• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.105-111
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• 2023

Recently, there has been a growing interest in low biofouling coatings for various industrial applications including precious metal and jewelry applications. Contaminations including cells and bacteria of the metallic substrates (i.e., accessories, earring, and piercings) may irritate the contacted tissue surfaces or induce an abnormal reaction. In this study, catechol-conjugated polyethylene glycol (PEG-C) was synthesized as low bio-fouling coating materials inspired by mussel-adhesion. PEG-C-coated copper-zinc alloy surfaces showed excellent cell viability and significant inhibitions of protein and cell adhesions to metal surfaces. Thus, PEG-C coating methods and PEG-C-coated metallic substrates can be usefully exploited for versatile industrial applications, particularly for precious metal and jewelry industries.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.463-481
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• 2017

Bacteria have been considered as a major foulant that initiates the formation of biofilm on the polymeric membrane surface. Some polymeric membranes are naturally antibacterial and have low fouling properties, however, numerous efforts have been devoted to improve their antibacterial performance. These modifications are mostly carried out through blending the membrane with an antibacterial agent or introducing the antibacterial agent on the membrane surface by chemical grafting. Currently, a significant number of researches have reported nanocomposite membrane as a new approach to fabricate an excellent antibacterial membrane. The antibacterial nanoparticles are dispersed homogenously in membrane structure by blending method or coating onto the membrane surface. Aim of the modifications is to prevent the initial attachment of bacteria to membrane surface and kill bacteria when attached on the membrane surface. In this paper, several studies on antibacterial modified membranes, particularly for water treatment, will be reviewed comprehensively. Special attention will be given on polymeric membrane modifications by introducing antibacterial agents through different methods, such as blending, grafting, and coating.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.103-120
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• 2010

Surface modification of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes has been widely used to improve the protein adsorption resistance and permeation properties of hydrophobic membranes. Several surface modification methods for converting conventional membranes into low-protein-binding membranes are reviewed. They are categorized as either physical modification or chemical modification of the membrane surface. Physical modification of the membrane surface can be achieved by coating it with hydrophilic polymers, hydrophilic-hydrophobic copolymers, surfactants or proteins. Another method of physical modification is plasma treatment with gases. A hydrophilic membrane surface can be also generated during phase-inverted micro-separation during membrane formation, by blending hydrophilic or hydrophilic-hydrophobic polymers with a hydrophobic base membrane polymer. The most widely used method of chemical modification is surface grafting of a hydrophilic polymer by UV polymerization because it is the easiest method; the membranes are dipped into monomers with and without photo-initiators, then irradiated with UV. Plasma-induced polymerization of hydrophilic monomers on the surface is another popular method, and surface chemical reactions have also been developed by several researchers. Several important examples of physical and chemical modifications of membrane surfaces for low-protein-binding are summarized in this article.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2019

Electrodeposited zinc layer is widely used as a sacrificial anode for a corrosion protection of steel. In this study, we modified the surface of electrodeposited zinc to have a hydrophobicity, which shows various advanced functionalities, such as anti-corrosion, anti-biofouling, anti-icing and self-cleaning, due to its repellency to liquids. Superhydrophobicity was realized on electrodeposited zinc layer with a hydrothermal treatment, creating nanostructures on the surface, and following Teflon coating. The superhydrophobic surface shows a great repellency to water with high surface tension, while liquid droplets with low surface tension easily adhered on the superhydrophobic surface. However, immiscible lubricant-impregnated superhydrophobic surface shows a great repellency to various liquids, regardless of their surface tension. Therefore, it is expected that the lubricant-impregnated surface can be an alternative of superhydrophobic surface, which have a drawback for some liquids with a low surface tension.