• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.140-146
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• 2023

Water quality is crucial for human health and the environment. Accurate measurement of the quantity of organic carbon in water is essential for water quality evaluation, identification of water pollution sources, and appropriate implementation of water treatment measures. Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis is an important tool for this purpose. Although other methods, such as chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) are also used to measure organic carbon in water, they have limitations that make TOC analysis a more favorable option in certain situations. For example, COD requires the use of toxic chemicals, and BOD is time-consuming and can produce inconsistent and unreliable results. In contrast, TOC analysis is rapid and reliable, providing accurate measurements of organic carbon content in water. However, common methods for TOC analysis can be complex and energy-intensive because of the use of high-temperature heaters for liquid-to-gas phase transitions and the use of acid, which present safety risks. This study focuses on a TOC analysis method using TiO₂ photocatalysis, which has several advantages over conventional TOC analysis methods, including its low cost and easy maintenance. For TiO₂, rutile and anatase powders are mixed with an inorganic binder and spray-coated onto a glass fiber substrate. The TiO₂ powder and inorganic binder solutions are adjusted to optimize the photocatalytic reaction performance. The TiO₂ photocatalysis method is a simple and low-power approach to TOC analysis, making it a promising alternative to commonly used TOC analysis methods. This study aims to contribute to the development of more efficient and cost-effective approaches for water quality analysis and management by exploring the effectiveness and reliability of the developed equipment.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.257-262
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• 2013

As the regulation of total phosphorus (T-P) concentration in biologically treated sewage effluent is reduced to 0.2~2 mg/L, flocculation process is recommended to remove T-P. In this study, the performance of Ti-salt coagulant was investigated in terms of dosage and pH in removing phosphorus and the collected sludge after Ti-salt flocculation was calcined to produce titania for effective sludge recycling. The flocculation performance was carried out using two methods: sedimentation and air floatation. Both methods were feasible to apply for Ti-salt flocculation. Ti-salt flocculation was effective in reducing phosphorus concentration in sewage effluent, which showed similar performance of alum ($Al_2(SO_4)_3$). The calcined sludge was recycled to titania which is the widely used metal oxide. Titania produed from Ti-salt sludge indicated similar characteristics of commercially-available P-25 in regard to photocatalytic activity and surface area. Therefore, this can be easily adopted to titania application by replacing P-25.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.447-454
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• 2014

Organic solar cells (OSCs) have intensively studied in recent years due to their advantages such as cost effectiveness and possibility of applications in flexible devices. In spite of the high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10 %, the OSCs still have a draw back of their low environmental stability due to the oxidization of aluminum cathode and etching of transparent conducting oxide as electrode. To solve these problems, the inverted structured OSCs (I-OSCs) having greatest potential for achieving an improvement of device performances are suggested. Therefore, there are a lot of studies to develope of interface layer based on organic/inorganic materials for the electron transport layer (ETL) and passivation layer, significant advancements in I-OSCs have driven the development of interface functional materials including electron transport layer. Recent efforts to employing 2D/3D zinc oxide (ZnO) based ETL into I-OSCs have produced OSCs with a power conversion efficiency level that matches the efficiency of ~9 %. In this review, the technical issues and recent progress of ZnO based ETL in I-OSCs to enhancement of device efficiency and stability in terms of materials, process and characterization have summarized.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.314-319
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• 2013

In this study, nitrogen doped $TiO_2$ ($N-TiO_2$) coated on an activated carbon pellet (ACP) was prepared using sol-gel and the solid state heat treatment of urea to improve the removal property of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To explore the visible light photocatalytic activity of the ACP under the light emitting diods (LED), the removal property of benzene gas was characterized by gas chromatography. The SEM and BET results show that the increment of titanium tetra isopropoxide contents leads to the increased $TiO_2$ coating amount of ACP surface and decreased specific surface area. From the results of benzene gas removal, the breakthrough time of ACP10 increased about 2 times compared to that of the ACP. The improved performance was attributed to the $N-TiO_2$ coating on ACP surface, which could be more effective to remove benzene gas under the condition of LED lamp.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.161-169
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• 2000

In the case of photocatalytic hydrogen production from water, the performance-property relationships of CdS-TiO2 film type composite catalysts were investigated. To control the physical properties of the primary particles, the mixture of CdS and TiO2 nano-sols prepared by the sol-gel method at room temperature was hydrothermally treated at 240oC for 12hr. The film electrodes were prepared by the casting method. The photocurrents measured by a photoelectrochemical method and the hydrogen production rates measured by a photochemical method were closely dependent on the physical properties such as crystalline form, primary particle size and CdS/TiO2 mole ratio, and these varied in the range of 1.2~2.6 mA/cm2 and $1.0{\sim}1.6{\times}10-3mol/hr$, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2022

As the use of chemical products increases in daily life, the removal of dye waste has also emerged as an important environmental issue. This dye waste can be decomposed using a photocatalyst, and the photocatalyst can be synthesized very cost-effectively by using the sol-gel technology. The sol-gel technology is not only very useful for nanoscale film formation, but also can simply form multilayer structures. Using a multiple spin coating method, in this study, a ZnO film with a multilayered structure (3 layers, 5 layers) was formed by using zinc oxide (ZnO), which is effective in decomposing various dyes. For performance comparison, a ZnO film having a single layer structure by a single spin coating method was prepared as a control. Structural and elemental analysis of ZnO film was performed using an X-ray diffraction analyzer and an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. A nanowire-like surface morphology could be observed through a scanning electron microscope. Additionally, UV-Vis spectrophotometer was used to measure the absorbance of UV light. The ZnO film with a five-layer structure degraded the simulated methylene blue by 49% more than the ZnO film with a single-layer structure. In conclusion, it was found that ZnO having a multilayered structure is useful as a photocatalyst that decomposes methylene blue dye more effectively.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.2A
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• pp.129-136
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• 2011

Recently studies on functional concrete with a photocatalytic material such as $TiO_2$ have actively been carried out in order to remove air pollutants. The absorbtion of $TiO_2$ from those studies is applied by it being directly mixed into concrete or by suspension coated on the surface. When it comes to the effectiveness, the former process is less than that of the latter compared with the $TiO_2$ use. As a result, the direct coating of $TiO_2$ on materials' surface is more used for effectiveness. The Surface spread of it needs to have a more than $400^{\circ}C$ heat treat done to stimulate the activation and adhesion of photocatalysis. Heat treat consequently leads hydration products in concrete to be dehydrated and shrunk and is the cause of cracking. The study produces $TiO_2$ used Sol-gel method which enables it to be coated with a low temperature treat, applies it to pearlite using Lightweight Aggregate Concrete fixed with a low temperature treat and evaluates the spread performance of it. In addition to this, the size of pearlite is divided into two types: One is 2.5 mm to 5.0 mm and the other is more than 5.0 mm for the benefit of finding out the removal characteristics of $CH_3CHO$ whether they are affected by pearlite size, mixing method and ratio with $TiO_2$ and elapsed time. The result of this experiment shows that although $TiO_2$ produced by Sol-gel method is treated with 120 temperature, it maintains a high spread rate on the XRF(X ray Florescence) quantitative analysis which ranks $TiO_2$ 38 percent, $SiO_2$ 29 percent and CaO 18 percent. In the size of perlite from 2.5 mm to 5.0 mm, the removal characteristic of $CH_3CHO$ from a low temperature heated Lightweight concrete appears 20 percent higher when $TiO_2$ with Sol-gel method is spreaded on the 7 percent of surface. In other words, the removal rate is 94 percent compared with the 72 percent where $TiO_2$ is mixed in 10 percent surface. In more than 5.0 mm sized perlite, the removal rate of $CH_3CHO$, when $TiO_2$ is mixed with 10 percent, is 69 percent, which is similar with that of the previous case. It suggests that the size of pearlite has little effects on the removal rate of $CH_3CHO$. In terms of Elapsed time, the removal characteristic seems apparent at the early stage, where the average removal rate for the first 10 hours takes up 84 percent compared with that of 20 hours.