연구에서 Poly(ethylene-co-vinylalcohol) EVOH 중공사막은 열유도상분리(TIPS)법을 이용하여 제조하였다. 다양한 조건에서 제조된 모든 분리막에서 액-액 상분리에 의해 기공이 서로 연결되어 있는 스폰지 구조가 관찰되었다. 글리세롤과 PEG200은 TIPS 방법에서 희석제로 사용하였고, 냉각조에 글리세롤을 혼합한 냉매를 사용하여 중공사 외표면의 기공을 조절하였다. 또한 혼합냉매의 온도를 높여 큰 기공의 형성을 유도하였다. 본 연구에서는 고분자의 농도, 희석제, 냉각조의 영향에 따른 분리막의 구조, 투과도, 기계적 강도에 대해 실험을 통해 알아보고 상호관계에 대해 심도 있게 연구하였다.

The odor substances generated in a feed manufactory operating for the commercialization of animal-vegetable materials were analyzed and the odor reduction efficiency by a chemical scrubber was evaluated. The major causative substances in the feed manufactory comprised about 45.4% of ketone compounds and about 13.3% of aldehyde compounds. On the other hand, the removal efficiencies of diacetyl and acetoin as ketone compounds were 77.3% and 78.1%, respectively, by a chemical scrubber. Additionally, the removal efficiencies of acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, valeraldehyde, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, and nonanal were 86.0%, 78.9%, 67.4%, 52.8%, and 71.9%, respectively. These rates were higher than the odor generation substance contribution rate as a result of treating the exhaust gas generated from the feed manufactory by the chemical scrubber using 5% of C3. It was also found that xylene, methylcyclopentane, benzene, ethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and decane were almost not removed.

본 연구에서는 한외여과 polysulfone (PSf) 중공사막에 첨가제를 섞는 방법을 통해 친수성 증가에 따른 분리막 특성 및 성능을 향상하고자 하였다. 15 nm 크기의 fumed silica (FS)를 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 wt%로 방사 용액에 분산시켜 혼합 매트릭스 분리막을 제조하였다. 단면 및 표면상태를 확인하기 위해 SEM 분석을 진행하였으며, FS가 함유될수록 중공사막의 평균 기공 반경이 4 nm 이상 증가하는 것을 확인하였다. 또한, 분리막의 친수성 분석을 위해 접촉각 측정을 진행하였으며, FS 함유로 분리막의 친수성이 높아진 것을 확인하였다. 수투과도의 경우 FS가 섞인 분리막은 91~96 LMH 수준을 보였으며 PSf 분리막보다 5~11%의 증가율을 보였다. 내오염성 평가에서도 친수도가 상승한 FS 혼합 중공사막 표면에 소수성을 띄는 BSA가 흡착되지 못하여 상대 유량 감소율이 PSf 단일막 보다 낮아졌음을 확인하였다.

H13 tool steels are widely used as metallic mold materials due to their high hardness and thermal stability. Recently, many studies are undertaken to satisfy the demands for manufacturing the complex shape of the mold using a 3D printing technique. It is reported that the mechanical properties of 3D printed materials are lower than those of commercial forged alloys owing to micropores. In this study, we investigate the effect of microstructures and defects on mechanical properties in the 3D printed H13 tool steels. H13 tool steel is fabricated using a selective laser melting(SLM) process with a scan speed of 200 mm/ s and a layer thickness of 25 μm. Microstructures are observed and porosities are measured by optical and scanning electron microscopy in the X-, Y-, and Z-directions with various the build heights. Tiny keyhole type pores are observed with a porosity of 0.4%, which shows the lowest porosity in the center region. The measured Vickers hardness is around 550 HV and the yield and tensile strength are 1400 and 1700 MPa, respectively. The tensile properties are predicted using two empirical equations through the measured values of the Vickers hardness. The prediction of tensile strength has high accuracy with the experimental data of the 3D printed H13 tool steel. The effects of porosities and unmelted powders on mechanical properties are also elucidated by the metallic fractography analysis to understand tensile and fracture behavior.

The design of non-precious electrocatalysts with low-cost, good stability, and an improved oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) to replace the platinium-based electrocatalyst is significant for application of fuel cells and metal-air batteries with high energy density. In this study, we synthesize iron-carbide(Fe3C) embedded nitrogen(N) doped carbon nanofiber(CNF) as electrocatalysts for ORRs using electrospinning, precursor deposition, and carbonization. To optimize electrochemical performance, we study the three stages according to different amounts of iron precursor. Among them, Fe3C-embedded N doped CNF-1 exhibits the most improved electrochemical performance with a high onset potential of −0.18 V, a high E1/2 of −0.29 V, and a nearly four-electron pathway (n = 3.77). In addition, Fe3C-embedded N doped CNF-1 displays exellent long-term stabillity with the lowest ΔE1/2= 8 mV compared to the other electrocatalysts. The improved electrochemical properties are attributed to synergestic effect of N-doping and well-dispersed iron carbide embedded in CNF. Consequently, Fe3C-embedded N doped CNF is a promising candidate for non-precious electrocatalysts for high-performance ORRs.

Although thin-film nanocomposite membranes (TFNs) have paved the way to develop high-performance reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, scale-up production of TFNs is still challenging issue. Herein, we introduced a novel preparation method for TFNs using spray-assisted nanofiller pre-deposition (Spray method) to circumvent the limitations in conventional method. The precise control of nanofiller (ZIF-8) loading was possible by simply varying the spraying ZIF-8 concentration. Most importantly, TFNs prepared by both Spray and conventional method showed similar RO performances, while Spray method only requires ~100 times minimized amount of ZIF-8 with an unprecedentedly short deposition time (< 1 min) ever reported. Our results revealed that Spray method would be promising for the scale-up of TFNs in terms of cost, time, and controllability.

In this study, we prepared thin composite membranes in which a support layer and a selective layer are covalently bonded in a simple method. The graft polymerization was carried out using UV/Ozone on a commercial Poly(sulfone) ultrafiltration membrane with Poly((ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PEGMA) possessing CO2 affinity. As a result, nano-pores on the surface membrane were covered with PEGMA. The covalent bonding of the composite membranes has the advantage of improving stability and weatherability. In addition, due to the thin selective layer formed by the graft polymerization, highly gas permeation characteristics are exhibited, and efficient process performance can be expected. The final composite membranes were investigated in terms of their chemical structures and elements, and gas permeation properties.

물 부족 현상의 해결책으로 저에너지 해수담수화가 가능한 정삼투 공정에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 정삼투는 다양한 수처리 분야에 적용이 가능하며 낮은 비용, 낮은 에너지 소비량, 낮은 막오염의 장점을 가지며 이로 인해 최근 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 최근에는 고분자 전해질을 이용한 유도용질, 온도감응성 고분자를 이용한 유도용질, 나노재료를 이용한 나노파티클 유도용질의 연구가 진행되었으나 상용화에는 이르지 못하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 분자량 약 800의 폴리에틸렌이민을 카복실산 금속염의 형태로 치환함으로써 물에 대한 용해도가 큰 PEI800-K을 합성하였다. 이를 유도용질로서 성능평가를 진행하여 다른 유도용액과 비교실험을 수행하고, 정삼투 후 유도용질의 회수를 위해 나노여과를 사용하였다.

Commercial polystyrene-based ion exchange membranes have simple manufacturing processes, they also possess the poor durability due to their brittleness. Poly(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate with hydrophilic side chain of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was used as a co-monomer to make the membranes have improved flexibility. Hydrophilicity of the anion exchange membrane was able to be adjusted by varying the chain lengths of the PEG polymers. For the preparation of the anion exchange membranes, a porous PE substrate was immersed into monomer solutions and thermally polymerized and crosslinked. The prepared membranes were then subsequently post-aminated using trimethylamine(TMA). The prepared pore-filled anion exchange membranes were evaluated in terms of ion exchange capacity(IEC), electric resistance(ER) and water uptake.