• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.11
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• pp.839-845
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• 2012

The effect of an AlN additive on the thermoelectric properties of SiC ceramics was studied. Porous SiC ceramics with 48-54% relative density were fabricated by sintering the pressed ${\alpha}-SiC$ powder compacts with AlN at $2100-2200^{\circ}C$ for 3 h in an Ar atmosphere. In the undoped specimens, the Seebeck coefficients were positive (p-type semiconducting) possibly due to a dominant effect of the acceptor impurities (Al, Fe) contained in the starting powder. With AlN addition, the reverse phase transformation of 6H-SiC to 4H-SiC was observed during the sintering process. The electrical conductivity of the AlN doped specimen was larger than that of the undoped specimen under the same conditions, which might be due to a reverse phase trans-formation. The Seebeck coefficient of the AlN doped specimen was also larger than that of the undoped specimen. The density of specimen and the amount of addition had significant effects on the thermoelectric properties.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-474
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• 2018

The high theoretical energy density ($2600Wh\;kg^{-1}$) of Lithium-sulfur batteries and the high theoretical capacity of elemental sulfur ($1672mAh\;g^{-1}$) attract significant research attention. However, the poor electrical conductivity of sulfur and the polysulfide shuttle effect are chronic problems resulting in low sulfur utilization and poor cycling stability. In this study, we address these problems by coating a polyethylene separator with a layer of activated carbon powder. A lithium-sulfur cell containing the activated carbon powder-coated separator exhibits an initial specific discharge capacity of $1400mAh\;g^{-1}$ at 0.1 C, and retains 63% of the initial capacity after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, whereas the equivalent cell with a bare separator exhibits a $1200mAh\;g^{-1}$ initial specific discharge capacity, and 50% capacity retention under the same conditions. The activated carbon powder-coated separator also enhances the rate capability. These results indicate that the microstructure of the activated carbon powder layer provides space for the sulfur redox reaction and facilitates fast electron transport. Concurrently, the activated carbon powder layer traps and reutilizes any polysulfides dissolved in the electrolyte. The approach presented here provides insights for overcoming the problems associated with lithium-sulfur batteries and promoting their practical use.

• Metals and materials international
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1221-1231
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• 2018

The effect of strain aging on tensile behavior and properties of API X60, X70, and X80 pipeline steels was investigated in this study. The API X60, X70, and X80 pipeline steels were fabricated by varying alloying elements and thermomechanical processing conditions. Although all the steels exhibited complex microstructure consisting of polygonal ferrite (PF), acicular ferrite, granular bainite (GB), bainitic ferrite (BF), and secondary phases, they had different fractions of microstructures depending on the alloying elements and thermomechanical processing conditions. The tensile test results revealed that yielding behavior steadily changed from continuous-type to discontinuous-type as aging temperature increases after 1% pre-strain. After pre-strain and thermal aging treatment in all the steels, the yield and tensile strengths, and yield ratio were increased, while the uniform elongation and work hardening exponent were decreased. In the case of the X80 steel, particularly, the decrease in uniform elongation was relatively small due to many mobile dislocations in PF, and the increase in yield ratio was the lowest because a large amount of harder microstructures such as GB, BF, and coarse secondary phases effectively enhanced work hardening.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.196-205
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• 2019

Surface modification techniques are known to improve SCC by adding large compressive residual stresses to metal surfaces. This surface modification technology is attracting attention because it is an economical and practical technology compared to the maintenance method of existing nuclear power plants. Surface modification techniques include laser, water jet and ultrasonic peening, pinning and ultrasonic Nano-crystal surface modification (UNSM). The focus of this study was on the effect of ultrasonic amplitude in UNSM treatment on the corrosion properties of Alloy 600. A microstructure analysis was conducted using an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD). A cyclic polarization test and AC-impedance measurement were both used to analyze the corrosion properties. UNSM treatment influences the corrosion resistance of Alloy 600 depending on its amplitude. Below the critical amplitude value, the pitting corrosion properties are improved by grain refinement and compressive residual stress, but above the critical amplitude value, crevices are formed by the formation of overlapped waves. These crevices act as corrosion initiators, reducing pitting corrosion resistance.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2021

In the manufacturing of bulk graphite, pores produced by vaporization and discharge of volatile materials in binders during carbonization reduce the density of bulk graphite, which adversely affects the electrical conductivity, strength and mechanical properties. Therefore, an impregnation process is introduced to fill the pores and increase the density of bulk graphite. In this study, bulk graphite is prepared by varying the viscosity of the impregnant. The microstructure of bulk graphite is observed. The flexural strength and electrical resistivity are measured. As the viscosity of the impregnants decreases and the number of impregnations increases, it is shown that the number of pores decreases. The density before impregnation is 1.62 g/㎤. The density increases to 1.67 g/㎤ and porosity decreases by 18.6 % after three impregnations using 5.1 cP impregnant, resulting in the best pore-filling effect. After three times of impregnation with a viscosity of 5.1 cP, the flexural strength increases by 55.2 % and the electrical resistivity decreases by 86.76 %. This shows that a slight increase in density due to the pore-filling effect improves the properties of bulk graphite.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.690-696
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to develop a zirconium-based alloy with low modulus and magnetic susceptibility to prevent the stress-shielding effect and the generation of artifacts. Zr-7Cu-xSn (x = 1, 5, 10, 15 mass%) alloys are prepared by an arc melting process. Microstructure characterization is performed by microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Mechanical properties are evaluated using micro Vickers hardness and compression test. The magnetic susceptibility is evaluated using a SQUID-VSM. The average magnetic susceptibility value of the Zr-7Cu-xSn alloy is 1.176 × 10^-8 cm³g^-1. Corrosion tests of zirconium-based alloys are conducted through polarization test. The average Icorr value of the Zr-7Cu-xSn alloy is 0.1912 ㎂/cm². The elastic modulus value of 14 ~ 18 GPa of the zirconium-based alloy is very similar to the elastic modulus value of 15 ~ 30 GPa of the human bone. Consequently, the Sn added zirconium alloy, Zr-7Cu-xSn, is very interesting and attractive as a biomaterial that reduces the stress-shielding effect caused by differences of elastic modulus between human bone and metallic implants. In addition, this material has the potential to be used in metallic dental implants to effectively eliminate artifacts in MRI images due to low magnetic susceptibility.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.231-242
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• 2022

Effect of different concentrations of hypotaurine (HTU) on melanosis and quality of shrimps during 10 d storage in ice were studied. During refrigeration, the total plate count and total volatile basic nitrogen of shrimps treated with 20 g/L HTU were the lowest, and the hardness and microstructure were the best. Moreover, the score of melanoses, pH and total bile acid of shrimps treated with 20 g/L HTU were also low. Sensory evaluation showed that HTU treatment could make the shelf life of shrimps 3-4 days longer compared with the control. Based on the above physical and chemical indexes, 20 g/L HTU showed great potential as a safe inhibitor in the treatment of shrimps' melanosis.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.117-137
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• 2022

Effect of thickness stretching on free vibration, bending and buckling behavior of carbon nanotubes reinforced composite (CNTRC) laminated nanoplates rested on new variable elastic foundation is investigated in this paper using a developed four-unknown quasi-3D higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The key feature of this theoretical formulation is that, in addition to considering the thickness stretching effect, the number of unknowns of the displacement field is reduced to four, and which is more than five in the other models. Two new forms of CNTs reinforcement distribution are proposed and analyzed based on cosine functions. By considering the higher-order nonlocal strain gradient theory, microstructure and length scale influences are included. Variational method is developed to derive the governing equation and Galerkin method is employed to derive an analytical solution of governing equilibrium equations. Two-dimensional variable Winkler elastic foundation is suggested in this study for the first time. A parametric study is executed to determine the impact of the reinforcement patterns, nonlocal parameter, length scale parameter, side-t-thickness ratio and aspect ratio, elastic foundation and various boundary conditions on bending, buckling and free vibration responses of the CNTRC plate.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.414-418
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• 2022

Magnesium alloy is the lightest practical metal. It has excellent specific strength and recyclability as well as abundant reserves, and is expected to be a next-generation structural metal material following aluminum alloy. This paper investigated the possibility of thin plate fabrication by applying a overheating treatment to the melt drag method, and investigating the surface shape of the thin plate, grain size, grain size distribution, and Vickers hardness. When the overheating treatment was applied to magnesium alloy, the grains were refined, so it is expected that further refinement of grains can be realized if the overheating treatment is applied to the melt drag method. By applying overheating treatment, it was possible to fabricate a thin plate of magnesium alloy using the melt drag method, and a microstructure with a minimum grain size of around 12 ㎛ was obtained. As the overheating treatment temperature increased, void defects increased on the roll surface of the thin plate, and holding time had no effect on the surface shape of the thin plate. The fabricated thin plate showed uniform grain size distribution. When the holding times were 0 and 30 min, the grain size was refined, and the effect of the holding time became smaller as the overheating treatment temperature increased. As the overheating temperature becomes higher, the grain size becomes finer, and the finer the grain size is, the higher the Vickers hardness.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.13-17
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• 2006

The effect of the addition of the nano size $Y_2O_3$ powder on the microstructurte and superconducting properties of YBCO thin film deposited on LAO single crystalline substrate by TFA-MOD method was studied. Nano size $Y_2O_3$ powder was added to the stoichiometric precursor solution with a cation ratio of Y : Ba . Cu = 1 : 2 : 3 prepared using TFA as chelating agent. Precursor solutions with and without $Y_2O_3$ addition were coated on $LaAlO_3(100)$ single crystalline substrates by dip coating method. Calcination and conversion heat treatments were performed in controlled atmosphere containing moisture Current carrying capacity(Jc) of YBCO film was enhanced about 50% by $Y_2O_3$ doping and it is thought to be due to the better connectivity of YBCO grains and/or the flux pinning by the $Y_2O_3$ particles embedded in YBCO grains.