• Resources Recycling
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.19-25
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• 2017

The ways of producing metal silicon include a carbon reduction method, a plasma reduction method, and a thermite reaction method. The carbon reduction process produces metal silicon by metallurgical refining. The carbon reduction method is produced by adding a raw material mixed with quartz and coke to an electric arc furnace which is for carbon reduction. The cost of high energy costs and environmental protection facilities is an issue when producing metal silicon using electric arc furnaces. For this reason, there is no metal silicon production facility in Korea yet. Therefore, the optimal manufacturing conditions by the carbon reduction method are being studied through the experimental facilities by the companies and research institutes. The present study investigated the change of metal silicon purity according to the purity of silicon when extracting metal silicon using the thermit reaction, which has a relatively lower manufacturing cost than the carbon reduction method.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.2162-2190
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• 2007

The newly-developed Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MVP) type reagents using aluminum, boron and other metals for reduction of organic functional groups such as carbonyl and epoxy compounds have been surveyed. highlighted and reviewed in this account are the appearance of new MPV type reagents and their application to the selective reduction of organic functions. Finally, this account emphasizes the distinct contrast in the reducing characteristics existed between metal hydride reagents and MPV reagents, and compares their usefulness in organic synthesis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.227-232
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• 2019

MRI examination for patients with metal objects has in poor image quality. Metallic implants can result in poor image because magnetic susceptibility causes signal loss and distortion and makes poor imaging, which is called magnetic susceptibility artifact or metal artifact. There are several approaches to reduce metal artifacts. In this study, we study the reduction of metal artifact by VAT and SEMAC techniques. A metal implant used for orthopedic surgery was attached to the phatom and the distortion caused by the artifact was measured under T1WI and T2WI protocols. Several techniques of VAT only and VAT and SEMAC for the reduction of metal artifact were compared. The metal artifact showed a reduction of at least 8% to a maximum of 26% in the VAT-SEMAC. The VAT-SEMAC technique can be applied to patients with orthopedic implants to improve image quality. If scan time and image quality are simultaneously considered in VAT-SEMAC technique, metal artifact will be reduced in clinical practice.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2854-2863
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• 2023

Objective: To present a hybrid approach that incorporates a constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) and deep learning (DL)-based post-refinement for metal artifact reduction in dental cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Methods: Constrained beam-hardening estimator (CBHE) is derived from a polychromatic X-ray attenuation model with respect to X-ray transmission length, which calculates associated parameters numerically. Deep-learning-based post-refinement with an artifact disentanglement network (ADN) is performed to mitigate the remaining dark shading regions around a metal. Artifact disentanglement network (ADN) supports an unsupervised learning approach, in which no paired CBCT images are required. The network consists of an encoder that separates artifacts and content and a decoder for the content. Additionally, ADN with data normalization replaces metal regions with values from bone or soft tissue regions. Finally, the metal regions obtained from the CBHE are blended into reconstructed images. The proposed approach is systematically assessed using a dental phantom with two types of metal objects for qualitative and quantitative comparisons. Results: The proposed hybrid scheme provides improved image quality in areas surrounding the metal while preserving native structures. Conclusion: This study may significantly improve the detection of areas of interest in many dentomaxillofacial applications.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.68 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2024

The commercialization of rechargeable metal-air batteries is extremely desirable but designing stable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with non-noble metal still has faced challenges to replace platinum-based catalysts. The nonnoble metal catalysts for ORR were prepared to improve the catalytic performance and stability by the thermal decomposition of ZIF-8 with optimum cobalt loading. The porous carbon was obtained by the calcination of ZIF-8 and different loading amounts of Co nanoparticles were anchored onto porous carbon forming a Co/PC catalyst. Co/PC composite shows a significant increase in the ORR value of current and stability (500 h) due to the good electronic conductive PCN support and optimum cobalt metal loading. The significantly improved catalytic performance is ascribed to the chemical structure, synergistic effects, porous carbon networks, and rich active sites. This method develops a new pathway for a highly active and advantageous catalyst for electrochemical devices.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.541-549
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• 2023

The aim of this study wasto conduct a quantitative analysis of CT image quality according to an algorithm designed to reduce metal artifacts induced by metal components. Ten baseline images were obtained with the standard filtered back-projection algorithm using spectral detector-based CT and CT ACR 464 phantom, and ten images were also obtained on the identical phantom with the standard filtered back-projection algorithm after inducing metal artifacts. After applying the to raw data from images with metal artifacts, ten additional images for each were obtained by applying the virtual monoenergetic algorithm. Regions of interest were set for polyethylene, bone, acrylic, air, and water located in the CT ACR 464 phantom module 1 to conduct compare the Hounsfield units for each algorithm. The algorithms were individually analyzed using root mean square error, mean absolute error, signal-to-noise ratio, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and structural similarity index to assess the overall image quality. When the Hounsfield units of each algorithm were compared, a significant difference was found between the images with different algorithms (p < .05), and large changes were observed in images using the virtual monoenergetic algorithm in all regions of interest except acrylic. Image quality analysis indices revealed that images with the metal artifact reduction algorithm had the highest resolution, but the structural similarity index was highest for images with the metal artifact reduction algorithm followed by an additional virtual monoenergetic algorithm. In terms of CT images, the metal artifact reduction algorithm was shown to be more effective than the monoenergetic algorithm at reducing metal artifacts, but to obtain quality CT images, it will be important to ascertain the advantages and differences in image qualities of the algorithms, and to apply them effectively.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.115-118
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• 1996

The study on the cytotoxicities of heavy metals, metal-metal and metal-chelator combinations was carried out to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of those on mouse L929 fibroblasts. The colorimetric assays (NR and MTT) were conveniently carried out in 96-well microtiter plates. The rank order was Cd > Zn Ni > Cr(III) for the heavy metals tested. Examination of the effect of metal-metal interaction on cytotoxicity showed a moderate reduction of cadmium toxicity by zinc. The colorimetric assays were also effectively used to investigate the effect of the chelators, ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and chitosan. Reduction of heavy metal toxixity by chelator was efficient.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.248-254
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• 2006

The promotion effects of noble metals upon the activity and reducibility in steam methane reforming over $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalysts were investigated. While $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalysts require the pre-reduction by $H_2$, the noble metal-added catalysts show high catalytic activities without pre-treatment. According to $CH_4$-TPR, the addition of noble metal makes the $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalyst easily reducible. The reduction degree of NiO in the noble metal-added catalysts after using at $650^{\circ}C$ without pre-reduction was $15{\sim}20%$, and was lower than that in the $H_2$-reduced $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalyst(reduction degree=27%). The enhancement of the catalytic activity over noble metal-added catalysts results from easier reducibility by addition of noble metal and the synergy effect between noble metal and Ni.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.359-372
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• 2017

Metallic copper nanoparticles were synthesised by reduction of copper ions in aqueous solution, and metal-metal bonding by using the nanoparticles was studied. A colloid solution of metallic copper nanoparticles was prepared by mixing an aqueous solution of $CuCl_2$ (0.01 M) and an aqueous solution of hydrazine (reductant) (0.2-1.0 M) in the presence of 0.0005 M of citric acid and 0.005 M of n-hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (stabilizers) at reduction temperature of $30-80^{\circ}C$. Copper-particle size varied (in the range of ca. 80-165 nm) with varying hydrazine concentration and reduction temperature. These dependences of particle size are explained by changes in number of metallic-copper-particle nuclei (determined by reduction rate) and changes in collision frequency of particles (based on movement of particles in accordance with temperature). The main component in the nanoparticles is metallic copper, and the metallic-copper particles are polycrystalline. Metallic-copper discs were successfully bonded by annealing at $400^{\circ}C$ and pressure of 1.2 MPa for 5 min in hydrogen gas with the help of the metalli-ccopper particles. Shear strength of the bonded copper discs was then measured. Dependences of shear strength on hydrazine concentration and reduction temperature were explained in terms of progress state of reduction, amount of impurity and particle size. Highest shear strength of 40.0 MPa was recorded for a colloid solution prepared at hydrazine concentration of 0.8 M and reduction temperature of $50^{\circ}C$.

• Carbon letters
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.171-174
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• 2013

The high quality contact between graphene and the metal electrode is a crucial factor in achieving the high performance of graphene transistors. However, there is not sufficient research about contact resistance reduction methods to improve the junction of metal-graphene. In this paper, we propose a new method to decrease the contact resistance between graphene and metal using directly grown graphene over a metal surface. The study found that the grown graphene over copper, as an intermediate layer between the copper and the transferred graphene, reduces contact resistance, and that the adhesion strength between graphene and metal becomes stronger. The results confirmed the contact resistance of the metal-graphene of the proposed structure is nearly half that of the conventional contact structure.