Cellulose has experienced a renaissance as a precursor for carbon fibers (CFs). However, cellulose possesses intrinsic challenges as precursor substrate such as typically low carbon yield. This study examines the interplay of strategies to increase the carbonization yield of (ligno-) cellulosic fibers manufactured via a coagulation process. Using Design of Experiments, this article assesses the individual and combined effects of diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP), lignin, and CO2 activation on the carbonization yield and properties of cellulose-based carbon fibers. Synergistic effects are identified using the response surface methodology. This paper evidences that DAP and lignin could affect cellulose pyrolysis positively in terms of carbonization yield. Nevertheless, DAP and lignin do not have an additive effect on increasing the yield. In fact, combined DAP and lignin can affect negatively the carbonization yield within a certain composition range. Further, the thermogravimetric CO2 adsorption of the respective CFs was measured, showing relatively high values (ca. 2 mmol/g) at unsaturated pressure conditions. The CFs were microporous materials with potential applications in gas separation membranes and CO2 storage systems.

매년 국내로 비래해 오는 해충인 벼멸구는 그 기원이 중국 또는 중국 남부일 것으로 예상해왔으나, 이에 대한 유전학적 근거는 Mun et al. (1999)에 의해 제시된 세 가지 COI haplotype 비교가 유일하다. Mun et al. (1999)은 국내에 서 확인된 두 가지 haplotype 유형이 인도차이나반도 이남의 균일한 한 가지 haplotype 집단 유형과 중국에서 확인 된 또 다른 haplotype 집단 유형임을 근거로 국내 벼멸구의 기원을 중국으로 특정한 바 있다. 본 연구는 국내 및 동남아시아 5개국(부탄, 미얀마, 캄보디아, 라오스 및 태국)으로부터 직간접적으로 확보한 개체들을 대상으로 GBS (genotyping by sequencing) 및 NGS 기법을 통해 PCA를 포함한 다양한 집단유전학적 분석을 수행하였다. 그 결과 인도차이나반도의 벼멸구 집단은 크게 북부와 남부로 나뉘며, 국내 개체들은 북부에 비해 남부(캄보디 아, 태국)에 더 가깝다는 사실을 확인하였다. 따라서 벼멸구의 국내 비래는 중국으로부터의 기원 이전에 장마전 선이 형성될 무렵부터 인도차이나반도 남쪽의 고온다습한 서풍이 남남서풍으로 바뀌면서 중국 내륙을 거쳐 국내로 비래하는 경로를 따르는 것으로 보인다. 하지만 태안의 개체 중에는 인도차이나반도 집단들의 외군으로 확인되는 개체가 있었고, 이는 인도차이나반도 외의 샘플링되지 않은 다른 지역에서도 벼멸구가 국내로 비래할 수 있다는 가능성을 제시하였다. 따라서 국내로 유입되는 벼멸구의 유전적 기원을 확인하기 위해서는 인도차이 나반도 남쪽 지역에서 시작한 동아시아 여름 몬순의 바람이 한국으로 도착하는 경로에 위치한 다른 지역에서의 추가적인 샘플링 및 지속적인 관심과 추적이 필요할 것이다.

Luxury brands are increasingly embracing intrinsic values in their advertising campaigns. This paper reports an exploratory study examining the adoption of value-laden advertising focusing on intrinsic values. Through a content analysis of ads from 9 top luxury fashion brands, the depiction of intrinsic values was examined. Research results are discussed and academic and managerial implications are presented.

Consumer brand engagement has recently drawn attention for researches because of its importance in predicting brand loyalty. Meanwhile, social media is used as digital marketing tools for marketers to attract and engage younger consumers. This study aims to answer the question whether social marketing efforts by fashion brands on major social media platforms have influence on consumer brand engagement in the context of Vietnamese fashion brands. Social marketing efforts include five dimensions of entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization and word-of-mouth. Although social marketing efforts has been examined in relationship with other important marketing concepts such as brand equity and customer equity (Godey et al., 2016; Kim and Ko, 2012), few studies have investigated its effect on consumer brand engagement, especially in fashion brands. Besides, Vietnam as an emerging market is witnessing considerable changes that social media brings to every field including fashion markets. It is noticeable that more and more fashion brands in Vietnam are trying to expand and advance their marketing strategies on social media to engage consumers. In this study, a self-administered online survey was delivered to Vietnamese consumers, which included 281 valid responses who followed Vietnamese fashion brands on Facebook or Instagram. The empirical results show that social media efforts engage consumers differently on brand engagement dimensions. The key finding indicates that entertainment and word-of-mouth are positively related to brand engagement in affective, cognitive and behavioral dimensions. Interaction is positively related to affective and behavioral brand engagements. Trendiness is positively related to behavioral brand engagement. Finally, customization is positively related to cognitive brand engagement.

Prior studies have focused primarily on the issue of consumers’ privacy concerns in personalized advertising, but little is known about the effect of transparency awareness using data collection notifications on consumers. This study focuses on the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of the AI algorithms underlying online behavioral advertising (OBA) and the advertising effects. Our research model indicates that displaying data collection notifications regarding OBA and personalized ads increases favorable perceptions of AI systems, such as transparency. Moreover, the model suggests that personalized ads induce higher perceived surveillance than non-personalized ads.

Laser scabbling has the potential to be a valuable technique capable of effectively decontaminating highly radioactive concrete surface at nuclear decommissioning sites. Laser scabbling tool using an optical fiber has a merits of remote operation at a long range, which provides further safety for workers at nuclear decommissioning sites. Furthermore, there is no reaction force and low secondary waste generation, which reduces waste disposal costs. In this study, an integrated decontamination system with laser scabbling tool was employed to test the removal performance of the concrete surface. The integrated decontamination system consisted of a fiber laser, remote controllable mobile cart, and a debris collector device. The mobile cart controlled the translation speed and position of the optical head coupled with 20 m long process fiber. A 5 kW high-powered laser beam emitted from the optical head impacted the concrete block with dimensions of 300 mm × 300 mm × 80 mm to induce explosive spalling on its surface. The concrete debris generated from the spalling process were collected along the flexible tube connected with collector device. We used a three-dimensional scanner device to measure the removed volume and depth profile.

Laser cutting has been recognized as one of key techniques in dismantling nuclear power plants as it has several advantages such as a remote operation and a reduced secondary waste. However, it generates a significant amount of aerosols that can pose a health risk to workers and further induce environmental pollution during the cutting operation. Thus, understanding the aerosol characteristics generated by the laser cutting is crucial for implementing an effective cutting operation and reducing the exposure to these hazardous particles. In this work, we established a methodology to collect the aerosols and investigate their properties in the laser cutting operation. We built an integrated laser cutting system for aerosol analyses, consisting of a high-power laser cutting module, a metal sample holder, an aerosol collector, and a closed chamber. We expect that this system will offer an opportunity for in-depth understanding of the aerosol properties, by connecting it with desired type of aerosol analysis platforms, and further safe dismantling operation of the nuclear power plants.

Laser cutting has many advantages, including high-speed cutting potential, no reaction forces, narrow kerf widths, ease of remote control, and more. This makes it the next generation cutting technology for nuclear decommissioning. For this reason, various groups in countries with nuclear power plants have been working on applying laser cutting to nuclear decommissioning. Our group has also been developing in-air and underwater laser cutting technologies. Previous research has focused on efficiently cutting thicker steels. To accomplish this, a cutting head with a long focusing element with a focal length of 600 mm was utilized. A long focusing head is advantageous for cutting thick objects at high speeds because it can maintain a high power density over a long distance. However, with such a long focused beam, the residual laser power that remains after passing through the target object can cut or damage other unwanted objects located behind the target. Utilizing a short focused element can solve this problem, but if the focal length is too short, the cutting capability will be reduced. In this work, we developed and applied a cutting head that utilizes a focused element with a short focal length of 300 mm. Cutting tests with this head allowed us to cut 10-60 mm thick stainless steel plates at a laser power of 6 kW. We also obtained the maximum cutting speed and kerf width for each thickness while increasing the laser power by 1 kW from 1 to 6 kW. The results obtained in this work are expected to be utilized for safe cutting in future nuclear decommissioning applications.

Рrecipitation of platinum group metals (Rh, Ru, Pd, so-called MPG) from the melt essentially affects the reliability of installations for vitrification of high-level liquid radioactive waste (HLW). To date, it is difficult to find an approach which allows simultaneous recovery of all three metals. The aim of our work was to select a sorbent that would provide simultaneous up to complete recovery of given metals. The following inorganic materials were tested as sorbents – yellow blood salt (YBS).and hexacyanoferrates of iron, aluminum, copper and nickel. The degree of metal recovery was studied is influenced by the temperature and concentration of nitric acid. Only palladium was completely recovered using YBS. At the same time, specially prepared iron hexacyanoferrate (HCF-Fe) under optimal experimental conditions recovers almost all Pd and more than 95% and 90% of Rh and Ru, respectively. The behavior of fission products, including the main dose-forming components of HLW (Cs, Sr) and Mo, U, Ag, REE) in the course of MPG recovery was studied. The experiments were carried using both multicomponent model solutions and real raffinates. Options for further management of the recovered metals have been worked out. Thus, the proposed method of metal recovery seems promising for the development of a technology for the removal of MPG from nitric HLW during the reprocessing of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) before vitrification. The recovered metals can be probably used in various technological processes. Also, this method can provide the MPG recovery from low-concentration tail solutions.

Laser cutting has been attracting attention as a next-generation tool in application for nuclear decommissioning. It enables high-speed cutting of thick metal objects, and its narrow kerf width greatly reduces the amount of secondary waste compared to other cutting methods. In addition, it only requires the relatively small cutting head without any complicated equipment, and long-distance cutting apart from a laser generator is possible using beam delivery through optical fiber. And there is almost no reaction force because it is non-contact thermal cutting. For these reasons, the laser cutting is very advantageous for remote cutting. In laser cutting, the irradiated laser power is absorbed and consumed to melt the material of the cutting target. When the applied laser power is greater than the power consumed for melting, the residual power is transmitted to the back of the cut object. This residual power may unintentionally cut or damage undesired objects located behind the cutting target. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to adjust the laser power for each thickness of the target object to be cut, or to increase the distance between the cut target and the surrounding structures so that the transmitted power density can be sufficiently lowered. In this work, safety study on residual power that penetrates laser-cut objects was conducted. Experimental studies were performed to find safe conditions for irradiation power density that does not cause surface damage to the stainless steel by adjusting the laser power and stand-off distance from the target.

Laser scabbling experiments were conducted with the aim of developing concrete decontamination technology. Laser scabbling system contains a 6 kW fiber laser (IPG YLS-6000, λ=1,070 nm) and optical head, which are connected with process fiber (core dia.: 600 μm, length: 20 m). Optical head consists of two lenses (f = 160 mm and 100 mm) to collimate and focus laser beam. The focused laser beam is passed through the small diameter of nozzle (throat dia.: 3 mm) to prevent the laser-produced debris into head. And then, the focused beam is directed toward concrete block as continuously diverging. The diverged laser beam was incident on the high-strength concrete with 300 mm (length) × 300 mm (height) × 80 mm (width) to induce explosive spalling on the concrete surface. The optical head was moved by X-Y-Z manipulate coupled with a computerized numerical control while scabbling. We have observed not only active spalling on the concrete surface but energetic scattering of laserproduced debris when scabbling on high-strength concretes. It indicates the need for a device capable of collecting the laser-produced debris. We newly designed and manufactured dust collector coupled with cylindrical tube to prevent scattering of laser-produced debris into ambient environment. The collecting system was evaluated by estimating the collecting efficiency for laser-produced debris while scabbling. The collecting efficiency was calculated on the basis of the information on the mass loss of concrete block after laser scabbling and the mass of collected debris in a container. The collecting efficiency was found to be over 85%.

We investigated the electronic and mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with different tube diameters using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, respectively. The carbon nanotubes’ electronic properties were derived from the index number ( n 1 , n 2 ), lattice vectors, and the rolled graphene sheet orientation. For (6,1) SWCNT, ( n 1-n 2)/3 is non-integer, so the expected characteristic is semiconducting. We have considered (6,1) Chiral SWCNT with different diameters ‘d’ (4.68 Å, 4.90 Å, 5.14 Å, 5.32 Å, 5.53 Å) corresponds to respective bond lengths ‘  ’ (1.32 Å, 1.38 Å, 1.45 Å, 1.50 Å and 1.56 Å) and then analyze the electronic properties from the Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO) based on DFT. We have used both the DFT-1/2 and GGA exchange energy correlation approximations for our calculation and compared the results. In both cases, the energy bandgap is decreasing order with the increase in bond lengths. The lowest value of formation energy was obtained at the bond length  = 1.45 Å ( d = 5.14 Å). For the mechanical properties, we have calculated Young’s modulus using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. From our calculation, we have found that the (6,1) SWCNT with bond length 1.45 Å ( d = 5.14 Å) has Young’s modulus value of 1.553 TPa.

The carbon-based nanostructures are in limelight due to their widespread applications in nano-to-micro-scale technologies. The carbon dots are known for their unique physical, electrical, optical, chemical and biological properties. The carbon dots (CDs) are being produced through several well-developed synthesis methods, one of which is the green sonochemical. This method is preferred over others because it is a green source of energy, facile, fast, low-temperature process, non-toxic and less expensive. Despite the fact of using 90% less energy than other methods, this method has been overlooked in the published literature. It is possible to prepare pure and doped CDs of low toxicity and controlled physicochemical properties through sonochemical method. In recent years, sonochemically produced CDs have been tuned and characterized for a variety of applications. This review has explored the merits and demerits of sonochemical method in comparison to the other methods for the synthesis of pure CDs and their nanocomposites. The role of multiple factors in tailoring the specific parameters of CDs for their application in antibacterial, polymerization, tissue engineering, catalysis, bio-imagining, supercapacitors, drug delivery and electric devices is also elaborated in this review. This review also concludes on future directions in the applications of sonochemically produced CDs.

A laser scabbling experiment was performed using a high-power fiber laser to investigate the removal rate of the concrete block and the scabbled depth. Concrete specimens with a 28-day compressive strength of 30 MPa were used in this study. Initially, we conducted the scabbling experiment under a stationary laser beam condition to determine the optimum scan speed. The laser interaction time with the concrete surface varied between 3 s and 40 s. The degree of spalling and vitrification on the surface was primarily dependent on the laser interaction time and beam power. Furthermore, thermal images were captured to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of temperature during the scabbling process. Based on the experimental results, the scan speed at which the optical head moved over the concrete was set to be 300 mm∙min−1 or 600 mm∙min−1 for the 4.8-kW or 6.8-kW laser beam, respectively. The spalling rates and average depth on the concrete blocks were measured to be 87 cm3∙min−1 or 227 cm3∙min−1 and 6.9 mm or 9.8 mm with the 4.8-kW or 6.8-kW laser beams, respectively.

For application in nuclear decommissioning, underwater laser cutting studies were conducted on thick stainless-steel plates for various cutting directions using a 6 kW fiber laser. For cutting along the horizontal direction with horizontal laser irradiation, the maximum cutting speed was 110 mm∙min−1 for a 48 mm thick stainless-steel plate. For cutting along the vertical direction with horizontal laser irradiation, a maximum speed of 120 mm∙min−1 was obtained for the same thickness, which confirmed that the cutting performance was similar but slightly better. Moreover, when cutting with vertically downward laser irradiation, the maximum cutting speed was 120 mm∙min−1 for a plate of the same thickness. Thus, the cutting performance for vertical irradiation was nearly identical to that for horizontal irradiation. In conclusion, it was possible to cut thick stainless-steel plates regardless of the laser irradiation and cutting directions, although the assist gas rose up due to buoyancy. These observations are expected to benefit laser cutting procedures during the actual dismantling of nuclear facilities.