• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.241-244
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• 2004

Radiation treatment with gamma-rays and electron-beams was used to remove polyvinyl alcohol(PVA), one of the main components of dyeing wastewater. PVA was effectively decomposed by radiation treatment, thus the removal was near 100 % at an initial PVA concentration of 44 mg/L. However, total organic carbon(TOC) removal was less than 5 % due to lower transformation of PVA to $CO_2$. This directly indicates the radiation treatment alone is not appropriate for the complete decomposition of PVA. In this sense, the improvement of biodegradability($BOD_5/COD$) of PVA by radiation treatment was studied. Both gamma-ray and electron-beam treatments significantly increased the biodegradability of PVA by transforming non-biodegradable PVA to biodegradable by-products. This suggests radiation treatment, especially electron-beam treatment that showed better improvement of biodegradability, can be used as a pre-treatment of biological degradation process of PVA.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.83-90
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• 2008

The ultrasonic pre-treatment of sewage sludge (SS) was investigated to increase soluble organic material and to improve anaerobic biodegradability. Ultrasonic disintegration of SS increased the amount of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), protein and carbohydrate concentrations whereas particle size decreased due to the break-up of cell walls. In terms of anaerobic biodegradability, ultrasonic pre-treatment enhanced the anaerobic biodegradation of SS, leading to the methane gas production improvement. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) of SS was 211.3 ml $CH_4/gVS$ whereas BMP after ultrasonic pre-treatment was 294.3 ml $CH_4/gVS$. The improvement in BMP for SS treated with ultrasonic disintegration was as high as 40 %. This result indicated that disintegration of SS was efficient for enhancing anaerobic biodegradability.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.3521-3526
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• 2014

A magnetic sonophotocatalyst $Fe_3O_4@SiO_2@TiO_2$ is synthesized for the enhanced biodegradability of organophosphate pesticide. The as-prepared catalysts were characterized using different techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The radial sonophotocatalytic activity of $Fe_3O_4@SiO_2@TiO_2$ nanocomposite was investigated, in which commercial dichlorvos (DDVP) was chosen as an object. The degradation efficiency was evaluated in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and enhancement of biodegradability. The effect of different factors, such as reaction time, pH, the added amount of catalyst on $COD_{Cr}$ removal efficiency were investigated. The average $COD_{Cr}$ removal efficiency reached 63.13% after 240 min in 12 L sonophotocatalytic reactor (catalyst $0.2gL^{-1}$, pH 7.3). The synergistic effect occurs in the combined sonolysis and photocatalysis which is proved by the significant improvement in $COD_{Cr}$ removal efficiency compared with that of solo photocatalysis. Under this experimental condition, the $BOD_5/COD_{Cr}$ ratio rose from 0.131 to 0.411, showing a remarkable improvement in biodegradability. These results showed that sonophotocatalysis may be applied as pre-treatment of pesticide wastewater, and then for biological treatment. The synthesized magnetic nanocomposite had good photocatalytic performance and stability, as when it was used for the fifth time, the $COD_{Cr}$ removal efficiency was still about 62.38%.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.82-90
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• 2009

Disintegration of sewage sludge (SS) was investigated by batch experiments using mechanical pre-treatment. Mechanical disintegration of SS increased the amount of soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), protein and carbohydrate due to the break-up of cell walls. The mechanical disintegration incorporated with alkaline pre-treatment demonstrated higher amount of SCOD compared with mechanical one only. In terms of anaerobic biodegradability, mechanical pretreatment enhanced the anaerobic biodegradation of SS, leading to the methane production improvement. The improvement in BMP for SS treated with mechanical and alkaline-mechanical pre-treatments were 24.1% and 44.5%, respectively. This result suggested that disintegration of SS was effective for improving anaerobic biodegradability.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.193-198
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• 2001

Preparation of antibacterial biopolymer film which is suitable for food packaging film was investigated using K-carrageenan as a base material. K-Carrageenan showed good biodegradability and film-forming characteristic but poor mechanical properties under humid condition. Also, various bacteria grew well on its surface. The poor mechanical properties could be improved by mixing with alginate at a 1:1 ratio and crosslinking with $CaCl_2$ solution. Antibacterial property coul be provided by modifying the K-carrageenan film surface with acrylic acid plasma followed by ion-exchange with $Ag^+$ ions. Such prepared film still showed good biodegradability by various fongi.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.103-109
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• 2011

This work experimentally determined the effect of thermal and microwave pretreatments on the anaerobic digestion of mixtures of municipal primary and secondary sludges in semi-continuous mesophilic digesters at hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 20, 15, 10, 7, and 5 days. The ratio of soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) to total COD in thermally pretreated and microwaved sludges at $80^{\circ}C$ was 2.7 and 3.2 times higher than that of raw sludge, respectively. The volatile solids (VS) and COD removal efficiencies in all three digesters fed with raw (control), thermally pretreated (TM), and microwaved (MW) sludges decreased as the HRT was reduced. The highest relative improvement in VS removal compared to the control occurred at the HRT of 5 days in the TM and MW (29 and 41% higher than the control, respectively). At this HRT, improvement in the COD removal efficiencies in the TM and MW compared to the control was 28 and 53%, respectively. Improvements in biogas production compared with the control increased in both the TM and MW as the HRT was reduced to 5 days. The relative improvement in daily biogas production compared to the control from the TM and MW was 33 and 53% higher than the control at the HRT of 5 days, respectively. The results show that microwave pretreatment is more effective than thermal pretreatment in increasing the solubilization degree and mesophilic anaerobic biodegradability of sewage sludge.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2011

During the process of anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis of substrate is the key factor determining methane production efficiency. The hydrolysis efficiency are directly affected by biodegradability of substrate. In this study, three types of pre-treatment methods were tested to enhance biodegradability effectiveness. By the application of blender and the Cavitation treatment, the SCODcr increased from 24,723 mg/l to 24.726~29,175 mg/l and to 25,589~26,456 mg/l, respectively. In case of ozone treatment, the SCODcr decreased from 24,723 mg/l to 22.540~23,988 mg/l. In batch experiment, there was a little improvement of the biochemical methane potential (BMP) by the blender and the cavitation treatment. In contrast, the BMP somewhat decreased by ozone treatment. This result shows that higher anaerobic digestion efficiency of livestock manure could be obtained through pre-treatment of substrate.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.662-669
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• 2019

Anaerobic digestion is a popular sewage sludge (Ss) treatment method as it provides significant pollution control and energy recovery. However, the low C/N ratio and poor biodegradability of Ss necessitate pretreatment methods that improve solubilization under anaerobic conditions in addition to anaerobic co-digestion with other substrates to improve the process efficiency. In this study, three pretreatment methods, namely microwave irradiation, ultrasonication, and heat treatment, were investigated, and the corresponding improvement in methane production was assessed. Additionally, the simplex centroid design method was utilized to determine the optimum mixture ratio of food waste (Fw), livestock manure (Lm), and Ss for maximum methane yield. Microwave irradiation at 700 W for 6 min yielded the highest biodegradability (62.0%), solubilization efficiency (59.7%), and methane production (329 mL/g VS). The optimum mixture ratio following pretreatment was 61.3% pretreated Ss, 28.6% Fw, and 10.1% Lm. The optimum mixture ratio without pretreatment was 33.6% un-pretreated Ss, 46.0% Fw, and 20.4% Lm. These results indicate that the choice of pretreatment method plays an important role in efficient anaerobic digestion and can be applied in operational plants to enhance methane production. Co-digestion of Ss with Fw and Lm was also beneficial.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.65-86
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• 2020

As conventional drug delivery system is being improved rapidly by target-based drug delivery system, finding suitable Drug Delivery System (DDS) for new drugs remains a challenge. Although there are many drug delivery vehicles in existence, a significant improvement is required to some DDS such as for local, implant-based treatments used for musculoskeletal infections. Many polymers have been considered for providing the improvement in DDS. Synthetic polymer, for example, has gained popularity for broad-spectrum physicochemical and mechanical properties. This article reviews the biomedical applications of Poly(TriMethylene Carbonate-co-Caprolactone) (PTMCC), which has attracted attention due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability and rubber-like properties. Its synthesis, physical properties, and degradation are also discussed here. Although it is relatively new in biomedical applications, it is readily usable for the fabrication of differing format of DDS of superior mechanical strength and degradation properties. The use of PTMCC is expected to increase in coming years as more is revealed about its potentials.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 2007

This study investigated the effect of ultrasound irradiation on the blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT). The blends of PLA/PBAT(50/50) (PBAT50) were prepared in a melt mixer with an ultrasonic device attached. Thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties, morphology, and biodegradability of the sonicated blends were analysed. The viscosity of the sonicated blends was increased by the ultrasound irradiation owing to the strong interaction. The morphology of the sonicated blends was significantly dependent on the duration o the ultrasound irradiation. For PBAT50, the phase size reduction was maximized when the blends were ultrasonically irradiated for 30 sec. At longer duration of ultrasound irradiation, the PBAT phase underwent flocculation. Measurement of the tensile properties showed an increased breakage tensile stress and an enhanced Young's modulus when the blends were properly irradiated. This improvement was ascribed to better adhesion between the PLA matrix and the PBAT domain and to better dispersion of the PBAT phase. However, the tensile properties were maximized after excessive energy irradiation, which was ascribed to an emulsifying effect leading to coalescence of the PBAT phase. Impact strength was increased to reach a peak with the ultrasound irradiation, and was higher than the untreated sample for all sonicated samples due to the difference of failure mechanism between the tensile test and the impact test.