• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.395-408
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• 2020

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have gained much attention as eco-friendly energy conversion devices without emission of environmental pollutant. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) that can transfer proton from anode to cathode and also prevent fuel cross-over has been regarded as a key component of PEMFCs. Although perfluorinated polymer membranes such as Nafion® were already commercialized in PEMFCs, their high cost and toxic byproduct generated by degradation have still limited the wide spread of PEMFCs. To overcome these issues, development of hydrocarbon based PEMs have been studied. Incorporation of cross-linked structure into the hydrocarbon based PEM system has been reported to fabricate the PEMs showing both high proton conductivity and outstanding physicochemical stability. This study focused on the various cross-linking strategies to the preparation of cross-linked PEMs based on hydrocarbon polymers with ion conducting groups for application in PEMFCs.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.85-99
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• 2021

Graphene, called the "dream material" is drawing attention as a groundbreaking new material that will lead the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Graphene has high strength, excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, excellent optical permeability, and excellent gas barrier properties. In this paper, as the South Korean government recently announced Green New Deal and Digital New Deal policy, we analyze graphene technology, which is also attracting attention for its application to Corona 19 biosensor, to understand its national R&D trend and knowledge structure, and to explore the possibility of its application. Firstly, 4,054 cases of national R&D project information for the last 10 years are collected from the National Science & Technology Information Service(NTIS) to analyze the trend of graphene-related R&D. Besides, projects classified as green technology are analyzed concerning the government's Green New Deal policy. Secondly, text mining analysis is conducted by collecting 500 recent graphene-related articles from e-newspapers. According to the analysis, the field with the largest number of projects was found to be high-efficiency secondary battery technology, and the proportion of total research funds was also the highest. It is expected that South Korea will lead the development of graphene technology in the future to become a world leader in diverse industries including electric vehicles, cellular phone batteries, next-generation semiconductors, 5G, and biosensors.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.563-573
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• 2022

This work aimed to develop a new equation for turbidity (Turb) simulation and prediction using statistical methods based on principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple linear regression (MLR). For this purpose, water samples were collected monthly over a five year period from Cheurfa dam, an important reservoir in Northwestern Algeria, and analyzed for 12 parameters, including temperature (T°), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity (Turb), dissolved oxygen (DO), ammonium (NH₄⁺), nitrate (NO₃^-), nitrite (NO₂^-), phosphate (PO₄^3-), total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The results revealed a strong mineralization of the water and low dissolved oxygen (DO) content during the summer period. High levels of TSS and Turb were recorded during rainy periods. In addition, water was charged with phosphate (PO₄^3-) in the whole period of study. The PCA results revealed ten factors, three of which were significant (eigenvalues >1) and explained 75.5% of the total variance. The F1 and F2 factors explained 36.5% and 26.7% of the total variance, respectively and indicated anthropogenic pollution of domestic agricultural and industrial origin. The MLR turbidity simulation model exhibited a high coefficient of determination (R² = 92.20%), indicating that 92.20% of the data variability can be explained by the model. TSS, DO, EC, NO₃^-, NO₂^-, and COD were the most significant contributing parameters (p values << 0.05) in turbidity prediction. The present study can help with decision-making on the management and monitoring of the water quality of the dam, which is the primary source of drinking water in this region.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.219-229
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• 2022

Bentonite is being considered as a candidate for buffer material in geological disposal systems for high-level radioactive wastes. In this study, the effect of cement-bentonite interactions on bentonite alteration was investigated by reviewing the literature on studies of cement-bentonite interactions. The major bentonite alteration by hyperalkaline fluids produced by the interaction of cementitious materials with groundwater includes cation exchange, montmorillonite dissolution, secondary mineral precipitation, and illitization. When the hyperalkaline leachate from the reaction of the cementitious material with the groundwater comes into contact with bentonite, montmorillonite, the main component of bentonite, is dissolved and a small amount of secondary minerals such as zeolite, calcium silicate hydrate, and calcite is produced. When montmorillonite is continuously dissolved, the physicochemical properties of bentonite may change, which may ultimately causes changes in bentonite performance as a buffer material such as adsorption capacity, swelling capacity, and hydraulic conductivity. In addition, the bentonite alteration is affected by various factors such as temperature, reaction period, pressure, composition of pore water, bentonite constituent minerals, chemical composition of montmorillonite, and types of interlayer cations. This study can be used as basic information for the long-term stability verification study of the buffer material in the geological disposal system for high-level radioactive wastes.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.625-636
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• 2020

Background and objects: Soil contamination caused by CaCl₂ that is used to deice slippery roads in winter is now recognized as one of the major causes of damage of roadside plants. The aim of this study is to identify the salt mitigation effects of planting Chrysanthemum zawadskii and using a soil conditioner. Methods: The study was conducted at the site where Pinus densiflora f. multicaulis was planted on the roadside between Konkuk University Sageori and Danwol Samgeori located in Chungju-si. We classified the soils collected from the field experimental site according to the degree of the damage caused by deicing agents and divided the site into six blocks of three 80 × 80 cm plots replicated by treatment type. Three selected plots were treated with loess-balls on the soil surface (high salinity with loess-balls, medium salinity with loess-balls, low salinity with loess-balls) and three were left as an untreated control (H = high salinity, M = medium salinity, L = low salinity). The soil properties were measured including pH, EC and exchangeable cations as well as the growth of Chrysanthemum zawadskiia. Results: In the results of soil analysis, pH before planting Chrysanthemum zawadskiia was 6.39-6.74 and in September, five months after planting, the acidity was reduced to 5.43-5.89. Electrical conductivity (EC) was measured to be H > M > L with the higher degree of damage by deicing agents. The analysis of deicing exchangeable cations showed that the content of Ca²⁺ of soils were significantly correlated to deicing exchangeable cations (Ca²⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺) in the shoot part of Chrysanthemum zawadskii. The loess-ball treatment showed a lower content of deicing exchangeable cations than the treatment where Chrysanthemum zawadskiia was planted. Conclusion: In this study, the use of a new system made of loess-balls is proposed as a soil conditioner to protect soils from the adverse effects of road deicing salts. These data suggest that treatment of soil conditioners and planting Chrysanthemum zawadskiia are effective in mitigation of salt stress on the soils damaged by deicing agents.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.283-291
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• 2022

Hydrogen energy has received much attention as a solution to the supply of renewable energy and to respond to climate change. Hydrogen is the most suitable candidate of storing unused electric power in a large-capacity long cycle. Among the technologies for producing hydrogen, water electrolysis is known as an eco-friendly hydrogen production technology that produces hydrogen without carbon dioxide generation by water splitting reaction. Membranes in water electrolysis system physically separate the anode and the cathode, but also prevent mixing of generated hydrogen and oxygen gases and facilitate ion transfer to complete circuit. In particular, the key to next-generation anion exchange membrane that can compensate for the shortcomings of conventional water electrolysis technologies is to develop high performance anion exchange membrane. Many studies are conducted to have high ion conductivity and excellent durability in an alkaline environment simultaneously, and various materials are being searched. In this review, we will discuss the research trends and points to move forward by looking at the research on anion exchange membranes based on commercial polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-polystyrene (SEBS) block copolymers.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.427-441
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• 2022

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) serving as a separator that can prevent the permeation of unreacted fuels as well as an electrolyte that selectively transports protons from the anode to the cathode has been considered a key component of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based PEMs, represented by Nafion®, have been commercialized in PEMFC systems due to their high proton conductivity and chemical stability. Nevertheless, these PEMs have several inherent drawbacks including high manufacturing costs by the complex synthetic processes and environmental problems caused by producing the toxic gases. Although numerous studies are underway to address these drawbacks including the development of sulfonated hydrocarbon polymer-based PEMs (SHP-PEMs), which can easily control the polymer structures, further improvement of PEM performances and durability is necessary for practical PEMFC applications. Therefore, this study focused on the various strategies for the development of SHP-PEMs with outstanding performance and durability by 1) introducing cross-linked structures, 2) incorporating organic/inorganic composites, and 3) fabricating reinforced-composite membranes using porous substrates.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.662-675
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• 2022

This study was intended to investigate and analyze the current status of the plant community structure in order to provide basic data for the systematic conservation and management of the Buxus sinica area appearing on the ridgeline connecting the Gyeokjabong(Mt.) and Keungiljae, on Bogildo Island. In consideration of location characteristics such as density, topography, and direction of B. sinica appearing in the shrub layers, a total of 26 sites were set as the survey area for representative vegetation communities or areas with changes in topography. According to DCA and TWINSPAN, it was classified into 6 communities, namely Carpinus turczaninovii-Deciduous broad-leaved, C. turczaninovii, C. turczaninovii-B. sinica, C. turczaninovii-Evergreen broad-leaved, Q. acuta, and D. trifidus-Q. acuta. The community dominated by C. turczaninovii maintains the status quo for the present moment, however, Q. acuta will dominate the surrounding area in the long term, so Q. acuta has high succesion potential. In the case of the Q. acuta and D. trifidus-Q. acuta communities, Q. acuta, known as the climax species of warm-temperate forests, will maintain dominant status. In a case of B. sinica, the community dominated by C. turczaninovii will remain in good status due to the topographical conditions, but the community dominated by Q. acuta growth difficulties are expected due to the high coverage. In the relationship between environmental factors and vegetation distribution, analysis showed that only soil pH affect vegetation distribution. Furthermore, the soil acidity (pH) was 3.78-5.30, the electrical conductivity was 0.186-0.543 dS/m, and the organic matter content was 2.25-2.89%.

• Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.507-512
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate the chemical characteristics of different organic liquid fertilizer during fermentation at plastic house in Chungbuk Agricultural Research and Extension Service. Chicken dung, soybean meal, and rice bran were used for nutrient sources. The obtained results from this study were summarized as follows; Total nitrogen contained the highest in soybean meal as 55 mg·kg^-1, and phosphate and potassium contained high in chicken dung and rice bran in organic liquid fertilizer materials. The pH of chicken dung was near 7.0, that of soybean meal and rice bran indicated acidity(pH 3.8~4.4). The electrical conductivity of chicken dung consistently increased during fermentation, and that of soybean meal and rice bran increased and decreased early season and increased at late incubation period. Hydrogen sulfide gas occurrence of chicken dung was 3,200 mg·L^-1 at early season and 1,600 mg·L^-1 at late incubation period, and that of soybean meal and rice bran treatments were not or very low concentration of hydrogen sulfide gas during manufacturing period. The nitrogen and calcium content of organic liquid fertilizer were the higher in chicken dung and soybean meal than rice bran. The phosphate and magnesium content of rice bran was the high as 5.6 g·kg^-1 and 1.5 g·kg^-1, respectively. There was no difference in potassium content among the different liquid fertilizers during fermentation.

• Smart Media Journal
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.21-29
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• 2022

Ultra Violet(UV) is gradually being replaced with LED instead of general UV lamps. However, the light efficiency of UV LED is still lower than that of the general lamp, and the light efficiency is also low. Due to the current environment and technical problems of UV lamps, the LED replacements are gradually being made. In this study, a new package design and analysis were performed to increase the lifetime and performance of UV LEDs. A new packaging for UV LED were designed and implemented. The new packaging for UV LED was constructed to improve light efficiency. And the electrical and optical characteristics were analyzed respectively. To improve the optical efficiency in UV LED package, the Al has been used based on high reflectivity and applying the optimal lens focusing. Compared to the existing silver Ag, the light efficiency was improved by about 30% or more, and it was confirmed that the light output degradation characteristic was improved by about 10% in the newly applied optical device chip.