• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.455-459
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• 2004

Ionic conductivities of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based electrolytes are in a considerable inconsistency in many papers, varying more than three orders of magnitude for just same compositions. In PEO-salt-ceramic composite electrolytes, it has been also reported that the conductivity can be variant by almost three orders of magnitude according to thermal treatment and it has been regarded as a consequence of polymer-ceramic particle interaction. In this paper, we present a more systematic study on the change of ionic conductivity for ceramic-free PEO$_{10}$LiClO$_4$ polymer electrolytes, and found that the ionic conductivity can be variant more than hundred times according to thermal history. The slow recrystallization kinetics of PEO polymer is discussed to be responsible for the thermal history effect. Present results reveal that the effect of ceramic filler is not a main cause of the conductivity relaxation phenomenon.n.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.822-828
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• 1998

Binary system of water and polyoxyethylene dodecyl ether, $C_{12}H_{25}(OCH_2CH_2)nOH$, have been studied by $^1H$ NMR techniques. For n=5($C_{12}EO_5$) and n=8($C_{12}EO_8$), the self-diffusion coefficients of nonionic surfactants in the isotropic phase($L_1$) have been measured by using pulsed field gradient technique for a range of temperature and concentrations. In addition the line widths of the different proton signals have been monitored, and samples of some liquid crystalline characteristic were also studied. Dramatic Broadening of the methylene signals of the alkyl($C_{12}H_{25}$) chain is observed as the hexagonal liquid crystalline phase is approached in the $C_{12}EO_5-$water system, while only small broadening is observed in the $C_{12}EO_8-$water system. It was shown that there was a growth of $C_{12}EO_5$ micelles to rods with increasing concentrations, while the $C_{12}EO_8-$ micelles at low temperature remain small in the concentration range. The self-diffusion coefficients of the surfactants decrease rapidly with increasing concentration until a minimum is reached after which there is slow increase. The location of the minimum point occurs at lower concentrations the temperature is close to the cloud point, where the system separate into two isotropic phase. In the line width studies, broadening is found at a certain temperature interval when the concentration is increased in the $C_{12}EO_5$ system. The results indicate that the surfactant aggregates grow in size at the cloud point is approached. The aggregates seem to be flexible and probably not to be of a definite shape close to the cloud point. In the $C_{12}EO_8$ system, the micelles are much less affected by an increase in temperature and micellar growth can't be unambiguously established. The methylene signals of the ethylene oxide moieties consistantly show narrower $^1H$ signals, showing that in the aggregates they are less ordered than the chain methylenes. The various changes in aggregate size and shape are correlated with the stability ranges of the isotropic and liquid crystalline phases according to phase diagrams from the literature. Both aggregate size and phase structure are in qualitative agreement with concentration based on the effective shape of the molecules at different temperature and concentration.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.429-439
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• 2011

Objectives: Ethylene oxide (EtO) is classified as a human carcinogen, but EtO is still widely used to sterilize heat-sensitive materials in hospitals. Employees working around sterilizers are exposed to EtO after sterilization. The aim of the present study was to assess the exposure of EtO level, coupled with occupationally induced micronuclei from hospital workers. The influence of genetic polymorphisms of detoxifying genes (GSTT1 and GSTM1) and DNA repair genes (XRCC1 and XRCC3) on the frequencies of micronuclei in relation to exposure of EtO was also investigated. Methods: The study population was composed of 35 occupationally exposed workers to EtO, 18 student controls and 44 unexposed hospital controls in Korea. Exposure to EtO is measured by passive personal samplers. We analyzed the frequencies of micronuclei by performing cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN assay) and GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, and XRCC3 were also genotyped by performing polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The frequencies of micronuclei in EtO exposure group, student controls and hospital controls were $18.00{\pm}7.73$, $10.47{\pm}7.96$ and $13.86{\pm}6.35$ respectively and their differences were statistically significant, but no significant differences according to the level of EtO were observed. There was a dose-response relationship between the frequencies of micronuclei and cumulative dose of EtO, but no significantly differences were observed. We also investigated the influence of genetic polymorphisms (GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, and XRCC3) on the frequencies of micronuclei, but there were no differences in the frequencies of micronuclei by genetic polymorphisms. Conclusions: The frequencies of micronuclei in EtO exposure group was significantly higher than control groups. A dose-response relationship was found between the level of EtO exposure and the frequencies of micronuclei, but no statistically differences were observed. We also found that the frequencies of micronuclei were increased according to cumulative EtO level. There was no association of the genetic GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, and XRCC3 state with the frequency of micronuclei induced by EtO exposure.