Achieving cost-effective and defect-free graphene sheets is highly desirable for sensor devices. Aiming this, few-layer graphene (~ 3) sheets are prepared by an electrochemical exfoliation with [NMP] [ HSO4] electrolyte (i.e., Bronsted acidic ionic liquid). A novel approach for the effective exfoliation of graphene sheets is demonstrated by (i) simultaneously applying a constant potential through an electrochemical cell (with different electrolyte concentrations) and (ii) together with sonication. The exfoliated graphene sheets are characterized through state-of-the-art techniques and sprayed on a glass substrate at optimum conditions. Thus, the transparent conducting sensor device is fabricated with a suitable contact electrode and used for ammonia vapor sensing and the sensor performances are highly dependent on the concentration of the ionic liquid used during the electrochemical exfoliation. The sensing response and limit of detection for the exfoliated graphene-based film were calculated as 3.56% and 432 ppb, respectively. Further studies indicated that the fabricated sensors are more selective towards ammonia molecules with quick response and recovery times.

For the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with ammonia (NH3-SCR), a V2O5WO3/TiO2 (VW/nTi) catalyst was prepared using V2O5 and WO3 on a nanodispersed TiO2 (nTi) support by simple impregnation process. The nTi support was dispersed for 0~3 hrs under controlled bead-milling in ethanol. The average particle size (D50) of nTi was reduced from 582 nm to 93 nm depending on the milling time. The NOx activity of these catalysts with maximum temperature shift was influenced by the dispersion of the TiO2. For the V0.5W2/nTi-0h catalyst, prepared with 582 nm nTi-0h before milling, the decomposition temperature with over 94 % NOx conversion had a narrow temperature window, within the range of 365-391 °C. Similarly, the V0.5W2/nTi-2h catalyst, prepared with 107 nm nTi-2h bead-milled for 2hrs, showed a broad temperature window in the range of 358~450 °C. However, the V0.5W2/Ti catalyst (D50 = 2.4 μm, aqueous, without milling) was observed at 325-385 °C. Our results could pave the way for the production of effective NOx decomposition catalysts with a higher temperature range. This approach is also better at facilitating the dispersion on the support material. NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, FT-IR, and XPS were used to investigate the role of nTi in the DeNOx catalyst.

전자 및 화학 산업의 초순수 생산 및 원자력 발전소의 부식 제어를 위해 이온교환 수지탑의 성능 파악이 필수적이다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 4종의 H 및 ETAH 형 양이온 교환수지가 채워진 양이온 및 혼상 이온교환수지탑에 미량의 NaCl를 포함하는 에탄올아민(ETA) 및 암모니아(NH3) 용액을 주입하여 양이온 파과특성을 조사하였다. 조사 결과, 주성분인 ETAH+ 및 NH4 +와 달리, 미량성분인 Na+는 (이론적교환용량의 3배 이상) 시험기간 동안 수지탑 출구에서 파과 및 오버슈팅 현상이 나타나지 않았다. H형 수지탑의 파과현상은 ETAH+ 및 NH4 +가 순서대로 일어났고, 오버슈팅은 NH4 +가 파과할때 ETAH+에 대해서 발생했다. 파과영역의 너비로 결정되는 상대적 선택도는 NH4 +가 ETAH+보다 최대 51.5 % 더 높았다. 유입수 Na+ 농도가 높을수록, 선택도는 감소하고 오버슈팅 현상은 증가하였다. 이온교환 수지의 고유 특성을 개선하여 감소시킬 수 있는 Na+ 누출은, ETAH형에서 높았고 4종의 양이온수지에 대해 동일하지 않은 것으로 조사되었다.

Cr thin films with O added are deposited on sapphire substrate by DC sputtering and are nitrided in NH3 atmosphere between 300 and 900 oC for various times. X-ray diffraction results show that nitridation begins at 500 oC, forming CrN and Cr2N. Cr oxides of Cr2O3 are formed at 600 oC. And, at temperatures higher than 900 oC, the intermediate materials of Cr2N and Cr2O3 disappear and CrN is dominant. The atomic concentration ratios of Cr and O are 77% and 23%, respectively, over the entire thickness of as-deposited Cr thin film. In the sample nitrided at 600 oC, a CrN layer in which O is substituted with N is formed from the surface to 90 nm, and the concentrations of Cr and N in the layer are 60% and 40%, respectively. For this reason, CrN and Cr2N are distributed in the CrN region, where O is substituted with N by nitridation, and Cr oxynitrides are formed in the region below this. The nitridation process is controlled by inter-diffusion of O and N and the parabolic growth law, with activation energy of 0.69 eV.

The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the effects of temperature and relative humidity on two electrochemical sensors measuring hydrogen sulfide and ammonia using a laboratory testing system for various sensors, and (ii) to propose a calibration method for those concentrations to collect more reliable monitoring data. The effect of temperature and relative humidity was tested under three different conditions, respectively. The linearities measured data under all different conditions for the relative humidity and temperature were excellent, indicating more than 0.99 of R2 for both odor sensors. Under the condition of zero concentration, baselines (intercepts) at zero increased with increasing relative humidity for both hydrogen sulfide and ammonia sensors. The rate of gas concentration according to ADC variation (slopes) increased with increasing relative humidity about only the hydrogen sulfide sensor. In this study, slope, and intercept are utilized for calibration of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia concentration, and the reliability of the data of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia sensors is further enhanced by the relational expression obtained by this paper.

We used three gas sensors to monitor hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which were frequently emitted from environmental facilities, such as municipal wastewater treatment, livestock manure treatment, and food waste composting facilities. Two electrochemical (EC) sensors for detecting hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, and a photoionization detector (PID) sensor for detecting VOCs were characterized in this study. The performance of their linearity by concentration levels, lower detection limit (LDL), repeatability, reproducibility, precision, and response time were tested under the laboratory condition. The linearity according to concentration levels were favorable for all three sensors with high correlation coefficients (R2 > 0.98). The ammonia sensor showed the highest LDL (18.6 ppb) and the hydrogen sulfide and VOC sensors showed 22.3 ppb and 26.7 ppb of LDL, respectively. The reproducibility and precision were favorable for all three sensors, indicating a lower relative standard deviation (RSD) than 0.9% in the reproducibility test and 7.2% in the precision test. The response times to reach target concentration were varied from 1 to 12 minutes. The ammonia sensor needed 12 minutes of response time at 1 ppm target the NH3 concentration and the hydrogen sulfide and VOC sensors needed less than 2 minutes of response time.

In order to industrialization of the entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) isolated in Korea, it is necessary to switch to infective juveniles. Since the conversion to infective juveniles in the end of solid culture is important against the outside environment, it has a great influence on insecticidal efficacy and shelf life. We investigated whether the concentration of CO2 and NH3 at the end of the solid culture was artificially increased to affect the infective juvenile induction rate. Optimal exposure time for conversion to infective juveniles was 5 minutes for CO2 and 3 minutes for NH3. Optimal treatment time was 9 days after EPN inoculation for both CO2 and NH3. And optimum concentration was 80~90% for both CO2 and NH3 for EPN infective juveniles stage conversion.

In order to compare greenhouse gases emission from different animal manures and to explore how different animal manures effect on soil mineralization, three kinds of materials, cattle, goat and chicken manure were amended to soil for 14 days incubation as CtS (cattle manure-amended soil), GS (goat manure-amended soil) and ChS (chicken manure-amended soil). Cumulative NH3 emissions in all treatments were rapidly increased until day 7 and then it was slightly increased in three manure-amended soils but maintained in control until day 14. GS had the highest NH3 emission at 0.14 mg kg-1 during the entire experimental period. Emissions of CO2 were highly increased by 7.8-, 9.0- and 12.4-fold in CtS, GS and ChS, respectively, compared to control at day 14. A significant increase of N2O emission in all treatments occurred within 5 days and then it was slightly increased until day 14. N2O emission was 2-fold higher in all manure-amended soils than that of control. Compared to day 1, inorganic N (NH4 + plus NO3 --N) content was highly increased in all four treatments at day 14. The increase rate was the highest in CtS treatment. Net N mineralization was increased by 4.0-, 2.4- and 2.9-fold in CtS, GS and ChS, respectively, compared to control. These results indicate that increase of NH3, CO2 and N2O gas emissions was positively related to high N mineralization.

Organometal halide perovskite materials, due to the tunability of their electronic and optical properties by control of composition and structure, have taken a position of significant importance in optoelectronic applications such as photovoltaic and lighting devices. Despite numerous studies on the structure - property relationship, however, practical application of these materials in electronic and optical devices is still limited by their processability during fabrication. Achieving nano-sized perovskite particles embedded in a polymer matrix with high loading density and outstanding photoluminescence performance is challenging. Here, we demonstrate that the careful control of nanoparticle formation and growth in the presence of poly(methyl methacrylate) results in perovskite nanoparticle - polymer nanocomposites with very good dispersion and photoluminescence. Furthermore, this approach is found to prevent further growth of perovskite nanoparticles, and thus results in a more uniform film, which enables fabrication using the perovskite nanoparticles.

Mineralization is an important biological process for conversion of organic nitrogen (N) to inorganic N which can be used by plants directly. To investigate the effect of different manures on soil mineralization, the soil amended with cattle (CtM), goat (GM), chicken manure (ChM) and pig slurry (PS) were incubated under in vitro condition and ammonium N (NH4 +-N), ammonification rate and ammonia emission were determined for eighty-four days. NH4 +-N was the highest in PS-amended soil for the whole experimental period. NH4 +-N in PS-amended soil was gradually decreased until day 84, whereas it was rapidly decreased for the first 14 days and then slightly increased until 84 days in ChM-, CtM- and GM-amended soil. The ammonification rate showed negative value for the first 14 days in all treatments. From day 14, ammonification rate started to increase in CtM- and ChM-amended soil, whereas it was maintained in GM- and PS-amended soil until day 84. The daily ammonia emission was the highest in PS-amended soil (41mg kg-1 d-1), followed by CtM-, ChM-, and GM-amended soil at day 1. It was gradually decreased until day 84 in all treatments. The total NH3 emission was the highest in PS-amended soil with 0.6 mg kg-1 for 84 days, while less than 0.1 mg kg-1 in three other plots. These results indicate that different manures showed different soil ammonification rate and NH3 emission.

In this study, we used activated carbon(AC) as a carbon source, along with zeolite, to prepare spherical carbons using sucrose, starch and phenolic resin(PR) as binder material. The physicochemical characteristics of the three samples(AZ4P, AZ6P and AZ8P) were examined by BET, XRD, SEM, EDX, H2S/NH3 gas adsorption, compressive strength and ignition test techniques. Through comparative analysis of the compressive strength and ignition test results the AZ8P sample was found to have the best hardness and the highest temperature resistance capacity. After activation, the AZ8P sample had the best H2S adsorption capacity, and AZ6P was the most suitable for the adsorption of ammonia.

Fabrication of iron oxide/carbon nanotube composite structures for detection of ammonia gas at room temperature is reported. The iron oxide/carbon nanotube composite structures are fabricated by in situ co-arc-discharge method using a graphite source with varying numbers of iron wires inserted. The composite structures reveal higher response signals at room temperature than at high temperatures. As the number of iron wires inserted increased, the volume of carbon nanotubes and iron nanoparticles produced increased. The oxidation condition of the composite structures varied the carbon nanotube/iron oxide ratio in the structure and, consequently, the resistance of the structures and, finally, the ammonia gas sensing performance. The highest sensor performance was realized with 500 oC/2 h oxidation heat-treatment condition, in which most of the carbon nanotubes were removed from the composite and iron oxide played the main role of ammonia sensing. The response signal level was 62% at room temperature. We also found that UV irradiation enhances the sensing response with reduced recovery time.