• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.395-402
• /
• 2011

The nanomechanical properties of fully lithiated and unlithiated silicon nanowire deposited on silicon substrate have been studied with atomic force microscopy. Silicon nanowires were synthesized using the vapor-liquid-solid process on stainless steel substrates using Au catalyst. Fully lithiated silicon nanowires were obtained by using the electrochemical method, followed by drop-casting on the silicon substrate. The roughness, derived from a line profile of the surface measured in contact mode atomic force microscopy, has a smaller value ($0.65{\pm}0.05$ nm) for lithiated silicon nanowire and a higher value ($1.72{\pm}0.16$ nm) for unlithiated silicon nanowire. Force spectroscopy was utilitzed to study the influence of lithiation on the tip-surface adhesion force. Lithiated silicon nanowire revealed a smaller value (~15 nN) than that of the Si nanowire substrate (~60 nN) by a factor of two, while the adhesion force of the silicon nanowire is similar to that of the silicon substrate. The elastic local spring constants obtained from the force-distance curve, also shows that the unlithiated silicon nanowire has a relatively smaller value (16.98 N/m) than lithiated silicon nanowire (66.30 N/m) due to the elastically soft amorphous structures. The frictional forces of lithiated and unlithiated silicon nanowire were obtained within the range of 0.5-4.0 Hz and 0.01-200 nN for velocity and load dependency, respectively. We explain the trend of adhesion and modulus in light of the materials properties of silicon and lithiated silicon. The results suggest a useful method for chemical identification of the lithiated region during the charging and discharging process.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2010

Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.19-62
• /
• 1985

This study was performed to investigate: (i) the bending processing properties of silk worm oak (Quercus acutissima Carr.) and Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et Z.) by boiling and steaming treatments; (ii) the effects of interrelated factors - sapwood and heartwood, annual ring placement, softening temperature and time, moisture content. and wood defects on bending processing properties; (iii) the changing rates of bending radii after release from a tension strap, and (iv) the improving methods of bending process by treatment with chemicals. The size of specimens tested was $15{\times}15{\times}350mm$ for boiling and steaming treatments and $5{\times}10{\times}200mm$ for treatments with chemicals. The specimens were green for boiling treatments and dried to 15 percent for steaming treatments. The specimens for treatments with chemicals were soaked in saturated urea solution, 35 percent formaldehyde solution, 25 percent polyethylene glycol -400 solution, and 25 percent ammonium hydroxide solution for 5 days and immediately followed the bending process, respectively. The results obtained were as follows: 1. The internal temperature of silk worm oak and Korean red pine by boiling and steaming time was raised slowly to $30^{\circ}C$ but rapidly from $30^{\circ}C$ to $80-90^{\circ}C$ and then slowly from $80-90^{\circ}C$ to $100^{\circ}C$. 2. The softening time required to the final temperature was directly proportional to the thickness of specimen. The time required from $25^{\circ}C$ to $100^{\circ}C$ for 15mm-squared specimen was 9.6-11.2 minutes in silk worm oak and 7.6-8.1 minutes in Korean red pine. 3. The moisture content (M.C.) of specimen by steaming time was increased rapidly first 4 minutes in the both species, and moderately from 4 to 20 minutes and then slowly and constantly in silk worm oak, and moderately from 4 to 15 minutes and then slowly and constantly in Korean red pine. The M.C. of 15mm-squared specimen in 50 minutes of steaming was increased to 18.0 percent in the oak and 22.4 percent in the pine from the initial conditioned M.C. of 15 percent The rate of moisture adsorption measured was therefore faster in the pine than in the oak. 4. The mechanical properties of the both species were decreased significantly with the increase of boiling rime. The decrement by the boiling treatment for 60 minutes was measured to 36.6-45.0 percent in compressive strength, 12.5-17.5 percent in tensile strength, 31.6-40.9 percent in modulus of rupture, and 23.3-34.6 percent in modulus of elasticity. 5. The minimum bending radius (M.B.R.) of sapwood and heartwood was 60-80 mm and 90 mm in silk worm oak, and 260 - 300 mm and 280 - 300 mm in Korean red pine, respectively. Therefore, the both species showed better bending processing properties in sapwood than in heartwood. 6. The M.B.R. of edge-grained and flat-grained specimen in suk worm oak was 60-80 mm, but the M.B.R. in Korean red pine was 240-280 mm and 260-360 mm, respectively. Comparing the M.B.R. of edge-grained with flat-grained specimen, in the pine the edge-grained showed better bending processing property than the flat-grained. 7. The bending processing properties of the both species were improved by the rising of softening temperature from $40^{\circ}C$ to $100^{\circ}C$. The minimum softening temperature for bending was $90^{\circ}C$ in silk worm oak and $80^{\circ}C$ in Korean red pine, and the dependency of softening temperature for bending was therefore higher in the oak than in the pine. 8. The bending processing properties of the both species were improved by the increase of softening time as well as temperature, but even after the internal temperature of specimen reaching to the final temperature, somewhat prolonged softening was required to obtain the best plastic conditions. The minimum softening time for bending of 15 mm-squared silk worm oak and Korean red pine specimen was 15 and 10 minutes in the boiling treatment, and 30 and 20 minutes in the steaming treatment, respectively. 9. The optimum M.C. for bending of silk worm oak was 20 percent, and the M.C. above fiber saturation point rather degraded the bending processing property, whereas the optimum M.C. of Korean red pine needed to be above 30 percent. 10. The bending works in the optimum conditions obtained as seen in Table 24 showed that the M.B.R. of silk worm oak and Korean red pine was 80 mm and 240 mm in the boiling treatment, and 50 mm and 280 mm in the steaming treatment, respectively. Therefore, the bending processing property of the oak was better in the steaming than in the boiling treatment, but that of the pine better in the boiling than in the steaming treatment. 11. In the bending without a tension strap, the radio r/t of the minimum bending radius t to the thickness t of silk worm oak and Korean red pine specimen amounted to 16.0 and 21.3 in the boiling treatment, and 17.3 and 24.0 in the steaming treatment, respectively. But in the bending with a tension strap, the r/t of the oak and the pine specimen decreased to 5.3 and 16.0 in t he boiling treatment, and 3.3 and 18.7 in the steaming treatment, respectively. Therefore, the bending processing properties of the both species were significantly improved by the strap. 12. The effect of pin knot on the degradation of bending processing property was very severe in silk worm oak by side, e.g. 90 percent of the oak specimens with pin knot on the concave side were ruptured when bent to a 100 mm radius but only 10 percent of the other specimens with pin knot on the convex side were ruptured. 13. The changing rate in the bending radius of specimen bent to a 300 mm radius after 30 days of exposure to room temperature conditions was measured to 4.0-10.3 percent in the boiling treatment and 13,0-15.0 percent in the steaming treatment. Therefore, the degree of spring back after release was higher in the steaming than in the boiling treatment. And the changing rate of moisture-proofing treated specimen by expoxy resin coating was only -1.0.0 percent. 14. Formaldehyde, 35 percent solution, and 25 percent polyethylene glycol-400 solution found no effect on the plasticization of the both species, but saturated urea solution and 25 percent ammonium hydroxide solution found significant effect in comparison to non-treated specimen. But the effect of the treatment with chemicals alone was inferior to that of the steaming treatment, and the steaming treatment after the treatment with chemicals improved 10-24 percent over the bending processing property of steam-bent specimen. 15. Three plasticity coefficients - load-strain coefficient, strain coefficient, and energy coefficient - were evaluated to be appropriate for the index of bending processing property because the coefficients had highly significant correlation with the bending radius. The fitness of the coefficients as the index was good at load-strain coefficient, energy coefficient, and strain coefficient, in order.