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Among the various cathode materials used in LIBs (Lithium ion batteries), nickel rich cathode materials have attracted an increasing amount of interest due to their high capacity, relatively low cost, and low toxicity when compared to LiCoO2. However, these materials always contain a large amount of residual lithium compounds such as LiOH and Li2CO3. The presence of lithium residues is undesirable because the oxidation of these compounds results in the formation of Li2O and CO2 gas at higher voltages, which lowers the coulombic efficiency between the charge and discharge capacities during cycling. In this study, using LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 as a starting material, a surface-modified cathode material was obtained by using reducing agent. The reducing agent not only plays the role of reducing the oxide conversion energy but also suppresses the side reaction with the electrolyte due to the surface modification. Residual lithium present on the cathode material surface was reduced from 11,702 ppm to 8,658 ppm, resulting in improved high temperature cycle performance and impedance characteristics.

Among the various cathode materials used in LIBs (Lithium ion batteries), nickel rich cathode materials have attracted an increasing amount of interest due to their high capacity, relatively low cost, and low toxicity when compared to LiCoO₂. However, these materials always contain a large amount of residual lithium compounds such as LiOH and Li₂CO₃. The presence of lithium residues is undesirable because the oxidation of these compounds results in the formation of Li₂O and CO₂ gas at higher voltages, which lowers the coulombic efficiency between the charge and discharge capacities during cycling. In this study, using LiNi

This study describes the use of poly(phenylene oxide) polymer-based ion-exchange polymers, polystyrene-based ion-exchange particles and a porous support for fabricating bipolar membranes and the results of an assessment of the applicability of these materials to water splitting. In order to achieve good mechanical as well as good ion-exchange properties, bipolar membranes were prepared by laminating poly(phenylene oxide) and polystyrene based ion-exchange membranes with a sulfonated polystyrene-block-(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene) (S-SEBS) modified interface. PE pore-supported ion-exchange membranes were also used as bipolar membranes. The tensile strength was 13.21 MPa for the bipolar membrane which utilized only a cation/anion-exchange membrane. When ion-exchange nanoparticles were introduced for high efficiency, a reduction in the tensile strength to 6.81 MPa was observed. At the same time, bipolar membrane in the form of a composite membrane using PE support exhibited the best tensile strength of 32.41 MPa. To confirm the water-splitting performance, an important factor for a bipolar membrane, pH changes over a period of 20 min were also studied. During water slitting using CA-P-PE-BPM, the pH at the CEM part and the AEM part changed from 5.4 to 4.18 and from 5.4 to 5.63, respectively.

In this study, thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) was used to fabricate a water treatment membrane composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and silica. Dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were used as diluents. Crystallization temperature, cloud point, and morphology were observed to investigate the conditions of PVDF/silica/diluent membrane preparation. SEM revealed that the porosity of the membranes was increased with an increase in silica content. Phase diagram and morphology results revealed that 50 wt% PVDF+silica with a PVDF:silica weight ratio of 4.5:1 is the best composition for manufacturing a porous membrane.

This study investigated ion exchange membranes for application to seawater desalination processes. This can provide better energy efficiency than the conventional reverse osmosis process. In this experiment, the problem of decreasing ion exchange performance when the ion exchange composite membrane was prepared could be improved through nanoparticles. The nanoparticle added ion exchange hybrid membrane showed ion exchange capacity similar to that of the conventional pristine film. In addition, the polymer having a high ion exchange capacity has poor mechanical strength, but has excellent mechanical strength of 30 MPa or more by the introduction of a polyethylene support.

Cadmium sulfide buffer layer was replaced with zinc sulfide thin film owing to toxicity. ZnS thin films were fabricated using chemical bath deposition. The inhibition of Zn(OH)2 and high uniformity are important factors for the deposition of ZnS. The characteristics of ZnS thin films were analyzed by adding ethylenediamine tetra-acetate acid (EDTA) and hexamethylene tetramine (HMTA). The morphological characteristics of the ZnS buffer layer are closely related to the use of a complexing agent which controls the concentration of Zn2+ ions and Zn(OH)2 in the deposition process. The addition of the complexing agent EDTA accelerated the cluster-cluster method but it exhibited lower uniformity and greater cracking phenomenon. HMTA can be effectively applied to increase the amount of Zn2+ ions forming ZnS. It can be easily found as Zn2 HMTA at high temperatures. The results of the experiment with the addition of HMTA revealed that the surface of the thin film did not change with the increase in the concentration of HMTA, but the thickness of the thin film increased gradually. HMTA promoted the ion-ion method to grow the thin film uniformly, but the speed was slow. Moreover, an experiment by using mixed EDTA and HMTA as the complexing agent was performed. The best ZnS thin film with a transmittance of 83% and a denser surface was prepared using HMTA complexing agent.

Shigella sonnei isolate invasion plasmid antigen protein, IpaH, was successfully expressed in recombinant overexpression bacterial system. The soluble expression IpaH was enhanced with molecular chaperon co-expressed environment. Specific aptamer IpaH17 was isolated through the SELEX process and showed fM binding affinity. IpaH17-SPR biosensor platform was involved to verify the binding sensitivity and specificity. The IpaH concentration dependent IpaH17-SPR sensor response was highly linear with a linear regression constant of 99.4% in the range between 0 and 100 ng/mL. In addition, S. sonnei revealed the specific RU value and detected in a real-time manner within 1 hour. Our study indicated that IpaH17-SPR sensor can allow for rapid, sensitive and specific determination of Shigella sonnei virulent factor.

In this paper, whole-bacteria SELEX (WB-SELEX) strategy was adopted to isolate specific aptamers against Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Round selection for V. parahaemolyticus was conducted 11 rounds, including two negative selection rounds. It was determined through real-time PCR amplification and post-SELEX experiment. The selected aptmers had high binding property and specificity to V. parahaemolyticus. Of 28 aptamers tested, VPCA-apta#1 had the highest binding affinity compared to other aptamer candidates obtained. To detect V. parahaemolyticus, aptamer based SPR biosensor platform was constructed and pathogenic bacteria sensing was conducted in two steps. The first step was to construct 5'-biotinylated VPCA-apta#1 binding probe. The second step was to incubate V. parahaemolyticus and test microbes in functionalized SA sensor chip in parallel. Our platform showed significant activity for detecting and discriminating V. parahaemolyticus from other enteric species such as Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Sigella sonnei, and Vibrio fischeri. This is the first report on the use of whole-SELEX to isolate DNA aptamers specific for V. parahaemolyticus. We demonstrated the feasibility of using aptamer platform for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus in various food supplies. It might be used in multiple points of care for diagnosing Vibriosis.

In this study, a novel method to immobilize Pseudozyma jejuensis for polycaprolactone (PCL) biodegradation has been developed using Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The Fe3O4 nanoparticles were encapsulated with silica and functionalized with NH2 groups to enhance their capacity to adsorb on the cell surface. The results show that the NH2-functionalized silica-encapsulated Fe3O4 nanoparticles strongly adsorbed on the cell surface of P. Jejuensis without any interruptions of their normal cell growth. There was a significant increase in the total organic carbon (TOC) concentration of P. Jejuensis cells coated with NH2-functionalized silica-encapsulated Fe3O4 nanoparticles after 10 days biodegradation of PCL at 30 °C. Concerning reusability, the coated cells could completely degrade PCL during the first 2 cycles, and retain ~80% activity for the third and 75% activity of PCL biodegradation for the fourth, fifth, and sixth cycles.

The behavior of a hybrid carbon battery is studied by using the Hg/Hg2SO4 reference electrode. The performance is confirmed in the discharge mode and a short-term cycle test. The capacities of the cell were 76.1, 60.3, 40.5, and 31.7 mAh at discharge currents of 150, 300, 600, and 900 mA, respectively. In the short-term cycle test, the capacity of the cell, 52.3 mAh at the first cycle, continuously increased to 66.7 mAh upon the fifth cycle (cut-off voltage 0.5 V in the deep cycle mode), indicating high feasibility of the hybrid carbon battery as a large-capacity energy storage system.

In this study, hollow fiber membranes for forward osmosis using cellulose triacetate were prepared using the non-solvent phase separation method, and the water purification properties of the prepared membranes were tested. In order to optimize the membrane morphology, which affects the membrane performance, 1,4-dioxane and lithium chloride were used as additives. Using the forward osmosis process, the properties of the membrane were investigated according to changes in the factors such as the salt type, salt concentration, and solution temperature. In the nanofiltration process, the water flux was found to increase and the salt rejection to decrease with increasing air gaps, regardless of the type of salt. In contrast, in the forward osmosis process, the water flux increased and the solute rejection value increased in a manner similar to the increasing concentration of solute.

In this study, various poly(ether ether ketone) were synthesized using three different monomers and the imidazolium group was introduced into synthesized poly(ether ether ketone)s by using substitution reaction. Synthesized polymers were used to prepare anion exchange membranes and to evaluate its properties. Thermal, chemical and structural properties were carried out using thermogravimetric analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance. The anion exchange membranes with different imidazolium moieties were characterized by several different analytical techniques such as water up take, ion exchange capacity, hydroxide conductivity for checking the possibility to apply the anion exchange membrane fuel cell. Consequently, results of characterization were studied to understand the correlation between stabilities of the membrane and functional group and polymer backbone structures. And we confirm membrane performance was improved by increasing imidazolium cation groups.

Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells have been regarded as a candidate for energy conversion devices owing to their high absorption coefficient, high temperature stability, and low cost. ZnO:Al thin film is commonly used in CIGS solar cells as a window layer. In this study, ZnO:Al films were deposited on glass under various post-heat temperature using RF sputtering to observe the characteristics of ZnO:Al films such as Hall mobility, carrier concentration, and resistivity; subsequently, the ZnO:Al films were applied to a CIGS solar cell as a window. CIGS solar cells fabricated with various ZnO:Al films were analyzed in order to investigate their influence. The test results showed that the improvement of ZnO:Al characteristics affects Jsc and Voc in the solar cell through reduced recombination and increase of optical property.

Amorphous fluoropolymers have been studied in the past few decades and received extensive attention due to their unique and useful properties. One of the remarkable properties of amorphous fluoropolymers is high fractional free volume (FFV), and they tend to retain large amounts of solvent inside their polymer chains. In this study, amorphous flouoropolymer membranes were employed to examine the influences of the residual solvent and drying condition on the thermal properties, gas permeation behavior, and structure change by the polymer chains. Thermal properties of the produced membranes were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to verify the effects of residual solvent. The residual solvent content and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of amorphous fluoropolymer membranes prepared with both solvents decrease with increasing drying temperature. The effect of the thermal treatment method on the d-spacing between the polymer chains of the prepared membranes was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The d-spacing decreased with drying below the Tg whereas it drastically increased near the Tg because of chain relaxation. From these phenomena, the helium permeability of the membranes treated at 120 °C radically increased. However, the oxygen and nitrogen permeability decreased with decreasing residual solvent content. The glass transition range shifted to higher temperature, from 75 °C to 133 °C, depending on the reduced amount of residual solvent.

The effect of functional groups such as sulfuric acid group and metal ions on the CO2 gas transport property of membranes was investigated. Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) was prepared by direct copolymerization with a non-sulfonated monomer and sulfonated monomer. The sulfonation degree of SPAES was controlled from 0 to 50%. Metal ions such as lithium and sodium were substituted for the protons of the -SO3H group. The thermal properties, microstructure of polymer chains, and the permeability and selectivity of membranes were evaluated. The solubility coefficient of CO2 gas increased with an increase in sulfonation degree. But the diffusivity was largely decreased and the CO2/N2 selectivity of the membrane substituted for metal ions was increased.

In this study, polysulfone hollow fiber membrane was successfully prepared by phase inversion method for separation of virus and bacteria. When we prepare the hollow fiber membrane, we controlled various factors such as the polymer concentration, air gap and internal coagulation to investigate effect to membrane property. Morphology of surface and cross section of membrane were measured by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Water flux of membrane was measured using test modules. Mean pore diameter of membrane was calculated using rejection of polystyrene (PS) latex beads for separation of virus and bacteria. Flux and mean flow pore diameter of prepared membrane show 800 L/mh, 0.03 μm at 1.0 kgf/cm2. The bacteria removal performance of prepared UF membranes was over 6 logs

In this study, Graft copolymers composed of PSf backbones and PEG side chains were synthesized to prepare gas separation membranes with enhancing permeability and selectivity on carbon dioxide separation. PSf-g-PEG copolymers were synthesized by two steps, chloromethylation and graft reactions. Grafted PEG segment of PSf was controlled by molecular weight of PEG. Thermal properties of prepared mebrane were studied by TGA and DSC. T(g) of the copolymers was decreased with increasing of molecular weight of PEG. Hydrophilicity of PSf-g-PEG copolymer membrane was measured using contact angle method, and PEG grafted polymers showed lower contact angles due to higher hydrophilicity. Gas permeation properties of CO2 and N2 gases through the membranes were measured using time-lag method. The permeability of CO2 was enhanced with PEG moiety contents and increasing of number of PEG segment. The selectivity of CO2/N2 was increased with introducing of PEG due to higher solubility with CO2 gas.

A new poly(octathiophene) based copolymer was designed and synthesized by the palladium catalyzed Suzuki coupling reaction. The structure of the newly obtained copolymer was confirmed by 1H-NMR and IR. The number-average molecular weight (M(n)) of the polymer was 36,000 with a poly-dispersity index of 1.15. The polymer has good solubility in common solvents such as chloroform, toluene, chlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene and tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. The optical, thermal and electrochemical properties of the polymer were characterized by UV-vis absorption, TGA and DSC and cyclovoltametry, respectively. A thin film transistor using the new polymer as an organic semiconductor was found to exhibit typical p-channel FET characteristics with a hole mobility of 5 x 10(-4) cm2/Vs.

Carborane powders (C2B10H12) were deposited on silicon substrates and the physical properties of the films were investigated as functions of the distance of the sample from the electrode, the carborane mass, and the plasma-pulse. To obtain the optimum thickness of the films, three silicon substrates were positioned at 6.5, 16.5, and 36.5 cm from the electrode, and the thickness of the samples was analyzed by using XRD, TEM, and SEM. For the deposition, the carborane powder was warmed to 80 degrees C in 10 minutes and was applied a DC-power pulse of 900 W (150 volts, 6 amps) for 2 hours. The mass of carborane and the on-time sequence were varied during the deposition. The combined results of XRD and TEM studies revealed that the structure of the deposited film is an amorphous phase. A careful analysis of the SEM images show that the thickness of the carborane films increased as increasing the mass of the flown carborane while it remained constant when a plasma-pulse time was varied. The thickest film of 353 A was achieved from the samples placed closest to the carborane inlet and the thickness became thinner as farther from the source suggesting that the density of the evaporated carborane powder in a chamber decreased as increasing the distance of the sample from the carborane inlet.

The liquid phase plasma reduction method was applied to prepare the polycrystalline manganese nanoparticles from the solution of manganese chloride tetrahydrate. A bipolar pulsed power supply was used to generate discharge in the aqueous solutions. While large size of dendrite-shaped manganese nanoparticles were mostly observed in the initial stage and particle size decreased with discharge time. The particles were dispersed with less and less small particles by the addition of CTAB and anisotropic shapes nanoparticles were mostly observed at long time plasma-treated. Many spots could be seen in the ED pattern for polycrystalline particles.

In this study, Co/Al203 catalyst for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was prepared via slurry impregnation method and the catalyst was characterized by various techniques such as TPR, XRD, TGA and N2 physisorption. To dissolve the wax, after-reaction catalyst was dewaxed using n-Hexane at 60 *C. The experiments were performed in a bench-scale fixed-bed reactor, under the reaction condition of 230 degrees C, 20 bar and feed volume ratio of H2:CO:N2 = 2:1:0.5-1.5. The methane selectivity and the ratio of olefin to paraffin among C2-C4 hydrocarbons were increased with higher contents of nitrogen in feed gas which result in higher partial pressure ratio of H2 to CO, and also affect methane selectivity which has a significant role in increased CO conversion.

1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO) is one of the promising product among the valuable products derived from glycerol and it can be obtained by the catalytic hydrogenolysis of glycerol. Copper-supported clay-based catalysts were prepared with different pore sizes using various ratios of kaolin, Mg, and Al by coprecipitation and applied in the selective hydrogenolysis of glycerol to 1,2-PDO. In recent research, variations of pore volume and pore size could affect the diffusion of reagents within the catalyst due to the collision between reagents or pore wall and reagents. It changes selectivities of each product in hydrogenolysis of glycerol reaction. The physico-chemical properties of the catalysts were analyzed by XRD, N2 physisorption, TPR, CO2-TPD, SEM, and a mercury porosimeter. The Cu/TALCITE 4 catalyst showed 98% 1,2-PDO selectivity with 65% glycerol conversion under the optimized condition of 190 degrees C, 25 bar, and 20 wt% glycerol aqueous solution. It was found that the basic strength and meso-macro pore structure of the catalysts play an important role in glycerol conversion and 1,2-PDO selectivity.

Using a home-made aerosol nebulizer, we developed a new aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) process that made it possible to synthesize vertically-aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays with heights over a few millimeters routinely. An essential part of this technique was in-situ formation of metal catalyst nanoparticles via pyrolysis of ferrocene-ethanol aerosol right before CNT synthesis. Through the optimization of aerosol supply and CVD process parameters, we were able to synthesize clean VACNT arrays as long as 4.38 mm with very low metal contents in 20 min. Furthermore, it is worthy noting that such an outstanding height is achieved very quickly without supporting materials and water-assistance. By taking advantage of almost complete inhibition of CNT growth on low melting-temperature metals, we were able to fabricate patterned VACNT arrays by combining AACVD process with a conventional photolithograpic patterning of gold lines. Characterizations of as-grown nanotubes such as morphology, purity, and metal contents are presented.

A series of polyimides were synthesized by a polycondensation reaction using various aromatic dianhydrides and diamines containing bulky cardo and hydroxyl groups. The imidization and chemical structure of the polyimides were confirmed by NMR and FT-IR. The thermal and gas properties of the polyimides were measured by time-lag, XRD, TGA, and DSC studies. The polyimides showed excellent solubility in common organic solvents and high thermal stability. The CO2 selectivity of HPI membrane was higher than traditional polyimides. In particular, the incorporation of hydroxyl groups improved the CO2 permeability of the polyimide due to increased carbon dioxide solubility. The HPI was thermally converted to polybenzoxazole (PBO) at 450 °C.

The effect of functional groups such as sulfuric acid group and metal ions on the CO2 gas transport property of membranes was investigated. Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) was prepared by direct copolymerization with a non-sulfonated monomer and sulfonated monomer. The sulfonation degree of SPAES was controlled from 0 to 50%. Metal ions such as lithium and sodium were substituted for the protons of the -SO3H group. The thermal properties, microstructure of polymer chains, and the permeability and selectivity of membranes were evaluated. The solubility coefficient of CO2 gas increased with an increase in sulfonation degree. But the diffusivity was largely decreased and the CO2/N2 selectivity of the membrane substituted for metal ions was increased.

Blue polystyrene (PS) particles copolymerized with poly (ethylene glycol) ether methyl methacrylate (PEG-MA, Mn = 300, 475, 950) were prepared by suspension polymerization in this study. 0-10 wt% PEG-MA was copolymerized with 100-90 wt% styrene by suspension polymerization. These blue PS particles were characterized using SEM, IR, UV, DSC, and zeta potential measurements. The T(g) data results for the suspension copolymers and a solubility test in THF along with the matching IR spectroscopy results showed that copolymerization proceeded during the polymerization process. The poly[styrene-co-(PEG-MA)] latices were 30-60 nm in size, with T(g) values of 341-385 degrees K, zeta- potential values of 51.5-162 mV, and electrophoretic mobility values ranging from 3.3 to 10.9 x 10(-6) cm2/Vs. Blue dye incorporated into the polystyrene particles existed at levels that exceeded 85% based on the UV absorbance results.