• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.276-284
• /
• 2014

In this study, a hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was modified by coating neutral hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol). The flux of pure water was measured and then fouling test was conducted with bovin serum albumin (BSA) as model protein foulant. As a result, the experiments showed that pure water flux was decreased but anti-fouling property was significantly enhanced. Pure water flux with increasing molecular weights of the polymer was decreased and fouling resistance was enhanced. Also, Pure water flux with increasing solution concentration was decreased and fouling resistance was enhanced. It is probably due to the increase in hydrophilicity and decrease in roughness of the membrane surface, as revealed by contact angle and AFM analysis.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1998.04a
• /
• pp.99-101
• /
• 1998

1. Introduction : The conventional grafting polymerization technique requires chemically reactive groups on the surface as well as on the polymer chains. For this reason, a series of prefunctionalization steps are necessary for covalent grafting. The surface prefunctionalizational technique for grafting can be used to ionization radiation, UV, plasma, ion beam or chemical initiators. Of these techniques, radiation method is one of the useful methods because of uniform and rapid creation of active radical sites without catalytic contamination in grafted samples. If the diffusion of monomer into polymer is large enough to come to the inside of polymer substrate, a homogeneous and uniform grafting reaction can be carried out throughout the whole polymer substrate. Radiation-induced grafting method may attach specific functional moieties to a polymeric substrate, such as preirradiation and simultaneous irradiation. The former is irradiated at backbone polymer in vacuum or nitrogen gas and air, and then subsequent monomer grafting by trapped or peroxy radicals, while the latter is irradiated at backbone polymer in the presence of the monomer. Therefore, radiation-induced polymerization can be used to modification of the chemical and physical properties of the polymeric materials and has attracted considerable interest because it imparts desirable properties such as blood compatibility. membrane quality, ion excahnge, dyeability, protein adsorption, and immobilization of bioactive materials. Synthesizing biocompatible materials by radiation method such as preirradiation or simultaneous irradiation has often used $\gamma$-rays to graft hydrophilic monomers onto hydrophobic polymer substrates. In this work, in attempt to produce surfaces that show low levels of anti-fouling of bovine serum albumin(BSA) solutions, hydroxyethyl methacrylate(HEMA) was grafted polypropylene membrane surfaces by preirradiation technique. The anti-fouling effect of the polypropylene membrane after grafting was examined by permeation BSA solution.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.358-363
• /
• 2014

Adhesion forces between acrylate imprinting resin and a surface treated atomic force microscope (AFM) tip were investigated. Compared to the untreated silicon tip, 38% of the adhesion force is reduced for the hydrophobic tip treated with $CH_4$ plasma whereas 1.6 time increases is found for the hydrophilic tip with $O_2$ plasma treatment. Such a measurement of the adhesion force using AFM provides very quantitative results on adhesion comparing to the crosscut adhesion test which gives qualitative results. Since the adhesion area becomes larger as the imprinting pattern size gets smaller, the surface treatment issue becomes more important in the nano-imprinting process.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2015

The modification of ultrafiltration membranes with carbon nanotube (CNT) buckypaper on fouling control was investigated. Two types of commercially available flat-sheet membranes were used: PS35 and PES900C/D (PES) (the PS35 membranes were hydrophilic with a molecular weight cutoff of 20 kDa, and the PES membranes were hydrophobic with a molecular weight cutoff of 20 kDa). The CNT buckypaper modified ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by filtering a CNT suspension through the flat-sheet membrane in a dead-end ultrafiltration unit. After modification, the pure water flux of PES was significantly increased, while the pure water flux of PS35 was decreased. The properties of the CNT modified membranes were also investigated. Considering the antifouling properties, pure water flux of the modified membrane, and the stability of CNT buckypaper layer on the membrane surface, ethanol solution with a concentration of 50 wt.%, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with a larger diameter (30-50 nm), and the CNT loading with $7.5g/m^2$ was selected. The CNT buckypaper on the surface of ultrafiltration membranes can trap the pollutants in sewage effluent and prevent them reaching the surface of virgin membranes. Water quality analysis showed that the effluent quality of the modified membrane was obviously improved. The removal efficiency of humic acid and protein-like matters by the modified membrane was significant. These results indicate the potential application of the CNT buckypaper layer modified membranes in the field of wastewater reclaim.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2001

Epoxy composites filled with natural zeolite was prepared to investigate the effects of silane coupling agent, ${\gamma}$-APS (${\gamma}$-aminopropyltriethoxysilane)on the surface free energy, tensile properties and interfacial morphology. The value of Lifshitz-van der Waals component, ${\gamma}{\frac{LW}{SV}}$ for polar was $19.22mJ/m^2$ and increased, while that of Lewis acid-base component, ${\gamma}{\frac{AB}{SV}}$ for polar was $15.27mJ/m^2$ and decreased with the increasing content of ${\gamma}$-APS treatment. It is due that the surface of the zeolite is more coated by hydrophobic of alkyl group than hydrophilic amine or hydroxyl group. The tensile strength and Young's modulus of epoxy system were improved by the treatment with ${\gamma}$-APS due to the strong interface bonding, which was confirmed by SEM.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.105-110
• /
• 2010

Electroless nickel plating on porous carbon substrate for the application of MCFC electrodes was investigated. Acidic and alkaline bath were used for the electroless nickel plating. The pore sizes of carbon substrates were 16-20 ${\mu}m$ and over 20 ${\mu}m$. The carbon surface was changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic after immersing the substrate in an ammonia solution for 40 min at $60^{\circ}C$. The contact angle of water was decreased from $85^{\circ}C$ to less than $20^{\circ}$ after ammonia pretreatment. The deposition rate in the alkaline bath was higher than that in the acidic bath. The deposition rate was increased with increasing pH in both acidic and alkaline bath. The content of phosphorous in nickel deposit was decreased with increasing pH in both acidic and alkaline bath. The contents of phosphorous is low in alkaline bath. The minimum concentration of $PdCl_2$ for the electroless nickel plating was 10 ppm in alkaline bath and 5 ppm in acidic bath. The thickness of nickel was not affected by the concentration of $PdCl_2$.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.242-247
• /
• 2005

In this study, we investigated the removal efficiencies of pollutants and permeate fluxes depending on chemistry of feed water, various molecular weight cut-offs (MWCOs) and materials of membrane, operating pressure. We used seven MWCO membranes of YC0.5, YM1, YM3, YM10, YM30, YM100 and PM30, humic acid solution and surface water as feed water, and examined variation in permeate flux. Results of TOC removal experiment demonstrate that MWCO lower 1,000daltons could remove humic acid effectively. As increasing solution pH and decreasing divalent cations ($Ca^{2+}$) concentration, TOC removal increased. But $UV_{254}$ removal efficiency increased with higher divalent cation concentration and solution pH. Membrane fouling increased with increasing electrolyte (NaCl), divalent cation concentration and decreasing solution pH. In spite of initial permeate flux of the hydrophobic membrane (PM30) was higher than that of the hydrophilic membrane (YM30), flux decline of PM30 was significant during operation. At higher operating pressure, compactness of the cake layer on the membrane surface increased, resulting in gradual increase in hydraulic resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.237-243
• /
• 2020

In this study, a silane-based coating was applied to improve corrosion resistance and thermal efficiency performance of a brazed plate heat exchanger (BPHE) composed of stainless plate and copper (Cu) brazing. Although the selected coating material was applied to the BPHE by evaluating the corrosion and contact angle according to the coating material, the result of the heat transfer performance evaluation showed that the thermal efficiency was lower than that of the uncoated BPHE. It was analyzed that the adhesion of the coating agent to the flow path inside the BPHE and the residual coating agent on the surface acted as heat resistance, preventing heat transfer. This is due to the structural characteristics of the BPHE in which a fine flow path exists inside, and it is believed that manufacturing after coating the surface of the flow path in advance in the manufacturing process of the BPHE can improve heat transfer performance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.420-430
• /
• 2005

This study was performed to change the hydrophilic $NH_4Y$-zeolite to the hydrophobic one for removal of VOCs by removing the $Al^{3+}$ in the zeolite-structure to increase the Si/Al ratio, for which the three pelleted $NH_4Y$-zeolite samples were contacted separately with the steam of $400^{\circ}C$, $500^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$, respectively, in a stainless steel column for 4 hours. Then extraction of the ex-structure aluminum of the hydrolyzed zeolites with the nitric acids of 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 0.10 M at $90^{\circ}C$ in 500 mL-flasks, respectively, according to steam temperature were followed. XRD analysises of the dealuminated zeolites showed that the peaks of the zeolites that had been hydrolyzed with the steams of both $500^{\circ}C$ and $600^{\circ}C$ are distorted more with the increase of the concentration of nitric acid used for extraction of the ex-structure aluminums, however, those hydrolyzed with steam of $400^{\circ}C$ became amorphous phase when treated with the all nitric acids of four concentrations. Also the EDX analysises showed that the BET surface areas and TPVS of the zeolites that had been hydrolyzed with the steam of $600^{\circ}C$ were increased with the concentration of the nitric acid when the nitric acids of 0.25 M and 0.5 M had been used but decreased when the nitric acids of 0.75 M and 1.0 M had been used. These results led to the conclusion that both the $600^{\circ}C$ and $500^{\circ}C$-steam and the 0.5 M-nitric acid are appropriate to change the hydrophilic $NH_4Y$-zeolites to the hydrophobic one, which were proven by the measurement of the benzene and tolune-adsorbing capacities showing the same trend as the BET surface area and TPV The Si/Al ratios and water-adsorbing capacities of the dealuminated zeolites were increased and decreased, respectively, with the concentration of the nitric acids so that it showed that the hydrophobicity is increased.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.127-133
• /
• 2004

We have studied the surface micelle formation of polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) at the air-water interface. A series of four PS-b-P2VPs were synthesized by anionic polymerization, keeping the PS block length constant (28 kg/㏖) and varying the P2VP block length (1, 11, 28, or 59 kg/㏖). The surface pressure-area ($\pi$-A) isotherms were measured and the surface morphology was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) after Langmuir-Blodgett film deposition onto silicon wafers. At low surface pressure, the hydrophobic PS blocks aggregate to form pancake-like micelle cores and the hydrophilic P2VP block chains spread on the water surface to form a corona-like monolayer. The surface area occupied by a block copolymer is proportional to the molecular weight of the P2VP block and identical to the surface area occupied by a homo-P2VP. It indicates that the entire surface is covered by the P2VP monolayer and the PS micelle cores lie on the P2VP monolayer. As the surface pressure is increased, the $\pi$-A isotherm shows a transition region where the surface pressure does not change much with the film compression. In this transition region, which displays high compressibility, the P2VP blocks restructure from the monolayer and spread at the air-water interface. After the transition, the Langmuir film becomes much less compressible. In this high-surface-pressure regime, the PS cores cover practically the entire surface area, as observed by AFM and the limiting area of the film. All the diblock copolymers formed circular micelles, except for the block copolymer having a very short P2VP block (1 kg/㏖), which formed large, non-uniform PS aggregates. By mixing with the block copolymer having a longer P2VP block (11 kg/㏖), we observed rod-shaped micelles, which indicates that the morphology of the surfaces micelles can be controlled by adjusting the average composition of block copolymers.