• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.265-273
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• 2016

The effects of surface modification by nitric acid on the pre-treatment of electroless copper plating were investigated. Copper was electroless-plated on the nitric acid treated graphite activated by a two-step pre-treatment process (sensitization + activation). The chemical state and relative quantities of the various surface species were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) after nitric acid modification or pre-treatment. The acid treatment increased the surface roughness of the graphite due to deep and fine pores and introduced the oxygen-containing functional groups (-COOH and O-C=O) on the surface of graphite. In the pre-treatment step, the high roughness and many functional groups on the nitric acid treated graphite promoted the adsorption of Sn and Pd ions, leading to the uniform adsorption of catalyst ($Pd^0$) for Cu deposition. In the early stage of electroless plating, a lot of tiny copper particles were formed on the whole surface of acid treated graphite and then homogeneous copper film with low variation in thickness was formed after 30 min.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 1998

Various effects of simulated acid rain by $HNO_3$ and $H_2SO_4$ with pH 3.2, 4.2 and 5.6 were investigated in Melilotus suaveolens Ledeb, a biennial legume dominating the disturbed and poor soil vegetations. The nitric acid treatment of pH 3.2 resulted in 121% increase of the plant height compared to that of pH 5.6 during early growth, although 17% decrease was detected with the sulfuric acids. During 14 days of treatment, leaf biomass and chlorophyll content increased 168% and 133% with pH 3.2 nitric acid rain but decreased 20% and 38%, respectively, with sulfuric acid rain. Nitrogen content in various organs was also determined after 42 days of nitric acid treatment. It increased 480% and 387% by pH 3.2 and 4.2 in leaves, 212% and 214% in stems and 247% and 249% in roots. However, the same treatment with the sulfuric acid showed a considerable reduction in this content, indicating that the nitric acid was a nitrogen source. Nodule formation assayed revealed 15% decrease with pH 3.2 in contrast to 157% increase in pH 4.2, further suggesting an enhancement effect by the additional nitrogen source. Contrary to this, the nodule formation was reduced up to 43-71% by sulfuric acid rains. Specific nitrogen fixation activities of nodules estimated at pH 3.2, 4.2 and 5.6 nitric acid rain were 36.7, 42.8 and 47.3 ${\mu}mol\;C_2H_4{\cdot}g^{-1}\;fw\;nodule{\cdot}h^{-1}$, while those of sulfuric acid rain exhibited 1 nmol $C_2H_4{\cdot}plant^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ with pH 3.2, 177 with pH 4.2 and 179 with pH 5.6, yet it increased 2, 115 and 286 respectively corresponding to the three sulfuric acid concentrations. Further implications of the simulated acied rain were also discussed in the study.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
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• 2006.06b
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• pp.465-469
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• 2006

Pre-treatment methods to determine various heavy metal contents in packaging papers were investigated by ICP-ES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry) analysis. Pre-treatment methods utilized in this study include dry ashing and decomposition methods ($HNO_{3-}HClO_{4-}HF,\;HNO_{3},\;and\;H_{2}SO_{4-}HNO_{3}$). They were compared with the conventional extraction (water) and migration (3% acetic acid) methods. The five representative heavy metals (Cd, As, Pb, Cr and Hg) were analyzed. For Cd, Hg, and As, the results were below detection limit of the instrument. In case of Cr and Pb, the migration test is considered to be a better method compared to the extraction test, but all pretreated methods showed much higher detection efficiency than the extraction or migration test. However, the detection ratio between the migration test and decomposition methods was different. Among all decomposition methods, the nitric acid - perchloric acid - hydrofluoric acid treatment brought a slightly higher detection value than others, but there was no significant difference among them except sulfuric acid - nitric acid method. Concerning Pb, the sulfuric acid - nitric acid method showed a low detection efficiency compared to other decomposition methods. The sulfuric acid - nitric acid method is, thus, not considered to be a suitable analysis method for Pb in packaging papers.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.659-664
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• 2003

The experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of sulfuric acid and nitric acid among the main components of simulated acid rain (SAR) on the growth of vegetative organs and seed germination of Arabidopsis thaliana. The Arabidopsis treated with SAR supplemented with sulfuric and nitric acids, respectively, showed 28% and 30% decrease of shoot and root growth compared to the control plants, and also many necrotic spots on leaf surfaces after SAR treatment were observed. The shoot and root length for plants grown with nitric acid rain was 14% and 17% lower, respectively, compared to the control, whereas those grown with sulfuric acid rain was 24% and 25% lower than control plants. When Arabidopsis seeds were sown in distilled water, germination rate was 100% after 7 days. However, 80% in SAR medium supplemented with sulfuric and nitric acids, 88% in sulfuric acid rain medium and 93% in nitric acid rain medium. The germination abilities of seeds harvested from SAR supplemented with sulfuric and nitric acids, sulfuric acid rain, and nitric acid rain were 73%, 73% and 94%, respectively. Consequently, sulfuric acids showed more inhibitory effects than nitric acids on the growth of vegetative organs as well as germination rates in Arabidopsis.

• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2016

This article reports a new chemical bath for preparing a mirror-like surface of AZ31 Mg alloy. In order to find an appropriate chemical polishing solution, four different acidic solutions of sulphuric acid, nitric acid, acetic acid and a specially designed mixture of nitric acid and acetic acid were investigated in view of the changes in surface appearance, roughness and dissolution rate of AZ31 Mg alloy. The surface scales on AZ31 Mg alloy were readily removed by all the acidic solutions, but a reflective surface was produced only by etching in the specially designed solution, and only after a specific etching time. The surface roughness increased with etching time in sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and acetic acid, but it lowered after a specific etching time in the specially designed mixture of nitric acid and acetic acid. Dissolution rate of the alloy in the specially designed mixture of nitric acid and acetic acid appeared to be more than twice than that in separate nitric acid or acetic acid. In this work, we recommend the mirror-like surface of AZ31 Mg alloy obtained by polishing for an optimum time in a mixture of nitric acid and acetic acid for following surface finishings, chemical conversion coating, electroplating, electrophoretic painting and anodizing treatment.

• Carbon letters
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.247-254
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• 2014

In this work, thermal treatment accompanied with different acid treatments was applied to a commercial coal tar pitch (CTP) to obtain a spinnable precursor pitch for carbon fiber. In the case of thermal treatment only, a relatively high reaction temperature of between $380^{\circ}C$ and $400^{\circ}C$ was required to obtain a softening point (SP) range of $220^{\circ}C-260^{\circ}C$ and many meso-phase particles were created during the application of high reaction temperature. When nitric acid or sulfuric acid treatment was conducted before the thermal treatment, the precursor pitch with a proper SP range could be obtained at reaction temperatures of $280^{\circ}C-300^{\circ}C$, which were about $100^{\circ}C$ lower than those for the case of thermal treatment only. With the acid treatments, the yield and SP of the precursor pitch increased dramatically and the formation of meso-phase was suppressed due to the lower reaction temperatures. Since the precursor pitches with acid and thermal treatment were not spinnable due to the inhomogeneity of properties such as molecular weight distribution and viscosity, the CTP was mixed with ethanol before the consecutive nitric acid and thermal treatments. The precursor pitches with ethanol, nitric acid, and thermal treatments were easily spinnable, and their spinning and carbon fiber properties were compared to those of air blowing and thermal treated CTP.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.440-444
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• 2018

An effective cleaning method for Ni removal in Ni-induced lateral crystallization(Ni-MILC) poly-Si TFTs and their electrical properties are investigated. The HCN cleaning method is effective for removal of Ni on the crystallized Si surface, while the nitric acid treatment results decrease by almost two orders of magnitude in the Ni concentration due to effective removal of diffused Ni mainly in the poly-Si grain boundary regions. Using the HCN cleaning method after the nitric acid treatment, re-adsorbed Ni on the Si surfaces is effectively removed by the formation of Ni-cyanide complexions. After the cleaning process, important electrical properties are improved, e.g., the leakage current density from $9.43{\times}10^{-12}$ to $3.43{\times}10^{-12}$ A and the subthreshold swing values from 1.37 to 0.67 mV/dec.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.565-571
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• 2008

The surface properties of activated carbon modified by acids and base were studied. The influence of the surface chemistry on the adsorption of benzene and acetone vapor on modified activated carbons has been investigated The modified activated carbons were obtained by treatment with acetic acid ($CH_3COOH$), nitric acid ($HNO_3$) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The modified activated carbons had similar porosity but different surface chemistry and adsorption characteristics. The total surface acidity (sum of functional groups) of activated carbon (AC-AN) treated by nitric acid was 2.6 times larger than that of activated carbon (AC) before the acid treatment. Especially, carboxyl group was much developed by nitric acid treatment. The benzene equilibrium adsorption capacity of AC-AN decreased 20% more than that of AC. However, the acetone equilibrium adsorption capacity of AC-AN increased 20% more than that of AC because of the large increase of carboxyl group and acidity.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.51-54
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• 2010

Transparent conductive films of single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) were prepared by spray coating method. The effect of acid treatment on the SWCNT films was investigated. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) shows that acid treatment can remove dispersing agent. The electrical and optical properties of acid-treated films were enhanced compared with those of as deposited SWCNT films. Nitric acid ($HNO_3$), sulfuric acid ($H_2SO_4$), nitric acid:sulfuric acid (3:1) were used for post treatment. Although all solutions reduced sheet resistance of CNT films, nitric acid can improve electrical characteristics efficiently. During acid treatment, transmittance was increased continuously with time. But the sheet resistance was decreased for the first 20 minutes and then increased again. Post-treated SWCNT films were transparent (85%) in the visible range with sheet resistance of about $162{\Omega}/sq$. In this paper we discuss simple fabrication, which is suitable for different types of large-scale substrates and simple processes to improve properties of SWCNT films.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.427-434
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• 2013

2R,3R-Butanediol, a volatile compound produced by certain rhizobacteria, is involved in induced drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana through mechanisms involving stomatal closure. In this study, we examined the involvement of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide in induced drought tolerance, because these are signaling agents in drought stress responses mediated by abscisic acid (ABA). Fluorescence-based assays showed that systemic nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide production was induced by 2R,3R-butanediol and correlated with expression of genes encoding nitrate reductase and nitric oxide synthase. Co-treatment of 2R,3R-butanediol with an inhibitor of nitrate reductase or an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase lowered nitric oxide production and lessened induced drought tolerance. Increases in hydrogen peroxide were negated by co-treatment of 2R,3R-butanediol with inhibitors of NADPH oxidase, or peroxidase. These findings support the volatile 2R,3R-butanediol synthesized by certain rhizobacteria is an active player in induction of drought tolerance through mechanisms involving nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide production.