions was performed. Two glasses named as RG-1 and DG-1 were formulated as the candidate glasses for the vitrification of hte IER and DAW, respectively. A glass named as MG-1 was also formulated as a candidate glass for the vitrification of the mixed wastes containing the IER, DAW, and borate concentrate. The process parameters, product qualities, and economics were evaluated for the candidate glasses and confirmed experimentally for the some properties. The glass viscosity and electrical conductivity as the process parameters were in the desired ranges. the product qualities such as glass density, chemical durability, phase stability, etc. were satisfactory. In case of vitrifying the wastes using our developed glass formulation study, the volume reduction factors for the IER, DAW and mixed wastes were evaluated as 21, 89 and 75, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.191-197
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• 2010

The objective of this research was to determine the influence of the physical and chemical properties of root substrates used during the production of 'Maehyang' strawberry propaguleson the growth of the mother plants and the rate of daughter plant formation. Plants were cultured in plastic bags containing six different formulations of root substrates composed of: a) 50% coir dust and 50% perlite (5:5 by volume, A), b) 60% coir dust and 40% perlite (6:4, B), c) 70% coir dust and 30% perlite (7:3, C), d) 70% coir dust and 30% coconut chip (7:3 D), e) 60% coir dust and 40% coconut chip (60:40, E), or f) 50% sphagnum peat and 50% vermiculite (50:50, F). All media formulations contained a moderate level of base fertilizers. Physical and chemical properties of each formulation were determined before plant establishment and after 120 days of stock plant culture and runner production. Total porosity (TP) and container capacity (CC) of all substrate formulations were higher than 85% and 55%, respectively, allowing a suitable range of air and water holding characteristics. Formulation F provided the highest TP and CC values among the all substrate modifications evaluated. Substrate formulations A, B, C and F had higher electrical conductivity (EC) and $NO_3{^-}$-N concentrations than formulations D and E, when determined before and after plant culture. Formulations A, B, C, and F, having higher EC readings, also performed better as root substrates thanthe formulations D and E in increasing fresh and dry weights of the runners as well as the production of daughter plants per plant. The 'Maehyang' strawberry plants grown in the formulation F had the highest tissue N content, followed by those grown in substrate B, A, C, or D for 120 days after transplanting. Formulation F also facilitated accumulation of higher tissue phosphorus (P) and copper (Cu) contents compared to other treatments. Results of this experiment suggest that the chemical properties, rather than physical properties, of root substrates had a major influence on the growth of mother plants and the occurrence of healthy daughter plants during the bag-culture phase of propagation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2014

Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are the state-of-the-art technology among electrochemical energy storage and conversion cells, and are still considered the most attractive class of battery in the future due to their high specific energy density, high efficiency, and long cycle life. Rapid development of power-hungry commercial electronics and large-scale energy storage applications (e.g. off-peak electrical energy storage), however, requires novel anode materials that have higher energy densities to replace conventional graphite electrodes. Germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) are thought to be ideal prospect candidates for next generation LIB anodes due to their extremely high theoretical energy capacities. For instance, Ge offers relatively lower volume change during cycling, better Li insertion/extraction kinetics, and higher electronic conductivity than Si. In this focused review, we briefly describe the basic concepts of LIBs and then look at the characteristics of ideal anode materials that can provide greatly improved electrochemical performance, including high capacity, better cycling behavior, and rate capability. We then discuss how, in the future, Ge anode materials (Ge and Ge oxides, Ge-carbon composites, and other Ge-based composites) could increase the capacity of today's Li batteries. In recent years, considerable efforts have been made to fulfill the requirements of excellent anode materials, especially using these materials at the nanoscale. This article shall serve as a handy reference, as well as starting point, for future research related to high capacity LIB anodes, especially based on semiconductor Ge and Si.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.151-155
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• 2007

The issue of acid precipitation and related environmental problems in East Asia have been emerging. To evaluate the acidity and chemical characteristics of rainwater in Korea, its chemical properties during crop cultivation season from April to October were investigated at Suwon, Korea. Also, to estimate the contribution of ions on its acidity, ion composition characteristics and neutralization effects by cation ions were determined. Ion balance and electrical conductivity balance between the measured and estimated values showed high correlation. Rainwater had distributed highly in the range of pH 4.5~5.6. The pH of rainwater was relatively high at June as compared with other monitoring periods. $Na^+$ was the main cation followed by $NH_4{^+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $H^+$ > $K^+$ > $Mg^{2+}$. Among these, $Na^+$, $NH_4{^+}$, $Ca^{2+}$ and $H^+$ covered over 93% of total cations. About 86% of anion in rainwater was composed of $SO{_4}^{2-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$. In rainwater samples, $NH_4{^+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$ contributed greatly to neutralization of the rain acidity. Also, 88% of soluble sulfate in rainwater was nss-$SO{_4}^{2-}$(non-sea salt sulfate).

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.861-867
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• 2019

$Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ is a promising next-generation anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to excellent cycle life, low irreversible capacity, and little volume expansion during charge-discharge process. However, it has poor charge capacity at high current density due to its low electrical conductivity. To improve this weakness, porous $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ was synthesized by sol-gel method with P123 as chelating agent. The physical characteristics of as-prepared sample was investigated by XRD, SEM, and BET analysis, and electrochemical properties were characterized by cycle performance test, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). $Li_4Ti_5O_{12}$ synthesized by 0.01mol ratio of P123/Ti showed most unified particle size, high specific surface area, and relatively high porosity. EIS analysis showed that depressed semicircle size was remarkably reduced, which suggested resistance value in electrode was decreased. Capacity in rate performance showed 178 mAh/g at 0.2C, 170 mAh/g at 0.5C, 110 mA/h at 5C, and 90 mAh/g at 10C. Capacity retention also showed 99% after rate performance.

• Asian Journal of Turfgrass Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.106-116
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• 2010

This research was conducted to determine the effect of interruption layer for capillary rise on the sand based growing media when growing Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) on soil reclamation and saline water irrigation. Growing media profile consists of three layers as top soil of 30 cm, 20 cm of the interruption layer for capillary rise and 10 cm of reclaimed paddy soil. Growing media profile was packed in 30 cm diameter column pots. The top soil was a mixture of sand dredged up from Lake Bhunam Tae Ahn, Korea and peat at the ratio of 95:5 by volume. Bottom part of column was covered with plastic net and the pots were soaked into 5 cm depth saline water reservoir with salinity $3-5\;dS\;m^{-1}$. Kentucky bluegrass was established by sod and irrigated using $2\;dS\;m^{-1}$ saline water ($5.7\;mm\;day^{-1}$) in 3 days interval. The results showed that the largest accumulation of salt in the spring with electrical conductivity in saturated extract (ECe) of $5.4\;dS\;m^{-1}$ and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) 34.0 in growing media without the interruption layer for capillary rise and ECe of $4.6\;dS\;m^{-1}$ and SAR 8.24 at growing media using gravel as the interruption layer for capillary rise material. The interruption layer for capillary rise of gravel and coarse sand reduced the accumulation of Na by 16% and 25%, ECe by 7% and 13% in the growing media. Visual quality of Kentucky bluegrass was higher in growing media with the interruption layer for capillary rise of gravel than no interruption layer by 8.3 compared to 7.9 in rates. The interruption layer for capillary rise of gravel and coarse sand enhanced the visual quality by 4.1 and 4.0%, root length by 50 and 38%, and root dry weight by 35 and 17% of Kentucky bluegrass, and reduced the accumulation of Na by 16% and 25%, ECe by 7% and 13% in the growing media.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2008

Plug seedlings of vinca (Catharanthus roseus L. 'Pacifica Punch') and salvia (Salvia splendens F. Sellow ex Roem & Schult 'Maestro') were transplanted into square plastic pots (145 mL volume) filled with a soilless growing medium. To determine the effect of application rate on the growing medium EC and growth of plants, 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 4.0 g per pot of a controlled release fertilizer (14-14-14 Osmocote, 14N-6.2P-11.6K) were mixed with the growing medium. Plants were subirrigated daily with tap water. In both vinca and salvia, growing medium EC increased as application rate was elevated. Growing medium EC was relatively constant over a whole crop period when the application rate was less than 1.5 g per pot, while it decreased throughout the experiment at higher application rates such as 2.0 to 4.0g per pot in both species. The greatest leaf area, plant height, and shoot dry weight of vinca were obtained when plants were fertilized with 2.0 to 4.0 g per pot of the fertilizer, resulting in a growing medium EC of $1.0{\sim}1.7dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ throughout the experiment. Leaf area, shoot dry weight, and chlorophyll content of salvia increased with elevated application rates. Leaf area, shoot dry weight, and chlorophyll content of salvia were the greatest when plants were fertilized with 4.0 g per pot, resulting in growing medium EC of $1.0{\sim}4.0dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$ throughout the experiment. Plant height of salvia was the greatest when plants were fertilized with 2.0 to 4.0g per pot. Concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S) in the shoots of vinca increased, while concentration of calcium (Ca) decreased with elevated application rates. Concentrations of boron (B) and manganese (Mn) in the shoots of vinca increased as the application rate decreased.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.426-438
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• 2023

Lithium-sulfur batteries, recently attracting attention as next-generation batteries, have high energy density but are limited in application due to sulfur's insulating properties, shuttle phenomenon, and volume expansion. This study used an economical and simple vacuum filtration method to prepare a freestanding electrode without a binder and collector. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are used to improve the electrical conductivity of sulfur, where CNT also acts as both collector and conductor. In addition, metal oxides (MO_x, M=Ni, Mg), which are easy to adsorb lithium polysulfide, are added to the CNT/S electrode to suppress the shuttle reaction in lithium-sulfur batteries, which is a result of suppressing the loss of active sulfur material due to the excellent adsorption of lithium polysulfide by metal oxides. The MO_x@CNT/S electrode exhibited higher capacity characteristics and cycle stability than the CNT/S electrode without metal oxides. Among the MO_x@CNT/S electrodes, the NiO@CNT/S electrode displayed a high discharge capacity of 780 mAh g^-1 at 1 C and an extreme capacity decrease to 134 mAh g^-1 after 200 cycles. Although the MgO@CNT/S electrode exhibited a low discharge rate of 544 mAh g^-1 in the initial cycle, it showed good cycle stability with 90% of capacity retention up to 200 cycles. Further, to achieve high capacity and cycle stability, the Ni_0.7Mg_0.3O@CNT/S electrode, mixed with Ni:Mg in the ratio of 0.7:0.3, manifested an initial discharge rate of 755 mAh g^-1 (1 C) and a capacity retention rate of more than 90% after 200 cycles. Therefore, applying binary metal oxides to CNT/S provides a freestanding electrode for developing economical and high-performance Li-S batteries, effectively improving lithium polysulfide's high capacity characteristics and dissolution.