Heavy metals resulted from the increase of human industrial activity are introduced into the environment through rainfall and wastewater, and have harmful effects on inhabitants. In this study, we investigated biological responses such as survival rate, growth rate, emergence rate and sex ratio, and morphological effects of mentum deformity in Chironomus plumosus, an indicator organism to evaluate pollutions on aquatic ecosystem. The survival rate of C. plumosus showed time- and dose-dependent decrease after chromium and copper exposures. Growth rate decreased at 4th day after chromium exposure and significantly reduced at exposure to relatively high concentration (copper 1000 mg L-1) for all exposure times. In addition, we observed that the emergence rate by exposure to copper 1000 mg L-1 was significantly lower than that of the control group. The imbalance of sex ratios showed at relatively low concentrations (chromium 10 and 50 mg L-1) with the high proportion of female and at the relative high concentration (copper 1000 mg L-1) with the high proportion of male. Furthermore, the morphological mentum deformities of C. plumosus observed in the exposed group according to chromium and copper exposure. These results suggest that the heavy metal exposure in environment may influence biosynthetic and morphological stresses of benthic invertebrate C. plumosus, and aquatic midge C. plumosus are potential indicators for toxicity assessment of heavy metals such as chromium and copper.

Cr-Al alloys are attracting attention as oxidation resistant coating materials for high temperature metallic materials due to their excellent high temperature stability. However, the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of Cr-Al alloys can be further enhanced, and such attempts are made in this study. To improve the properties of Cr-Al alloys, Si is added up to 5 wt%. Casting specimens with different amounts of Si content are prepared by a vacuum arc remelting method and isothermally heated under steam conditions at 1,100oC for 1 hour. The as-cast microstructure of low Si alloys is mainly composed of only a Cr phase, while Al8Cr5 and Cr3Si phases are also observed in the 5% Si alloy. In the high Si alloy, only Cr and Cr3Si phases remain after the isothermal heating at 1,100oC. It is found that Si additions slightly decrease the oxidation resistance of the Cr-Al alloy. However, the microhardness of the Cr-Al alloy is observed to increase with an increasing Si content.

높은 산소 분리 특성과 CO₂에 대한 안정성을 보인 LSTF가 코팅된 BSCF 분리막을 bench 규모의 장치에 적용하여 산소 투과 실험을 수행 하였다. 그 결과 실험실 장치에서 측정한 산소 투과율과 다른 결과를 보였다. 이와 같은 산소 투과율의 변화를 XRD와 SEM/EDS를 통해 분석 하였다. 또한 실험실 규모 장치와 bench 규모 장치의 분리막 반응기 내 온도 구배에 따라서 분리막을 3영역으로 나누어 각각 비교 분석하였다.

This study investigates the microstructure and wear properties of cermet (ceramic + metal) coating materials manufactured using high velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) process. Three types of HVOF coating layers are formed by depositing WC-12Co, WC-20Cr-7Ni, and Cr3C2-20NiCr (wt.%) powders on S45C steel substrate. The porosities of the coating layers are 1 ± 0.5% for all three specimens. Microstructural analysis confirms the formation of second carbide phases of W2C, Co6W6C, and Cr7C3 owing to decarburizing of WC phases on WC-based coating layers. In the case of WC-12Co coating, which has a high ratio of W2C phase with high brittleness, the interface property between the carbide and the metal binder slightly decreases. In the Cr3C2-20CrNi coating layer, decarburizing almost does not occur, but fine cavities exist between the splats. The wear loss occurs in the descending order of Cr3C2-20NiCr, WC-12Co, and WC-20Cr-7Ni, where WC-20Cr-7Ni achieves the highest wear resistance property. It can be inferred that the ratio of the carbide and the binding properties between carbide–binder and binder–binder in a cermet coating material manufactured with HVOF as the primary factors determine the wear properties of the cermet coating material.

In this study, the coating of an Al-Cr layer on the surface of a Zircaloy-4 alloy was carried out through plasma pretreatment coating and a laser surface melting process. Two different conditions for laser treatment, severe or minimal surface melting of the Zr alloy substrate, were applied to form the final coating. When there was significant surface melting of the Zr alloy, the solidification microstructure of the newly formed coating layer was mainly composed of needle-shaped Al3Zr, Al(Cr) and Al7Cr phases. On the other hand, the solidification microstructure of the coating layer was mainly composed of Al(Cr) and Al7Cr phases when there was minimal surface melting of Zr base in the laser process. However, when the coating was maintained at 1100 oC for 2 hours, significant inter-diffusion occurred between the phases in the coating. As a result, the upper part of the coating layer was observed to mainly consist of Al3Zr and Al8Cr5 phases, regardless of the laser treatment conditions.

In this study we manufacture a Ni-Cr-B-Si +WC/12Co composite coating layer on a Cu base material using a laser cladding (LC) process, and investigate the microstructural and mechanical properties of the LC coating and Ni electroplating layers (reference material). The initial powder used for the LC coating layer is a powder feedstock with an average particle size of 125 μm. To identify the microstructural and mechanical properties, OM, SEM, XRD, room and high temperature hardness, and wear tests are implemented. Microstructural observation of the initial powder and LC coating layer confirm the layer is composed mainly of γ-Ni phases and WC and Cr23C6 carbides. The measured hardness of the LC coating and Ni electroplating layers are 653 and 154 Hv, respectively. The hardness measurement from room up to high temperatures of 700°C result in a hardness decrease as the temperature increases, but the hardness of the LC coating layer is higher for all temperature conditions. Room temperature wear results show that the wear loss of the LC coating layer is 1/12 of the wear level of the Ni electroplating layer. The measured bond strength is also greater in the LC coating than the Ni electroplating.

An optimum route to fabricate oxide dispersion strengthened ferritic superalloy with desired microstructure was investigated. Two methods of high energy ball milling or polymeric additive solution route for developing a uniform dispersion of Y2O3 particles in Fe-Cr-Al-Ti alloy powders were compared on the basis of the resulting microstructures. Microstructural observation revealed that the crystalline size of Fe decreased with increases in milling time, to values of about 15-20 nm, and that an FeCr alloy phase was formed. SEM and TEM analyses of the alloy powders fabricated by solution route using yttrium nitrate and polyvinyl alcohol showed that the nano-sized Y-oxide particles were well distributed in the Fe based alloy powders. The prepared powders were sintered at 1000 and 1100 oC for 30 min in vacuum. The sintered specimen with heat treatment before spark plasma sintering at 1100 oC showed a more homogeneous microstructure. In the case of sintering at 1100 oC, the alloys exhibited densified microstructure and the formation of large reaction phases due to oxidation of Al.

This study investigates the oxidation properties of Fe-14Cr ferritic oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel at various high temperatures (900, 1000, and 1100°C for 24 h). The initial microstructure shows that no clear structural change occurs even under high-temperature heat treatment, and the average measured grain size is 0.4 and 1.1 μm for the as-fabricated and heat-treated specimens, respectively. Y–Ti–O nanoclusters 10–50 nm in size are observed. High-temperature oxidation results show that the weight increases by 0.27 and 0.29 mg/cm2 for the asfabricated and heat-treated (900°C) specimens, and by 0.47 and 0.50 mg/cm2 for the as-fabricated and heat-treated (1000°C) specimens, respectively. Further, after 24 h oxidation tests, the weight increases by 56.50 and 100.60 mg/cm2 for the as-fabricated and heat-treated (1100°C) specimens, respectively; the latter increase is approximately 100 times higher than that at 1000°C. Observation of the surface after the oxidation test shows that Cr2O3 is the main oxide on a specimen tested at 1000°C, whereas Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 phases also form on a specimen tested at 1100°C, where the weight increases rapidly. The high-temperature oxidation behavior of Fe-14Cr ODS steel is confirmed to be dominated by changes in the Cr2O3 layer and generation of Fe-based oxides through evaporation.

KAERI에서는 파이로프로세싱에서 발생하는 금속폐기물의 부피 및 무게 감량을 위해 고방사성 장반감기 핵종을 포함하는 anode sludge내 NM의 고화매질로써 폐피복관과 첨가금속을 재활용하는 연구를 진행하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 Cr 함량을 조절한 Zr-17Cr-8NM, Zr-22Cr-8NM, Zr-27Cr-8NM 합금을 유도용융을 통해 제조하였고, 전기화학적 부식시험을 실시하여 부 식특성을 평가하였다. 모든 조성에서 기존 연구 중인 Zr계 합금고화체 조성보다 우수한 부식특성을 나타냈다. 또한 Zr-22Cr- 8NM 시편의 부식시험 후 침출용액 조성 분석 결과, 500 mV 전압 조건 이하에서는 NM 침출이 없었고 이를 통해 우수한 화 학적 안정성을 갖는 합금고화체 조성을 확보하였다.

Fe-Si-Cr ferroalloy is predominantly produced by carbothermic reduction. In this study, silicothermic and carbothermic mixed reduction of chromite ore to produce Fe-Si-Cr alloy is suggested. As reductants, silicon and silicon carbide are evaluated by thermochemical calculations, which prove that silicon carbide can be applied as a raw material. Considering the critical temperature of the change from the carbide to the metallic form of chromium, thereduction experiments were carried out. In these high temperature reactions, silicon and silicon carbide act as effective reductants to produce Fe-Si-Cr ferroalloy. However, at temperatures lower than the critical temperature, silicon carbide shows a slow reaction rate for reducing chromite ore. For the proper implementation of a commercial process that uses silicon carbide reductants, the operation temperature should be kept above the critical temperature. Using equilibrium calculations for chromite ore reduction with silicon and silicon carbide, the compositions of reacted metal and slag were successfully predicted. Therefore, the mass balance of the silicothermic and carbothermic mixed reduction of chromite ore can be proposed based on the calculations and the experimental results.

Nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets with a developed porous structure were prepared from polyurethane foams by hydrothermal carbonization following ZnCl2 chemical activation. Scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet structure and composition. The removal of Cr(VI) by the N-doped carbon nanosheets was investigated. The results showed that the maximum removal capacity for chromium of 188 mg/g was found at pH=2.0 with PHC-Z-3. pH had an important effect on Cr(VI) removal and the optimal pH was 2.0. Moreover, amino groups and carboxyl groups in the nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet played important roles in Cr(VI) removal, and promoted the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III).

본 연구에서는 해산 규조류(Skeletonema cosatatum)의 개체군성장률(r)을 사용하여 중금속 3종 (As, Cr, Pb)의 독성영향 평가를 실시하였다. S. costatum을 As (0, 0.32, 0.63, 1.25, 2.50 및 5.00 mg L-1), Cr (0, 0.16, 0.32, 0.63, 1.25 및 2.50 mg L-1) 및 Pb (0, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, 10.00 및 20.00 mg L-1)에 96시간 노출한 이후에 r 값을 측정하였다. 대조구에서 r 은 0.04보다 높았으며 As 농 도 0.63, Cr 농도 0.63 및 Pb 농도 10.00 mg L-1 이상에서 r 이 대조구 대비 유의하게 감소하였고 중금속 농도가 증가할수록 농도 의존적으로 감소되는 경향을 나타냈다. EC50(반수영향농도)을 이용한 중금속의 독성세기는 Cr>As>Pb 순서를 나타냈으며, EC50 각각 0.80, 2.57 및 13.88 mg L-1으로 나타났으며, 최소영향농도(LOEC)는 각각 0.63, 0.63 및 10.00 mg L-1으로 나타났다. LOEC 를 기준으로 해양환경에서 Cr, As, Pb 농도가 0.63, 0.63 및 10.00 mg L-1 이상이 되었을 때, S. costatum에게 독성 영향이 나타날 수 있을 것으로 판단된다. 또한, 본 연구를 통해 S. costatum 의 r 은 해양생태계 내에서 생산자 역할을 하는 생물에 대한 중금속의 독성평가를 위하여 유용 하게 사용될 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.