Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) is one of the 4th generation nuclear power systems which is its verified technology in physically and chemically. Among the various salts used for MSR system, the eutectic composition of NaCl-MgCl2 system maintains the liquid state at around 450°C, in the same time, it has high solubility for nuclear fuel chlorides. This characteristic has high advantage for lowering the operating temperature for the MSR, which could reduce the problem of hightemperature corrosion by salt for structural materials significantly. In particular, since MgCl2 has the similar standard reduction potential with nuclear fuel, is used as a surrogate for, many basic researches have been conducted for verifying characteristic of MgCl2. It is well-known that main short-advantage of MgCl2 is hygroscopic properties. MgCl2 changes to MgCl2-xH2O state easily by absorbing moisture in air condition. The hydrated MgCl2 is producing MgOHCl by thermally decomposing at high temperature, the formed MgOHCl corrodes structural materials, even small amount of MgOHCl gives significant damage. Therefore, the purification of MgCl2 has been required for long-term operation of MSR using MgCl2 as a base salt. In this study, the purification of eutectic composition salt for NaCl-MgCl2 has been mainly performed by considering its thermodynamic properties and electrochemical characteristic, and the experimental results have been discussed.

The solid-state chemistry of uranium is essential to the nuclear fuel cycle. Uranyl nitrate is a key compound that is produced at various stages of the nuclear fuel cycle, both in front-end and backend cycles. It is typically formed by dissolving spent nuclear fuel in nitric acid or through a wet conversion process for the preparation of UF6. Additionally, uranium oxides are a primary consideration in the nuclear fuel cycle because they are the most commonly used nuclear fuel in commercial nuclear reactors. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the oxidation and thermal behavior of uranium oxides and uranyl nitrates. Under the ‘2023 Nuclear Global Researcher Training Program for the Back-end Nuclear Fuel Cycle,’ supported by KONICOF, several experiments were conducted at IMRAM (Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials) at Tohoku University. First, the recovery ratio of uranium was analyzed during the synthesis of uranyl nitrate by dissolving the actual radioisotope, U3O8, in a nitric acid solution. Second, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) of uranyl nitrate (UO2(NO3)2) and hyper-stoichiometric uranium dioxide (UO2+X) was performed. The enthalpy change was discussed to confirm the mechanism of thermal decomposition of uranyl nitrate under heating conditions and to determine the chemical hydrate form of uranyl nitrate. In the case of UO2+X, the value of ‘x’ was determined through the calculation of weight change data, and the initial form was verified using the phase diagram for the U-O system. Finally, the formation of a few UO2+X compounds was observed with heat treatment of uranyl nitrate and uranium dioxide at different temperature intervals (450°C-600°C). As a result of these studies, a deeper understanding of the thermal and chemical behavior of uranium compounds was achieved. This knowledge is vital for improving the efficiency and safety of nuclear fuel cycle processes and contributes to advancements in nuclear science and technology.

Once discharged, spent nuclear fuel undergoes an initial cooling process within deactivation pools situated at the reactor site. This cooling step is crucial for reducing the fuel’s temperature. Once the heat has sufficiently diminished, two viable options emerge: reprocessing or interim storage. A method known as PUREX, for aqueous nuclear reprocessing, involves a chemical procedure aimed at separating uranium and plutonium from the spent nuclear fuel. This separation not only minimizes waste volume but also facilitates the reuse of the extracted materials as fuel for nuclear reactors. The transformation of uranium oxides through dissolution in nitric acid followed by drying results in uranium taking the form of UO2(NO3)2 + 6H2O, which can then be converted into various solid-state configurations through different heat treatments. This study specifically focuses on investigating the phase transitions of artificially synthesized UO2(NO3)2 + 6H2O subjected to heat treatment at various temperatures (450, 500, 550, 600°C) using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Heat treatments were also conducted on UO2 to analyze its phase transformations. Additionally, the study utilized XRD analysis on an unidentified oxidized uranium oxide, UO2+X, and employed lattice parameters and Bragg’s law to ascertain the oxidation state of the unknown sample. To synthesize UO2(NO3)2 + 6H2O, U3O8 powder is first dissolved in a 20% HNO3 solution. The solid UO2(NO3)2 + 6H2O is obtained after drying on a hotplate and is subsequently subjected to heat treatment at temperatures of 450, 500, 550, and 600°C. As the heat treatment temperature increases, the color of the samples transitions from orange to dark green, indicating the formation of different phases at different temperatures. XRD analysis confirms that uranyl nitrate, when heattreated at 500 and 550°C, oxidizes to UO3, while the sample subjected to 600°C heat treatment transforms into U3O8 due to the higher temperature. All samples exhibit sharp crystal peaks in their XRD spectra, except for the one heat-treated at 450°C. In the second experiment, the XRD spectra of the heat-treated UO2 consistently indicate the presence of U3O8 rather than UO3, regardless of the temperature. Under an oxidizing atmosphere within a temperature range of 300 to 700°C, UO2 can be oxidized to form U3O8. In the final experiment, the oxidation state of the unknown UO2+X was determined using Bragg’s law and lattice parameters, revealing that it was a material in which UO2 had been oxidized, resulting in an oxidation state of UO2.24.

This study focused on improving the phase stability and mechanical properties of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), commonly utilized in gas turbine engine thermal barrier coatings, by incorporating Gd2O3, Er2O3, and TiO2. The addition of 3-valent rare earth elements to YSZ can reduce thermal conductivity and enhance phase stability while adding the 4-valent element TiO2 can improve phase stability and mechanical properties. Sintered specimens were prepared with hot-press equipment. Phase analysis was conducted with X-ray diffraction (XRD), and mechanical properties were assessed with Vickers hardness equipment. The research results revealed that, except for Z10YGE10T, most compositions predominantly exhibited the t-phase. Increasing the content of 3-valent rare earth oxides resulted in a decrease in the monoclinic phase and an increase in the tetragonal phase. In addition, the t(400) angle decreased while the t(004) angle increased. The addition of 10 mol% of 3-valent rare-earth oxides discarded the t-phase and led to the complete development of the c-phase. Adding 10 mol% TiO2 increased hardness than YSZ.

The stabilization technology for the damaged spent fuel is being developed to process the damaged fuel into sound pellet suitable for dry re-fabrication. It requires several treatments including oxidative decladding followed by reduction treatment for oxidized powder closely related to the quality of oxidized powders for pellet fabrication. For the development of operating condition for the reduction treatment, in this study, we evaluated the effect of air-cylinder based vertical shaking previously applied to oxidative decladding on powder reduction. For U3O8 of 50-100 g, the reduction test were applied with and without vertical shaking at 700°C under reduction atmosphere (Ar + 4%H2) and the concentration of hydrogen in effluent was measured to evaluate the reduction reaction. It was found that the vertical shaking system has allowed the reaction time of 50 g and 100 g U3O8 reduced by 33% compared to the test in static mode. Based on XRD analysis, the better crystallinity of the products was also achieved.

범밀도이론함수(Density Functional Theory, DFT) 기반의 제일원리전산모사는 기저상태의 DFT 에너지를 구하는데 많은 시간소요 및 전산자원을 소모하였다. 이러한 막대한 전산자원의 소모는 DFT 계산에서 고려할 원자수를 수 백개 이 하로 제한되게 되었으며, 이를 해결하기 위해서는 전자구조 계산이 아닌 원자의 환경 내에 원자간 상호작용을 정의 (Force Field, 힘장)하고 이를 통해 주어진 조성 혹은 구조에 따른 에너지를 빠르게 예측 할 수 있어야 한다. 본 논문에서 는 Behler-Parrinello가 제시한 인공신경망 모델을 활용해 인공지능 다원계 힘장을 개발하고 코발트-구리 산화물의 조성에 따른 에너지를 예측하고 안정한 구조를 탐색하는 연구를 수행하였다. 인공신경망 기술로 부터 구리-코발트 산화물에 대 해 15.7 meV/atom의 에너지 오차와 단위거리당 힘 103.6 meV/Å의 정확도를 가지는 인공신경망 포텐셜을 개발하였다. 이 방법으로 빠르고 정확하게 CuCoO 표면구조의 산소 결함률에 따른 생성에너지를 계산할 수 있었고, 에너지 컨벡스 홀을 도시 조성에 따른 안정한 구조를 예측하였다.

The automotive industry has focused on the development of metallic materials with high specific strength, which can meet both fuel economy and safety goals. Here, a new class of ultrafine-grained high-Mn steels containing nano-scale oxides is developed using powder metallurgy. First, high-energy mechanical milling is performed to dissolve alloying elements in Fe and reduce the grain size to the nanometer regime. Second, the ball-milled powder is consolidated using spark plasma sintering. During spark plasma sintering, nanoscale manganese oxides are generated in Fe-15Mn steels, while other nanoscale oxides (e.g., aluminum, silicon, titanium) are produced in Fe-15Mn-3Al-3Si and Fe-15Mn-3Ti steels. Finally, the phases and resulting hardness of a variety of high-Mn steels are compared. As a result, the sintered pallets exhibit superior hardness when elements with higher oxygen affinity are added; these elements attract oxygen from Mn and form nanoscale oxides that can greatly improve the strength of high-Mn steels.

이산화탄소 포집 및 저장기술(CCS)은 인류발생적 요인에 의한 이산화탄소 배출 증가와 그로 인한 기후변화를 완화시킬 수 있는 기술 중 하나이다. 그 중, 매체 순환식 연소(chemical looping combustion, CLC)와 칼슘루핑(calcium looping) 기술은 현재 아민 스크러빙(amine scrubbing)을 대체할 수 있는 유망한 기술로 주목받고 있다. 두 방법 모두 금속 산화물을 이용한 연속적인 순환 사이클 반응에 의한 것이다. 전체적인 이산화탄소 포집 및 저장 성능의 향상을 위해서는 사이클을 거듭 하며 발생하는 소결(sintering)로 인한 안정성 저하 문제를 해결하고 금속 산화물의 구조 또한 최적화해야 한다. 금속 산화물 표면에 얇은 박막을 형성하는 것은 소결로 인한 손상을 막을 수 있는 방법이다. 이러한 박막 제조 기술로 잘 알려진 기술에는 화학기상증착법(chemical vapor deposition)과 원자층증착기술(atomic layer deposition)이 있다. 본 총설에서는 CVD, ALD 기술을 비롯하여 효과적인 반응 안정성 향상을 위한 안정제 첨가 방법, 금속 산화물 구조 개선에 대한 다양한 최근 기술들을 다루었다.

Homogeneous multicomponent indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) ceramics for transparent electrode targets are prepared from the oxides and nitrates as the source materials, and their properties are characterized. The selected compositions were In2O3:Ga2O3:ZnO = 1:1:2, 1:1:6, and 1:1:12 in mole ratio based on oxide. As revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis, calcination of the selected oxide or nitrides at 1200oC results in the formation of InGaZnO4, InGaZn3O6, and InGaZn5O8 phases. The 1:1:2, 1:1:6, and 1:1:12 oxide samples pressed in the form of discs exhibit relative densities of 96.9, 93.2, and 84.1%, respectively, after sintering at 1450oC for 12 h. The InGaZn3O6 ceramics prepared from the oxide or nitrate batches comprise large grains and exhibit homogeneous elemental distribution. Under optimized conditions, IGZO multicomponent ceramics with controlled phases, high densities, and homogeneous microstructures (grain and elemental distribution) are obtained.

We report a facile and versatile strategy to prepare multi-dimensional nanocarbons hybridized with mesoporous SiO2. Carbon nanoplatelets (CNPs, two-dimensional structure of nanocarbons) were combined with carbon nanotubes (CNTs, onedimensional nanocarbons) to form multi-dimensional carbons (2D–1D, CNP–CNTs). The CNP–CNTs were synthesized by directly growing CNTs on CNPs. A simple solution-based process using TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate) resulted in coating or hybridizing CNP–CNTs with mesoporous silica to produce CNP–CNTs@SiO2. The nanocarbons’ surface area significantly increased as the amount of TEOS increased. Electrochemical characterizations of CNP–CNTs@SiO2 as supercapactior electrodes including cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge in 3 M KOH (aq) reveal excellent-specific capacitance of 23.84 mF cm−2 at 20 mV s−1, stable charge–discharge operation, and low internal resistance. Our work demonstrates mesoporous SiO2 on nanocarbons have great potential in electrochemical energy storage.

There are several manufacturing techniques for developing thermionic cathodes for vacuum ultraviolet(VUV) ionizers. The triple alkaline earth metal emitters(Ca-Sr-Ba) are formulated as efficient and reliable thermo-electron sources with a great many different compositions for the ionizing devices. We prepare two basic suspensions with different compositions: calcium, strontium and barium. After evaluating the electron-emitting performance for europium, gadolinium, and yttrium-based cathodes mixed with these suspensions, we selected the yttrium for its better performance. Next, another transition metal indium and a lanthanide metal neodymium salt is introduced to two base emitters. These final composite metal emitters are coated on the tungsten filament and then activated to the oxide cathodes by an intentionally programmed calcination process under an ultra-high vacuum(~10-6 torr). The performance of electron emission of the cathodes is characterized by their anode currents with respect to the addition of each element, In and Nd, and their concentration of cathodes. Compared to both the base cathodes, the electron emission performance of the cathodes containing indium and neodymium decreases. The anode current of the Nd cathode is more markedly degraded than that with In.

We have studied a method to prepare polydopamine-modified reduced graphene oxide-supported Pt nanoparticles (Pt– PDA–RGO). The Pt–PDA–RGO nanocomposites were synthesized by a wet-coating process, which was induced by selfpolymerization of dopamine. As an eco-friendly and versatile adhesive source in nature, dopamine could be easily adhered to surfaces of organic material and inorganic material via polymerization processes and spontaneous adsorption under weak alkaline pH conditions. To apply the unique features of dopamine, we synthesized Pt–PDA–RGO nanocomposites with a different quantity of dopamine, which are expected to preserve the improved Pt adsorption on graphene, resulting in the enhanced electrocatalytic performance. The morphology and micro-structure were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Compared to pristine Pt–deposited RGO (Pt–RGO), Pt–PDA–RGO (30 wt% dopamine against RGO) nanocomposites showed a superior electrochemical active surface area for a methanol oxidation. This could be related to the fact that the optimized c

Electrochemical properties and performance of composites performed by incorporating metal oxide or metal hydroxide on carbon materials based on graphene and carbon nanotube (CNT) were analyzed. From the surface analysis by field emission scanning electron microscopy and field emission transmission electron microscopy, it was confirmed that graphene, CNT and metal materials are well dispersed in the ternary composites. In addition, structural and elemental analyses of the composite were conducted. The electrochemical characteristics of the ternary composites were analyzed by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge tests, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 6 M KOH, or 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte solution. The highest specific capacitance was 1622 F g–1 obtained for NiCo-containing graphene with NiCo ratio of 2 to 1 (GNiCo 2:1) and the GNS/single-walled carbon nanotubes/Ni(OH)2 (20 wt%) composite had the maximum specific capacitance of 1149 F g–1. The specific capacitance and rate-capability of the CNT/MnO2/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composites were improved as compared to the MnO2/RGO composites without CNTs. The MnO2/RGO composite containing 20 wt% CNT with reference to RGO exhibited the best specific capacitance of 208.9 F g–1 at a current density of 0.5 A g–1 and 77.2% capacitance retention at a current density of 10 A g–1.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of oxides (caryophyllene oxide, eucalyptol and linalool oxide), one of the major ingredients of essential oils, on odor intensity, electroencephalography (EEG) response and emotional response. The subjects were women in their twenties. Inhalation concentrations of oxides were varied from 0.01 to 10%, and EEGs were collected by Quantitative EEG. The odor intensity and average preference index (API) of the oxides were ranked in the order of eucalyptol > linalool oxide > caryophyllene oxide. Eucalyptol is a refreshing and pleasant substance that activates the brain (activation of β and γ waves and spectral edge frequencies (SEF50 and SEF90)). Linalool oxide has a calm and soft substance (activation of θ, inactivation of α, β, and γ waves) at a low concentration (<0.1%), and a fresh smell at high concentration (inactivation β and activation of θ and γ). Caryophyllene oxides were evaluated as a substance that is comfortable, soft, calm and sedating, which deactivates the brain (activation of α, inactivation of β and γ). Oxide materials showed a positive correlation between the odor intensity and the SEFs. Each of the oxides showed unique characteristics in the areas of odor intensity, emotional response, API, and EEG. These results give us a better understanding of the properties of the pure materials that make up a fragrance, and provide useful information for the manufacture of fragrance products or aroma oil blends with enhanced specific functions.

In this study, composite PAN-based ACNFs embedded with MgO and MnO2 were prepared by the electrospinning method. The resultant pristine ACNFs, ACNF/MgO and ACNF/MnO2 were characterized in terms of their morphological changes, SSA, crystallinity and functional group with FESEM-EDX, the BET method, XRD and FTIR analysis, respectively. Results from this study showed that the SSA of the ACNF/MgO composite (1893 m2 g–1) is significantly higher than that of the pristine ACNFs and ACNF/MnO2 which is 478 and 430 m2 g–1, respectively. FTIR analysis showed peaks of 476 and 547 cm–1, indicating the presence of MgO and MnO2, respectively. The FESEM micrographs analysis showed a smooth but coarser structure in all the ACNFs. Meanwhile, the ACNF/MgO has the smallest fiber diameter (314.38±62.42 nm) compared to other ACNFs. The presence of MgO and MnO2 inside the ACNFs was also confirmed with EDX analysis as well as XRD. The adsorption capacities of each ACNF toward CH4 were tested with the volumetric adsorption method in which the ACNF/MgO exhibited the highest CH4 adsorption up to 2.39 mmol g–1. Meanwhile, all the ACNF samples followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model with a R2 up to 0.9996.

An optimum route to fabricate a hybrid-structured W powder composed of nano and micro size powders was investigated. The mixture of nano and micro W powders was prepared by a ball milling and hydrogen reduction process for WO3 and W powders. Microstructural observation for the ball-milled powder mixtures revealed that the nano-sized WO3 particles were homogeneously distributed on the surface of large W powders. The reduction behavior of WO3 powder was analyzed by a temperature programmed reduction method with different heating rates in Ar-10% H2 atmosphere. The activation energies for the reduction of WO3, estimated by the slope of the Kissinger plot from the amount of reaction peak shift with heating rates, were measured as 117.4 kJ/mol and 94.6 kJ/mol depending on reduction steps from WO3 to WO2 and from WO2 to W, respectively. SEM and XRD analysis for the hydrogen-reduced powder mixture showed that the nano-sized W particles were well distributed on the surface of the micro-sized W powders.