• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.155-163
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• 2019

Mixture electrodes of a graphite having a good cycle performance and a silicon monoxide (SiO) having a high capacity are fabricated and their cycle performances are evaluated as negative electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. The electrode prepared by mixing the natural graphite and carbon-coated SiO in a mass ratio of 9:1 shows a reversible capacity of $480mAh\;g^{-1}$, 33% higher than that of graphite. However, the capacity deteriorates continuously upon cycling due to the volume change of silicon monoxide. In this study, the factors that can improve the cycle performance have been discussed through the change in the configurations of the electrode and the electrolyte. The electrode using the carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) binder shows the best cycle performance compared to the conventional binders. The electrode sing the CMC and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) binder not only has almost the similar cycle characteristics with the electrode using the CMC binder but also has the better rate capability. When the fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) is used as an electrolyte additive, the cycle life is improved. However, the electrolyte with 5 wt% of FEC is appropriate because the rate capability decreases when the content of FEC is increased to 10 wt%. In addition, when the mass loading of the electrode is lowered, the cycle performance is greatly improved. Also, enhanced cycle performance is achieved using the roughened Cu current collector polished by abrasive paper.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2019

Solar energy is one of the most abundant renewable energy sources on Earth but there are restrictions on the use of solar thermal energy due to the time-discrepancy between the solar-rich season and heating demand. In Europe and Canada, a seasonal solar thermal energy storage (SSTES), which stores the abundant solar heat in the summer and uses the heat for the winter heating load, is used. Recently, SSTES has been introduced in Korea and empirical studies are actively underway. In this study, a $2,000m^2$ flat plate type solar collector and $20,000m^2$ of borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) were studied for a greenhouse in Hwaseong City, which has a heating load of 2,164 GJ/year. To predict the dynamic performance of the system over time, it was simulated using the TRNSYS 18 program, and the solar fraction of the system with the control conditions was investigated. As a result, the solar BTES system proposed in this study showed an average solar fraction of approximately 60% for 5 years when differential temperature control was applied to both collecting solar thermal energy and discharging BTES. The proposed system simplified the configuration and control method of the solar BTES system and secured its performance.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.255-261
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to obtain a large amount of saline groundwater around coastal aquaculture farms. Thus, we have proposed a method for evaluating the potential amount of saline groundwater resources through the combined analysis of geophysical methods. Refraction seismic survey and electrical resistivity survey were conducted in the vicinity of fish farm at Hadong, Gyeongnam Province. As the result, the velocity of layer in the range of 900 ~ 2,400 m/s was found to be saltwater aquifer with high water content. Geological drilling investigation and analysis of soil samples also showed that the soil at study area was the same as the texture of sandy loam layer in agricultural radial collector wells installed by KRC (Korea Rural Community Corporation). Futhermore, the study area turned out to be quite possible to develop saline groundwater from the coastal shallow aquifer. Therefore, parallel analysis of refraction seismic surveys and electrical resistivity surveys at coastal area are expected to be very useful for the detection of the aquifer composed of sand and gravel layers with high porosity in sandy sedimentary layers along the coastal area.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.382-392
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• 2018

Objective: Allergic diseases such as asthma due to fungal exposure in houses have increased, and proper management is urgent. Mold can grow in the air, floor, walls, and other areas according to environmental conditions, and there are many limitations to the conventional methodology for examining fungal exposure. For this reason, the degree of fungal contamination is being evaluated by ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index), a quantitative analysis method proposed by the EPA. In this study, we compared ERMI values between water-damaged dwellings and non-damaged ones to evaluate the effectiveness of Korean ERMI values. We also explored the association of ERMI values with the level of airborne mold and characteristics of dwellings. Methods: Floor dust was collected after installing a Dustream collector on the suction port of a vacuum cleaner. The collected samples were filtered to remove only 5 mg of dust, and DNA was extracted using the FastDNA SPIN KIT protocol. Results: The ERMI values were found to be 19.6 (-6.9-58.8) for flooded houses, 7.5 (-29.2-48.3) for leaks/condensation, and 0.8 (-29.2-37.9) for non-damaged dwellings. The airborne concentration of mold for flooded, leakage or condensed, and non-damaged houses were $684CFU/m^3$, $566CFU/m^3$, and $378CFU/m^3$, respectively. The correlation between ERMI values and the levels of airborne mold was low (R = 0.038), but a weakly significant association of the ERMI values with the concentration of particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) was observed as well(R=0.231,P<0.05). Conclusions: Our findings show that the reference value using ERMI can be used to distinguish water-damaged and non-damaged dwellings. It is believed that ERMI values could be a promising tool for assessing long-term fungal exposure in dwellings.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.714-723
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• 2020

This study was conducted to investigate the community stability and similarity of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Giran stream between August and September 2018, and compare results to those reported by Lee (2004). As relates to the total number of species in each taxon in 2018, 45 species were additionally discovered compared to the 2003 study; the number of EPT taxa increased by 14 species and OCH taxa increased by 18 species. The diversity and richness indexes increased while the dominance index tended to decrease. According to analysis of functional feeding groups, 11 more Gathering-collector species were found, making it the highest functional feeding group with 24 species. According to analysis of functional habitat groups, 15 more clinger species were found than in the past, making it the highest functional habitat group with 41 species. A community stability comparison showed that species belonging to 'Stability Group I' had the highest stability rate at 57.1% in 2003 and 61.5% in 2018. According to the biological water quality assessment, in 2018, the average water quality level at each survey site was 'Ia' and 'Very Good' in terms of environmental conditions. As a result of the similarity analysis between the survey points for the species that appeared, two large groups of similarities were classified (similarity group 1: 2003 sites, similarity group 2: 2018 sites).

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.24-32
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• 2021

Unburned carbon (UC) was successfully separated from fly ash by up to 85.8% in weight via froth flotation using soybean oil as a collector. An 18 wt% yield of microceramics (CM) could be achieved by employing a hydro cyclone separator located immediately after the flotation equipment. UC and CM were tested as alternatives to weight-adding material and polymer (especially polypropylene in this study) filler, respectively. Large particles of UC were broken down into smaller ones via ball milling to have an average particle diameter of 10.2 ㎛. When crushed UC was used as an alternative to clay as a rubber weight-adding material, a somewhat lower tensile strength and elongation rate than the allowed values were unfortunately obtained. In order to satisfy the standard limits, further treatment of UC is required to enhance surface energy for more intimate bonding with rubber. CM was observed in spherical forms with an average diameter of 5 ㎛. The surface of the CM particles was modified with phenol, polyol, stearic acid, and oleic acid so that the surface modified CM could be used as a polypropylene-filling agent. The flowability was good, but due to the lack of coupling forces with polypropylene, successful impact strength and flexural strength could not be obtained. However, when mixing the surface-modified CM with 1% silane by weight, a drastic increase in both the impact strength and flexural strength were obtained.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.184-192
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• 2022

Porous NiO synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis was used in the electrodes of lithium-sulfur batteries to inhibit the elution of lithium polysulfide. The electrode of the lithium-sulfur battery was manufactured as a freestanding flexible electrode using an economical and simple vacuum filtration method without a current collector and a binder. The porous NiO-added S/CNT/NiO electrode exhibited a high initial discharge capacity of 877 mA h g^-1 (0.2 C), which was 125 mA h g^-1 higher than that of S/CNT, and also showed excellent retention of 84% (S/CNT: 66%). This is the result of suppressing the dissolution of lithium polysulfide into the electrolyte by the strong chemical bond between NiO and lithium polysulfide during the charging and discharging process. In addition, for the flexibility test of the S/CNT/NiO electrode, the 1.6 × 4 cm² pouch cell was prepared and exhibited stable cycle characteristics of 620 mA h g^-1 in both the unfolded and folded state.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.374-383
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• 2021

In 2020, the diversity of benthic macroinvertebrate communities was investigated in the Sohan stream, an ecological and landscape conservation area, and the results were compared with the previous research conducted in 2011. In total, 42 species (two phyla, three classes, and seven orders) were found in the Sohan stream. Species richness and abundance sharply decreased at all sampling sites because of Typhoons Haishen and Maysak in 2020, which had a direct impact on the stream. In the functional feeding group, the ratio of collector-gatherers was the highest at all sampling sites. However, during the autumn season, the shredder ratio increased from 13.4% to 42.4% in the uppermost stream site. Compared with the diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates surveyed in 2011, a total of 53 species (two phyla, three classes, and eight orders) were found. The percentage of species richness and abundance of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera was more than 50% both in 2011 and 2020. Only the richness of Ephemeroptera was significantly different between them (2011: 2.9 and 2020: 6.7). In this study, the abrupt changes of species richness and abundance in benthic macroinvertebrate were not observed before and after the designation of an ecological and landscape conservation area. However, it is necessary to monitor benthic macroinvertebrates in order to confirm that biodiversity is continuously maintained long after the designation of the ecological and landscape conservation area.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.66 no.6
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• pp.451-458
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• 2022

Through the crystal alignment research based on the magnetic properties of LiNi_xMn_yCo_1-(x+y)O₂ such as magnetic susceptibility and related anisotropy, a crystal aligned LiNi_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2O₂ electrode is obtained, in which the (00l) plane is frequently oriented perpendicular to the surface of a current collector. The crystal aligned LiNi_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2O₂ electrode steadily exhibits low electrode polarization properties during the charge/discharge process in a lithium-ion battery, thus affording an improved capacity compared to a pristine LiNi_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2O₂ electrode. The aligned LiNi_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2O₂ electrode may have an appropriate structural nature for fast lithium-ion transport due to the oriented (00l) plane, and thus it contributes to enhancing the battery performance. This enhancement is analyzed in terms of various electrochemical theories and experiment results; thus, it is verified to occur because of the considerably fast lithium-ion transport in the aligned LiNi_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2O₂ electrode.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.507-520
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• 2022

The Sr isotope ratio, which is used as basic data for rock formation time, crustal and mantle evolution studies, is determined by mass spectrometer such as thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) or multi-detector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). In this technical report, we compared how incomplete chemical separation of elements affects the determination of Sr isotope ratios. For the experiment, commercial resin, NBS987(NIST SRM987) Sr isotope standard, and rock standard samples from the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ) such as JG1a, JB3 and JA1 were used. As a result of the comparative experiment, it was clearly observed that the measured values of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr change when Rb remains due to incomplete separation of the NBS987 Sr isotope standard sample as well as the rock standard samples of GSJ. This indicates that complete separation is an important factor since the calculated value deviates from the true value even though correction for isotope interference by isobar is performed when measuring the isotope ratio with MC-ICP-MS. This also suggests that, when reporting the measurement result of Sr isotope ratio using MC-ICP-MS, the measurement strength of ⁸⁵Rb should be reported together with the measurement strength of all isotopes of Sr so that isotope interference by isobar can be judged.