A novel kind of self-assembled graphene quantum dots-Co3O4 (GQDs-Co3O4) nanocomposite was successfully manufactured through a hydrothermal approach and used as an extremely effectual oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst. The characterization of morphology with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that Co3O4 nanosheets combined with graphene quantum dots (GQDs) had a new type of hexagonal lamellar selfassembly structure. The GQDs-Co3O4 electrocatalyst showed enhanced electrochemical catalytic properties in an alkaline solution. The start potential of the OER was 0.543 V (vs SCE) in 1 M KOH solution, and 0.577 V (vs SCE) in 0.1 M KOH solution correspondingly. The current density of 10 mA cm− 2 had been attained at the overpotential of 321 mV in 1 M KOH solution and 450 mV in 0.1 M KOH solution. Furthermore, the current density can reach 171 mA cm− 2 in 1 M KOH solution and 21.4 mA cm− 2 in 0.1 M KOH solution at 0.8 V. Moreover, the GQDs-Co3O4 nanocomposite also maintained an ideal constancy in an alkaline solution with only a small deterioration of the activity (7%) compared with the original value after repeating potential cycling for 1000 cycles.

Viral protein 2 (VP2) of porcine parvovirus (PPV) is responsible for inducing neutralizing antibodies in immunized animals. It is the major viral structural protein. In this study, novel subunit vaccines against PPV based on virus-like particles (VLPs) formed from VP2 proteins (PPV 13-7 Korean strain) were expressed in an insect baculovirus cell system and purified using Ni-NTA affinity column chromatography. These VP2 proteins assembled into virus-like particles (VLPs). They showed antigenic properties similar to those of natural PPV. In addition, they showed high hemagglutination (HA) titers (211 for PPV 13-7 Korean strain). This study provides a foundation for the application of the difference immunization of recombinant protein in the diversity of PPV VP2 genes and in vaccination against PPV in the future.

We investigate the characteristics of self-assembled quantum dot infrared photodetectors(QDIPs) based on doping level. Two kinds of QDIP samples are prepared using molecular beam epitaxy : n+-i(QD)-n+ QDIP with undoped quantum dot(QD) active region and n+-n−(QD)-n+ QDIP containing Si direct doped QDs. InAs QDIPs were grown on semi-insulating GaAs (100) wafers by molecular-beam epitaxy. Both top and bottom contact GaAs layer are Si doped at 2×1018/cm3. The QD layers are grown by two-monolayer of InAs deposition and capped by InGaAs layer. For the n+-n−(QD)-n+ structure, Si dopant is directly doped in InAs QD at 2×1017/cm3. Undoped and doped QDIPs show a photoresponse peak at about 8.3 μm, ranging from 6~10 μm at 10 K. The intensity of the doped QDIP photoresponse is higher than that of the undoped QDIP on same temperature. Undoped QDIP yields a photoresponse of up to 50 K, whereas doped QDIP has a response of up to 30 K only. This result suggests that the doping level of QDs should be appropriately determined by compromising between photoresponsivity and operating temperature.

As the size of the wind turbine tower becomes larger and larger, research on assembled wind turbine tower that is advantageous for transportation and installation is continuing. Large wind turbine tower require door openings for maintenance. The opening of the tower has an irregular cross section, and an excessive stress is generated due to the door opening. The result is structural damage to the tower and many accidents. In this research, stress analysis was performed on a model with internal stiffener to prevent excessive stress. The stress was investigated around the openings where the tower was resonant and excessive stressed, and the shape of the openings was optimized. Through optimization, we confirmed that the maximum stress was reduced by about 6% with respect to the initial value.

Piezodialysis involves the preferential permeation of ions over water molecules through charge mosaic membranes (CMM). This energy-efficient process incites interest as an alternative route to water desalination. But the development of effective CMMs remains a challenge due to their difficult fabrication. Herein, preparation of the positive and negative domains of a CMM were optimized. Negative poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) was blended in poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix, same as that of the positive poly(diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride). Results reveal that a balance between the two domains is critical for the CMM to achieve high salt enrichment and mechanical stability. This work was supported by NRF funded by the Korea government (MSIP) (No. 2017R1A2B2002109) and Basic Science Research Program of Ministry of Education (2009-0093816).

Recently, as the number of earthquakes has increased, the building structure standard has been revised in 2016. In order to minimize earthquake damage, steel frame is used as the most economical and efficient lateral resistance system. Also, when the steel braces are subject to Compressive load, which causes unstable behavior of the structure. In order to verify the compressive behavior of the reinforced Braces, structural performance tests were conducted with variables of slenderness ratio and the amount of reinforcement. This study investigates the structural performance of existing double - angle steel braces by reinforcing them with non- welded/assembled light-weight steel frames and proposes a suitable reinforced section.

Self-assembled monolayers(SAM) of microspheres such as silica and polystyrene(PS) beads have found widespread application in photonic crystals, sensors, and lithographic masks or templates. From a practical viewpoint, setting up a highthroughput process to form a SAM over large areas in a controllable manner is a key challenging issue. Various methods have been suggested including drop casting, spin coating, Langmuir Blodgett, and convective self-assembly(CSA) techniques. Among these, the CSA method has recently attracted attention due to its potential scalability to an automated high-throughput process. By controlling various parameters, this process can be precisely tuned to achieve well-ordered arrays of microspheres. In this study, using a restricted meniscus CSA method, we systematically investigate the effect of the processing parameters on the formation of large area self-assembled monolayers of PS beads. A way to provide hydrophilicity, a prerequisite for a CSA, to the surface of a hydrophobic photoresist layer, is presented in order to apply the SAM of the PS beads as a mask for photonic nanojet lithography.

In this study, we investigated localized surface plasmon resonance and the related coupling phenomena with respect to various geometric parameters of Ag nanoparticles, including the size and inter-particle distance. The plasmon resonances of Ag nanoparticles were studied using three-dimensional finite difference time domain(FDTD) calculations. From the FDTD calculations, we discovered the existence of a symmetric and an anti-symmetric plasmon coupling modes in the coupled Ag nanoparticles. The dependence of the resonance wavelength with respect to the inter-particle distance was also investigated, revealing that the anti-symmetric mode is more closely correlated with the inter-particle distance of the Ag nanoparticles than the symmetric mode. We also found that higher order resonance modes are appeared in the extinction spectrum for closely spaced Ag nanoparticles. Plasmon resonance calculations for the Ag particles coated with a SiO2 layer showed enhanced plasmon coupling due to the strengthened plasmon resonance, suggesting that the inter-particle distance of the Ag nanoparticles can be estimated by measuring the transmission and absorption spectra with the plasmon resonance of symmetric and anti-symmetric localized surface plasmons.

Three dimensional self-assembled graphene hydrogels were easily fabricated by electron beam irradiation (EBI) using an aqueous solution of wool/poly(vinyl alcohol) and graphene oxide (GO). After exposure to various levels of EBI radiation, the highly porous, self-assembled, wool-based graphene hydrogels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; to determine the gel fraction, degree of swelling, gel strength, kinetics-of-swelling analyses and removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from the aqueous solution. X-ray diffraction results confirmed that EBI played a significantly important role in reducing GO to graphene. The adsorption equilibrium of Cr(VI) was reached within 80 min and the adsorption capacity was dramatically increased as the acidity of the initial solution was decreased from pH 5 to 2. Changes in ionic strength did not exert much effect on the adsorption behavior.

In this study, we present a facile method of fabricating graphene oxide (GO) filmson the surface of polyimide (PI) via layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of charged GO. The positively charged amino-phenyl functionalized GO (APGO) is alternatively complexed with the nega-tively charged GO through an electrostatic LBL assembly process. Furthermore, we investi-gated the water vapor transmission rate and oxygen transmission rate of the prepared (reduced GO [rGO]/rAPGO)10 deposited PI film(rGO/rAPGO/PI) and pure PI film.The water vapor transmission rate of the GO and APGO-coated PI composite filmwas increased due to the intrinsically hydrophilic property of the charged composite films.However, the oxygen trans-mission rate was decreased from 220 to 78 cm3/m2·day·atm, due to the barrier effect of the graphene filmson the PI surface. Since the proposed method allows for large-scale production of graphene films, it is considered to have potential for utiliation in various applications.

This cycloaddition of [70]fullerene with methyl azidoacetate in benzene under ultrasonic irradiated condition afforded the closed [5,6]-bridged aziridino[70]fullerene derivative, which was unusual product of cycloaddition to the 5,6-junction of fullerene. Its structure was determined by FAB-MS, UV-vis, 1H- and 13C-NMR spectral data. The closed [5,6]-bridged aziridino[70]fullerene-functionalized gold nanoparticle films were self-assembled using the layer-by-layer method on the reactive of glass slides functionalized with 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane. The functionalized glass slides were alternately soaked in the solution containing closed the [5,6]-bridged aziridino[70]fullerene and 4-aminothiophenoxide/hexanethiolate-protected gold nanoparticles. The closed [5,6]-bridged aziridino[70]fullerene-functionalized gold nanoparticle films have grown up to 5 layers depending on the immersion time. The self-assembled nanoparticle multilayer films were characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy showed that the surface plasmon band of gold at 527 nm gradually became more evident as successive layers were added to the films.

Vapor phase polymerization of a conductive polymer on a SiO2 surface can offer an easy and convenient means to depositing pure and conductive polymer thin films. However, the vapor phase deposition is generally associated with very poor adhesion as well as difficulty when patterning the polymer thin film onto an oxide dielectric substrate. For a significant improvement of the patternability and adhesion of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) thin film to a SiO2 surface, the substrate was pre-patterned with n-octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) molecules using a μ-contact printing method. The negative patterns were then backfilled with each of three amino-functionalized silane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APS), N-(2-aminoethyl)-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (EDA), and (3- trimethoxysilylpropyl)diethylenetriamine (DET). The quality and electrical properties of the patterned P3HT thin films were investigated with optical and atomic force microscopy and a four-point probe. The results exhibited excellent selective deposition and significantly improved adhesion of P3HT films to a SiO2 surface. In addition, the conductivity of polymeric thin films was relatively high (~13.51 S/cm).