Churl-Hee Cho

GIS-NaP1 zeolite microspheres as potential water adsorption material: Influence of initial silica concentration on adsorptive and physical/topological properties.

GIS-NaP1 zeolite samples were synthesized using seven different Si/Al ratios (5–11) of the hydrothermal reaction mixtures having chemical composition Al2O3:xSiO2:14Na2O:840H2O to study the impact of Si/Al molar ratio on the water vapour adsorption potential, phase purity, morphology and crystal size of as-synthesized GIS-NaP1 zeolite crystals. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) observations reveal that Si/Al ratio does not affect the phase purity of GIS-NaP1 zeolite samples as high purity GIS-NaP1 zeolite crystals were obtained from all Si/Al ratios. Contrary, Si/Al ratios have remarkable effect on the morphology, crystal size and porosity of GIS-NaP1 zeolite microspheres. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) evaluations of individual GIS-NaP1 zeolite microsphere demonstrate the characteristic changes in the packaging/arrangement, shape and size of primary nano crystallites. Textural characterisation using water vapour adsorption/desorption, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption data of as-synthesized GIS-NaP1 zeolite predicts the existence of mix-pores i.e., microporous as well as mesoporous character. High water storage capacity 1727.5 cm3 g−1 (138.9 wt.%) has been found for as-synthesized GIS-NaP1 zeolite microsphere samples during water vapour adsorption studies. Further, the total water adsorption capacity values for P6 (1299.4 mg g−1) and P7 (1388.8 mg g−1) samples reveal that these two particular samples can absorb even more water than their own weights.

Directional Solidification Behaviors of Polycrystalline Silicon by Electron-Beam Melting

The advanced electron beam melting (EBM) system with the combination of vacuum refining and directional solidification (DS) performed the purification of large amounts of metallurgical grade silicon (MG-Si). In order to increase grain size or to align columnar grains being parallel to DS pulling direction in Si ingots, non-irradiated inner diameters in an EB pattern in the DS process were varied at a range of 5–35 mm. Average grain size increased with increasing non-irradiated inner diameter due to a smaller temperature gradient during the solidification of Si melts. However, the slope of the grain boundary inclined towards the ingot axis, which led to the formation of a triple junction in the ingot center in the case of large non-irradiated inner diameter. This happened despite there being a large temperature gradient due to the turbulent flow in the pool. This work reported that a purity of 99.8% for MG-Si was improved to above 99.999% with an ingot yield of 90% for 1 h.

Impurity segregation behavior in polycrystalline silicon ingot grown with variation of electron-beam power

Electron beam melting (EBM) systems have been used to improve the purity of metallurgical grade silicon feedstock for photovoltaic application. Our advanced EBM system is able to effectively remove volatile impurities using a heat source with high energy from an electron gun and to continuously allow impurities to segregate at the top of an ingot solidified in a directional solidification (DS) zone in a vacuum chamber. Heat in the silicon melt should move toward the ingot bottom for the desired DS. However, heat flux though the ingot is changed as the ingot becomes longer due to low thermal conductivity of silicon. This causes a non-uniform microstructure of the ingot, finally leading to impurity segregation at its middle. In this research, EB power irradiated on the silicon melt was controlled during the ingot growth in order to suppress the change of heat flux. EB power was reduced from 12 to 6.6 kW during the growth period of 45 min with a drop rate of 0.125 kW/min. Also, the silicon ingot was grown under a constant EB power of 12 kW to estimate the effect of the drop rate of EB power. When the EB power was reduced, the grains with columnar shape were much larger at the middle of the ingot compared to the case of constant EB power. Also, the present research reports a possible reason for the improvement of ingot purity by considering heat flux behaviors.

Defect‐Free Mixed‐Matrix Membranes with Hydrophilic Metal‐Organic Polyhedra for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Separation

Defect-free mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) were prepared by incorporating hydrophilic metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) into cross-linked polyethylene oxide (XLPEO) for efficient CO2 separation. Hydrophilic MOPs with triethylene glycol pendant groups, which were assembled by 5-tri(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether isophthalic acid and CuII ions, were uniformly dispersed in XLPEO without particle agglomeration. Compared to conventional neat XLPEO, the homogenous dispersion of EG3 -MOPs in XLPEO enhanced CO2 permeability of MMMs. Upon increasing the amount of EG3 -MOPs, the membrane performance such as CO2 /N2 selectivity was steadily improved because of unsaturated CuII sites at paddle-wheel units, which was confirmed by Cu K-edge XANES and TPD analysis. Therefore, such defect-free MMMs with unsaturated metal sites would contribute to enhance CO2 separation performance.

Synthesis of zeolite nanomolecular sieves of different Si/Al ratios

Nanosized zeolite molecular sieves of different Si/Al ratios have been prepared using microwave hydrothermal reactor (MHR) for their greater application in separation and catalytic science. The as-synthesized molecular sieves belong to four different type zeolite families: MFI (infinite and high silica), FAU (moderate silica), LTA (low silica and high alumina), and AFI (alumina rich and silicafree). The phase purity of molecular sieves has been assessed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and morphological evaluation done by electron microscopy. Broad XRD peaks reveal that each zeolite molecular sieve sample is composed of nanocrystallites. Scanning electron microscopic images feature the notion that the incorporation of aluminum to MFI zeolite synthesis results in morphological change. The crystals of pure silica MFI zeolite (silicalite-1) have hexagon lump/disk-like shape, whereas MFI zeolite particles with Si/Al molar ratios 250 and 100 have distorted hexagonal lump/disk and pseudo spherical shapes, respectively. Furthermore, phase pure zeolite nanocrystals of octahedron (FAU), cubic (LTA), and rod (AFI) shape have been synthesized. The average sizes of MFI, FAU, LTA, and AFI zeolite crystals are 250, 150, 50, and 3000 nm, respectively. Although the length of AFI zeolite rods is in micron scale, the thickness and width are of a few nanometers.

Demonstration of a high throughput on-board hydrogen generation reactor system using aluminum coil as fuel for a vehicle

ABSTRACT A novel on-board hydrogen generation concept using Al coil with NaOH was investigated. The reaction rate was successfully controlled by introducing a pumping system for the NaOH solution. The time for the flow to develop fully was mainly dependent on the solution temperature, and the fastest start time recorded was 60 sec at a solution temperature of 70°C. The maximum H2 generation rate was 200 L min–1 with a prototype design of the on-board hydrogen generation system 1/8 times the size of a full-size reactor. The H2 generation process coupled with the solution pumping system was simulated with three-dimensional fluid dynamic software, and the calculated H2 flow and temperature rise of the system were validated with experimental data.

Microstructure control of columnar-grained silicon substrate solidified from silicon melts using gas pressure

A silicon substrate with the dimensions of 100 × 140 × 0.3mm was grown directly from liquid silicon with gas pressure. The silicon melt in the sealed melting part was injected into the growth part at applied pressure of 780-850 Torr. The solidified silicon substrate was then transferred by the pull of the cooled dummy bar. A desirable structure with a liquid-solid interface perpendicular to the pulling direction was formed when the mold temperature in the solidification zone of the growth part was much higher than that of the dummy bar, as this technique should be able to overcome thermal loss through the molds and the limited heat flux derived from the very narrow contact area between the silicon melt and the dummy bar. In addition, because the metallic impurities and expansion of volume during solidification are preferably moved to a liquid phase, a high-quality silicon substrate, without defects such as cracks and impurities in the substrate, could be manufactured in the interface structure. The present study reports the experimental findings on a new and direct growth system for obtaining silicon substrates characterized by high quality and productivity, as a candidate for alternate routes for the fabrication of silicon substrates.

Structure direct agent-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and small gases adsorption behavior of pure RHO zeolite

In the present study, pure RHO zeolite was hydrothermally synthesized by using 18-crown-6 ether as a structure directing agent(SDA), and the small gases adsorption was investigated. Synthesized RHO zeolite was a cube shape particle of which average edge length was around and composed of primary crystallites having a diameter of around 100 to 200 nm. RHO zeolite structure was stable under 3h calcination at . Water adsorption data announced that RHO zeolite has a specific surface area of 483.32 m2/g and its micropore diameter was about 4 A. Gas adsorption was studied in the pressure range of 50 to 500 kPa for , , and . It was evident that RHO zeolite showed a strong adsorption behavior. Especially, RHO zeolite showed a transient adsorption behavior. The 3h up-take at 50 kPa and 500 kPa was 1.283 and 3.357 mmol/g, respectively. The selectivity was around 16 at 500 kPa. Compared with gas adsorption data for some representative microporous adsorbents, it was certain that RHO zeolite is a beneficial adsorbent for separation.

Preparation and characterization of DLC/SiO2/Al2O3 nanofiltration membrane

High quality ceramic thin films were fabricated by thin film deposition process in semiconductor field in order to fabricate high performance carbon/SiO2/Al2O3 membrane. α-Al2O3 substrate was used as a supporting material. A severe thermal stress and rough surface for active ceramic top layer such as zeolite were observed. To overcome thermal stress, intermediate layer of SiO2 and diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin film were used. SiO2 and DLC thin films on porous alumina support were deposited using plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). Homogeneous and smooth surfaces and interfaces of DLC/SiO2/Al2O3 membrane were observed by FESEM. The phases of DLC and SiO2 thin films were identified by X-ray diffraction pattern. Gas permeabilities of the nanofiltration membrane with DLC/SiO2/Al2O3 were observed at various annealing temperatures. Mixed gas permeability of the membrane with 1 μm-thick SiO2 and 2 μm-thick DLC thin film annealed at 200 °C was ∼18 ccm at 1018 mb back pressure.

Enhanced Controlled Transdermal Delivery of Ambroxol from the EVA Matrix.

To avoid the systemic adverse effects that might occur after oral administration, transdermal delivery of ambroxol was studied as a method for maintaining proper blood levels for an extended period. Release of ambroxol according to concentration and temperature was determined, and permeation of drug through rat skin was studied using two chamber-diffusion cells. The solubility according to PEG 400 volume fraction was highest at 40% PEG 400. The rate of drug release from the EVA matrix increased with increased temperature and drug loading doses. A linear relationship existed between the release rate and the square root of loading rate. The activation energy (Ea) was measured from the slope of the plot of log P versus 1000/T and was found to be 10.71, 10.39, 10.33 and 9.87 kcal/mol for 2, 3, 4 and 5% loading dose from the EVA matrix, respectively. To increase the permeation rate of ambroxol across rat skin from the EVA matrix, various penetration enhancers such as fatty acids (saturated, unsaturated), propylene glycols, glycerides, pyrrolidones, and non-ionic surfactants were used. The enhancing effects of the incorporated enhancers on the skin permeation of ambroxol were evaluated using Franz diffusion cells fitted with intact excised rat skin at 37° using 40% PEG 400 solution as a receptor medium. Among the enhancers used, polyoxyethylene-2-oleyl ether increased the permeation rate by 4.25-fold. In conclusion, EVA matrix containing plasticizer and permeation enhancer could be developed for enhanced transdermal delivery of ambroxol.