• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.220-237
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• 2020

Modern electrochemical energy devices involve generation and reduction of fuel gases through electrochemical reactions of water splitting, alcohol oxidation, oxygen reduction, etc. Initially, these processes were executed in the presence of noble metal-based catalyst that showed low overpotential and high current density. However, its high cost, unavailability, corrosion and related toxicity limited its application. The search for alternative with high stability, durability, and efficiency led scientists towards carbon nanoparticles supported catalysts which has high surface area, good electrical conductivity, tunable morphology, low cost, ease of synthesis and stability. Carbon nanoparticles are classified into two groups based on morphology, one and zero dimensional particles. Carbon nanoparticles at zero dimension, denoted as carbon dots, are less used carbon support compared to other forms. However, recently carbon dots with improved electronic properties have become popular as catalyst as well as catalyst support. This review focused on the recent advances in electrocatalytic activities of carbon dots. The mechanisms of common electrocatalytic reactions and the role of the catalysts are also discussed. The review also proposed future developments and other research directions to overcome current limitations.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.737-744
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• 2013

We demonstrated size control of Au nanoparticles by heat treatment and their use as a catalyst for single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNTs) growth with narrow size distribution. We used uniformly sized Au nanoparticles from commercial Au colloid, and intentionally decreased their size through heat treatment at 800 oC under atmospheric Ar ambient. ST-cut quartz wafers were used as growth substrates to achieve parallel alignment of the SWNTs and to investigate the size relationship between Au nanoparticles and SWNTs. After the SWNTs were grown via chemical vapor deposition using methane gas, it was found that a high degree of horizontal alignment can be obtained when the particle density is low enough to produce individual SWNTs. The diameter of the Au nanoparticles gradually decreased from 3.8 to 2.9 nm, and the mean diameter of the SWNTs also changed from 1.6 to 1.2 nm for without and 60 min heat treatment, respectively. Raman results reconfirmed that the prolonged heat treatment of nanoparticles yields thinner tubes with narrower size distribution. This work demonstrated that heat treatment can be a straightforward and reliable method to control the size of catalytic nanoparticles and SWNT diameter.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.361-367
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• 2016

Pollutants removal and disinfection effect of secondary effluent from final settling tank of sewage treatment plant of W city were investigated in Loop Reactor using ordinary granular activated carbon(GAC) and GAC coated with silver nanoparticles. The results showed that the removal efficiency of $COD_{Mn}$, T-N and T-P using GAC with silver nanoparticles were higher than using the ordinary GAC. The removal efficiency of T-P using GAC with silver nanoparticles is 45.4% and that of T-P using ordinary GAC is 30.9% in the same case of the input amount of 20 g/L of GAC. The total califorms is reduced according to increasing input amount of GAC with silver nanoparticles and ordinary GAC. The disinfection efficiency of total coliforms in case of GAC with silver nanoparticles is much higher than that in case of ordinary GAC. For all experiments using the silver nanoparticles, the total coliforms is under 26 cfu/mL and this shows very excellent disinfection effect.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.08b
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• pp.1590-1592
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• 2007

In this study, we prepared CNF (carbon nanofiber) by the solvothermal method for FED (field emission display) applications. We controlled several conditions to synthesize effective CNF for field emission applications. Nano-sizesd Pt nanoparticles were coated on the CNF. In this study, we have applied Pt nanoparticles- coated CNF which can be produced in mass, to field emission application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.598-598
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• 2013

The short lifetime of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is the one of the main problems to be solved for commercializing. Especially, the weak adhesion between metal nanoparticles and supports deteriorate the performances of nanocatalysts, therefore, it is considered to be a major failure mechanism. Using force-distance spectroscopy of atomic force microscopy (AFM), we characterized the adhesion between Pt nanoparticles and carbon supports that is crucially related to the durability for membrane fuel cell (MFC) electrode. In our study, force distance curves measured with Pt coated AFM cantilever, mimicking the behavior of corresponding nanoparticles on carbon supports, leads to the adhesion between metal nanoparticles and carbon supports. We found that theadhesion between Pt and HNO3-treated carbon is enhanced by a factor of 4, compared to Pt and bare carbon support, that is consistent with the macroscopic durability test of PEMFC. The higher adhesion between Pt and HNO3-treated carbon can be explained in light of the stronger chemical interaction by C/O functional groups.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.186-190
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• 2015

$TiO_2$ nanoparticles can be used to improve the performance of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites. In this study, the effect of the size of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles on the mechanical properties of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites was investigated. The size of the $TiO_2$ nanoparticles was easily controlled using heat treatment. The size of the $TiO_2$ nanoparticles for this study were20nm, 100nm, and 200nm. Three types of carbon fibers with different diameters were also used in this study. The carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites with 20-nm $TiO_2$ powder showed the highest tensile strength compared to the other types of CFRP, regardless of the fiber maker or fiber diameter. The size of the $TiO_2$ powder and the diameter of the carbon fiber strongly affected the interfacial properties of all kinds of CFRP in this study.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.711-717
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• 2008

The use of support materials on the nanoparticle synthesis and applications has advantages in many aspects; resisting the aggregation and gelation of nanoparticles, providing more active sites by dispersing over the supports, and facilitating a filtering process. In order to elucidate the influence of the supports on the nitrate reduction reactivity, the supported iron nanoparticles were prepared by borohydride reduction of an aqueous iron salt in the presence of supports such as activated carbon, silica and polyethylene. The reactivity for nitrate reduction decreased in the order of unsupported Fe(0) > activated carbon(AC) supported Fe(0) > polyethylene(PE) supported Fe(0) ${\ge}$ silica supported Fe(0). Rate constants decrease with increasing initial nitrate concentration implying that the reaction is limited by the surface reaction kinetics.

• Carbon letters
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• v.27
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• pp.50-63
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• 2018

An imprinted potentiometric sensor was developed for direct and selective determination of gabapentin. Sensor is based on carbon paste electrode adapted by graphene oxide that is decorated with silver nanoparticles and mixed with molecularly imprinted polymers nanoparticles using gabapentin as a template molecule. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Under optimal experimental conditions, the studied sensor exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity with LOD of $4.8{\times}10^{-11}mol\;L^{-1}$. It provided a wide linearity range from $1{\times}10^{-10}$ to $1{\times}10^{-3}mol\;L^{-1}$ and high stability for more than 3 mo. The sensor was effectively used for the determination of gabapentin in pharmaceutical tablets and spiked plasma samples.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2014

Well-distributed ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles decorated on porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were synthesized using an electrospinning method and a reduction method for use in high-performance elctrochemical capacitors. The formation mechanisms including structural, morphological, and chemical bonding properties are demonstrated by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). To investigate the optimum amount of the Ru nanoparticles decorated on the porous CNFs, we controlled three different weight ratios (0 wt%, 20 wt%, and 40 wt%) of the Ru nanoparticles on the porous CNFs. For the case of 20 wt% Ru nanoparticles decorated on the porous CNFs, TEM results indicate that the Ru nanoparticles with ~2-4 nm size are uniformly distributed on the porous CNFs. In addition, 40 wt% Ru nanoparticles decorated on the porous CNFs exhibit agglomerated Ru nanoparticles, which causes low performance of electrodes in electrochemical capacitors. Thus, proper distribution of 20 wt% Ru nanoparticles decorated on the porous CNFs presents superior specific capacitance (~280.5 F/g at 10 mV/s) as compared to the 40 wt% Ru nanoparticles decorated on the porous CNFs and the only porous CNFs. This enhancement can be attributed to the synergistic effects of well-distributed Ru nanoparticles and porous CNF supports having high surface area.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.894-898
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• 2016

Solution plasma is a unique method which provides a direct discharge in solutions. It is one of the promising techniques for various applications including the synthesis of metallic/non-metallic nanomaterials, decomposition of organic compounds, and the removal of microorganism. In the context of nanomaterial syntheses, solution plasma has been utilized to produce carbon nanoparticles and metallic-carbon nanoparticle systems. The main purpose of this study was to synthesize nickel nanoparticles embedded in a matrix of carbon particles by solution plasma in one-step using waste vegetable oil as the carbon source. The experimental setup was done by simply connecting a bipolar pulsed power generator to nickel electrodes, which were submerged in the waste vegetable oil. Black powders of the nickel nanoparticles-embedded carbon (NiNPs/Carbon) particles were successfully obtained after discharging for 90 min. The morphology of the synthesized NiNPs/Carbon was investigated by a scanning electron microscope, which revealed a good dispersion of NiNPs in the carbon-particle matrix. The X-ray diffraction of NiNPs/Carbon clearly showed the co-existence of crystalline Ni nanostructures and amorphous carbon. The crystallite size of NiNPs (through the Ni (111) diffraction plane), as calculated by the Scherrer equation was found to be 64 nm. In addition, the catalytic activity of NiNPs/Carbon was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry in an acid solution. It was found that NiNPs/Carbon did not show a significant catalytic activity in the acid solution. Although this work might not be helpful in enhancing the activity of the fuel cell catalysts, it is expected to find application in other processes such as the CO conversion (by oxidation) and cyclization of organic compounds.