• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.189-195
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• 2023

As a PEMFC (Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) cathode catalyst, Pt-Co/C has recently been widely used because of its improved durability. In a fuel cell, electrodes and electrolytes have a close influence on each other in terms of performance and durability. The effect on the electrochemical durability of the electrolyte membrane when Pt-Co/C was replaced in the Pt/C electrode catalyst was studied. The durability of Pt-Co/C MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly) was higher than that of Pt/C MEA in the electrochemical accelerated degradation process of PEMFC membrane. As a result of analyzing the FER (Fluorine Emission Rate) and hydrogen permeability, it was shown that the degradation rate of the membrane of Pt-Co/C MEA was lower than that of Pt/C MEA. In the OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) holding process, the rate of decrease of the active area of the Pt-Co/C electrode was lower than that of the Pt/C electrode, and the amount of Pt deposited on the membrane was smaller in Pt-Co/C MEA than in Pt/C MEA. Pt inside the polymer membrane deteriorates the membrane by generating radicals, so the degradation rate of the membrane of Pt/C MEA with a high Pt deposition rate was higher than Pt-Co/C MEA. When the Pt-Co/C catalyst was used, the electrode durability was improved, and the amount of Pt deposited on the membrane was also reduced, thereby improving the electrochemical durability of the membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.75-86
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• 2009

Salt, one of the most common soluble materials in engineering soil, may have an effect on mechanical behaviors of soils under its cementation process. In order to investigate this natural phenomenon, non-soluble material by using glass beads is mixed with salt electrolyte and cemented by using oven to evaporate water. Three different sizes of glass bead particles, 0.26, 0.5, and 1.29 mm, with different salt concentration, 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0M, are explored by using P- and S-waves, excited by bender elements and piezo disk elemets, respectively. The velocities of the P-wave and S-wave of the particulate medium cemented by salt show three stages with the degree of saturation: 1) S-wave velocities increase while P-wave velocities reduce with degree of saturation changing from 100% to 90%; 2) Both velocities are stable with degree of saturation varying from 90% to 10%; 3) The velocities change enormously when the specimens are nearly dry with degree of saturation from 10% to 0%. Besides, the resonance frequencies of S-wave show similar stages to the S-wave velocities. This study demonstrates meaningful trends of elastic wave characteristics of geo-materials according to the cementation of dissolved salt.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.142-147
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• 2023

Objectives: As medical history before surgery is often based on patient reporting, there is the possibility that patients intentionally hide underlying diseases or that dentists cannot recognize abnormal health states. Therefore, more professional and reliable treatment processes are needed under the Korean dental specialist system. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the necessity of a preoperative blood testing routine prior to office-based surgery under local anesthesia. Patients and Methods: Preoperative blood lab data for 5,022 patients from January 2018 to December 2019 were assembled. Study participants were those who underwent extraction or implant surgery under local anesthesia at Seoul National University Dental Hospital. Preoperative blood tests included complete blood count (CBC), blood chemistry, serum electrolyte, serology, and blood coagulation data. Values outside of the normal range were considered an "abnormality," and the percentage of abnormalities among the total number of patients was calculated. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of underlying disease. The rates of abnormalities in the blood tests were compared between groups. Chi-square tests were performed to compare data from the two groups, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The percentages of males and females in the study were 48.0% and 52.0%, respectively. Of all patients, 17.0% (Group B) reported known systemic disease, while 83.0% (Group A) reported no specific medical history. There were significant differences between Groups A and B in CBC, coagulation panel, electrolytes, and chemistry panel (P<0.05). In Group A, the results of blood tests that required a change in procedure were identified even though the proportion was very small. Conclusion: Preoperative blood tests for office-based surgery can detect underlying medical conditions that are difficult to identify from patient history alone and can prevent unexpected sequelae. In addition, such tests can result in a more professional treatment process and build patient confidence in the dentist.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.94-109
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• 2023

1,3-Dioxolane is an exciting material that has attracted widespread interest in the chemical, paint, and pharmaceutical industries as a solvent, electrolyte, and reagent because 1,3-dioxolane is not toxic, carcinogenic, explosive, auto-flammable, and multifunctional, and due to their excellent miscibility in most organic and aqueous solvent conditions. Recently, this material has received increasing attention as a CO₂-selective polymer precursor to separating CO₂ from flue gas and natural gas mixtures. Poly(1,3-dioxolane) (PDXL) possesses higher ether oxygen content than polyethylene oxide (PEO), which demonstrates superior membrane CO₂/N₂ separation properties owing to their polar ether oxygen groups exhibiting strong affinity toward CO₂. Thus, PDXL-based membranes displayed an outstanding CO₂ solubility selectivity over non-polar (N₂, H₂, and CH₄) gases. However, the polar groups of PDXL, like PEO, promote chain packing efficiency and cause polymer crystallization, thereby reducing its gas permeability, which should be improved. In this short review, we discuss the recent advancement and limitations of PDXL membranes in gas separation applications. To conclude, we provide future perspectives for inhibiting the limits of 1,3-dioxolane-based polymers in the CO₂ separation process.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.71-79
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• 2023

In this study, we employed anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactants for the hydrophilization of porous substrates used in the fabrication of pore-filling membranes. We investigated the extent of hydrophilization based on the type of surfactant, its concentration, and immersion time. Furthermore, we used the hydrophilized substrates to produce pore-filling anion exchange membranes and compared their ion conductivity to determine the optimal hydrophilization conditions. For the ionic surfactants used in this study, we observed that hydrophilization progressed rapidly from the beginning of immersion when the applied concentration was 3.0 wt%, compared to lower concentrations (0.05, 0.5, and 1.0 wt%). In contrast, for the relatively larger molecular weight non-ionic surfactants, smooth hydrophilization was not observed. There was no apparent correlation between the degree of hydrophilization and the ion conductivity of the anion exchange membrane. This discrepancy suggests that an excessive hydrophilization process during the treatment of porous substrates leads to excessive adsorption of the surfactant on the sparse surfaces of the porous substrate, resulting in a significant reduction in porosity and subsequently decreasing the content of polymer electrolyte capable of ion exchange, thereby greatly increasing the electrical resistance of the membrane.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.638-646
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• 2023

Recently, active research has been conducted to enhance the power characteristics and thermal stability of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) by modifying separators using a ceramic coating method. However, since the thermal properties and surface features of the separator vary depending on the characteristics of the ceramic powders applied to the separator, it is crucial to manufacture ceramic powders optimized for the separator's performance. In this study, we evaluated the characteristics of three types of α-alumina (A-1, A-2, and A-3) produced with varying dispersant contents and milling times, in addition to commercial α-alumina (AES-11). Subsequently, the optimized powders (A-3) were coated onto the separator using an aqueous binder for comparison with the characteristics of an AES-11 coated separator and an uncoated PE separator. The A-3 coated separator improved electrolyte wettability with a low contact angle (44.69°) and increased puncture strength (538 gf). Furthermore, it exhibited excellent thermal stability, with a shrinkage value of 5.64% when exposed to 140℃ for 1 hour, compared to the AES11 coated separator (6.09%) and the bare PE separator (69.64%).

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.336-340
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• 2023

A dog (2-year old, female, Shih-Tzu) presented with hyperthermia and right-sided facial paralysis characterized by the inability to close the right eye and drooling from the right side of the mouth after H3N2 influenza vaccination [A/Canine/Korea/01/07(H3N2) strain; Caniflu-Max, Bionote, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, ROK]. To determine the cause of the fever and neurological symptoms, physical examination, ophthalmic examination, thoracic and abdominal radiography, abdominal ultrasonography, complete blood counts, serum chemistry values, and electrolyte levels were determined. In addition, Cerebrospinal fluid analysis, antinuclear antibody test, fever of unknown origin polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panel, tick-borne pathogen PCR panel were performed. As a result, hyperthermia, leukocytosis, and elevated C-reactive protein were confirmed. In addition, neurological examination revealed decreased right eyelid reflexes, corneal reflexes, threat response, and facial sensation, it was possible to suspect problems with the trigeminal and facial nerves of the cranial nerve. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a lesion suggestive of myositis in the right muscular lesion at atlanto-occipital junction level on site of vaccine injection. Therefore, right-sided facial paralysis was tentatively determined to be a secondary cause of nerve damage caused by myositis. The patient was treated with immunosuppressants such as prednisolone and mycophenolate mofetil. After 3 months of immunosuppressant therapy, the patient's symptoms improved.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.517-522
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• 2023

A chemical/mechanical durability test of polymer membrane evaluation method is used in which air and hydrogen are supplied to the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and wet/dry is repeated in the open circuit voltage (OCV) state. In this protocol, when wet/dry is repeated, voltage increase/decrease is repeated, resulting in electrode degradation. When the membrane durability is excellent, the number of voltage changes increases and the evaluation is terminated due to electrode degradation, which may cause a problem that the original purpose of membrane durability evaluation cannot be performed. In this study, the same protocol as the department of energy (DOE) was used, but oxygen was used instead of air as the cathode gas, and the wet/dry time and flow rate were also increased to increase the chemical/mechanical degradation rate of the membrane, thereby shortening the durability evaluation time of the membrane to improve these problems. The durability test of the Nafion 211 membrane electrode assembly (MEA) was completed after 2,300 cycles by increasing the acceleration by 2.6 times using oxygen instead of air. This protocol also accelerated degradation of the membrane and accelerated degradation of the electrode catalyst, which also had the advantage of simultaneously evaluating the durability of the membrane and the electrode.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.91-97
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• 2023

Electrochemical (EC) CO₂ reduction is a promising method to convert CO₂ into valuable hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals ecofriendly. Here, we report on a facile method to synthesize surface-controlled SnO₂/Cu(OH)₂ nanowires (NWs) and its EC reduction of CO₂ to HCOOH and CO. The SnO₂/Cu(OH)₂ NWs (-16 mA/cm²) showed superior electrochemical performance compared to Cu(OH)2 NWs (-6 mA/cm²) at -1.0 V (vs. RHE). SnO₂/Cu(OH)₂ NWs showed the maximum Faradaic efficiency for conversion to HCOOH (58.01 %) and CO (29.72 %). The optimized catalyst exhibits a high C1 Faradaic efficiency stable electrolysis for 2 h in a KHCO₃ electrolyte. This study facilitates the potential for the EC reduction of CO₂ to chemical fuels.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.534-540
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• 2023

The high-rate performance is limited by several factors, such as polarization generation, low electrical conductivity, low surface energy, and low electrolyte permeability of CF_X, which is widely used as a cathode active material in the lithium primary battery. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to improve the battery performance by using carbon fluoride modified by surface treatment using oxygen plasma as a cathode for lithium primary batteries. Through XPS and XRD analysis, changes in the surface chemical characteristics and crystal structure of CF_X modified by oxygen plasma treatment were analyzed, and accordingly, the electrochemical characteristics of lithium-ion primary batteries were analyzed and discussed. As a result, the highest number of semi-ionic C-F bonds were formed under the oxygen plasma treatment condition (7.5 minutes) with the lowest fluorine to carbon (F/C) ratio. In addition, the primary cell prepared under this condition using carbon fluoride as the active material of the cathode showed the highest 3 F/C(3 C rate-performance) rate-performance and maintained a relatively high capacity (550 mAh/g) even at high rates. In this study, it was possible to produce lithium primary batteries with high-rate performance by adjusting the fluorine contents of carbon fluoride and the type of carbon-fluorine bonding through oxygen plasma treatment.