• Advances in nano research
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.133-151
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• 2013

The availability of advanced nanotechnological methodologies (experimental and theoretical) has widened the investigation of biological/organic matter in interaction with substrates. Minerals are good candidates as substrates because they may present a wide variety of physico-chemical properties and surface nanostructures that can be used to actively condense and manipulate the biomolecules. Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) is one of the best suited techniques used to investigate at a single molecule level the surface interactions. In addition, the recent availability of high performance computing has increased the possibility to study quantum mechanically the interaction phenomena extending the number of atoms involved in the simulation. In the present paper, firstly we will briefly introduce new SPM technological developments and applications to investigate mineral surfaces and mineral-biomolecule interaction, then we will present results on the specific RNA-mineral interaction and recent basics and applicative achievements in the field of the interactions between other fundamental biological molecules and mineral surfaces from both an experimental and theoretical point of view.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.463-475
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• 2020

Presence of microplastics in soil and groundwater has recently been reported and environmental concerns are raised as to the plastic pollution. In the subsurface environment, clay minerals and metal oxide minerals are commonly found as finely dispersed states. Because the minerals have high sorption capacities for diverse pollutants, interactions with mineral surface play an important role in the transport of microplastics in groundwater. Accordingly, environmental mineralogy investigating the interactions between microplastics and mineral surfaces is the essential research area to understand the fate and transport of microplastics in the subsurface environment. The microplastic-mineral surface research requires molecular- to nano-scale analyses to be able to probe the relatively weak interactions between them. The current report introduces a nano-scale analysis tool called quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) that can measure the sorbed/desorbed mass of nanoplastics on mineral surfaces at the level of a few nanograms (~10-9 g). This report briefly reviews the main principles in the QCM measurement and discusses applications of QCM to the environmental mineralogy research.

• The Korean Journal of Ceramics
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.280-285
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• 2000

The electrolyte, $(HO)_2C_6H_2(SO_3Na)_2H_2O $(Tiron), disperses efficiently alumina powder in aqueous media and stable suspensions with 60 vol% solid loading can be prepared. The strong adsorption of this additive is mainly due to the ability of the molecule to form chelate rings with the particle surface but electrostatic interactions between the surface charge and the anionic dispersant strongly influence the amount of Tiron adsorbed. By using a cationic exchange route to substitute the counter ion which neutralizes the sulfonate groups, new molecules of dispersant have been prepared, either with mineral cations as $Li^+,\; Na+^,\; NH_4^\;+$, or with organic cations as counter ion but organic counter ions lead to less to less viscous suspensions than $Na^+$ in particular when the number of carbon atoms of the aliphatic chain increases from 1 to 3.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.16-23
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• 2020

In this work, ²²²Rn activity, major dissolved ions, and microbial community in ground- and surface waters were investigated to characterize groundwater inflow to the stream located in an urban area, Daejeon, Korea. The measured ²²²Rn activities in groundwater and stream water ranged from 136 to 231 Bq L^-1 and 0.3 to 48.8 Bq L^-1, respectively. The spatial distributions of ²²²Rn activity in the stream strongly suggested groundwater inflow to the stream. The change of geochemical composition of the stream water indicated the effect of groundwater discharge became more pronounced as the stream flows downstream. Furthermore, microbial community composition of the stream water had good similarity to that of groundwater, which is another evidence of groundwater discharge. Although groundwater inflow could not be estimated quantitatively in this study, the results can provide useful information to understand interactions between groundwater and surface water, and determine hydrological processes governing groundwater recharge and hydrogeological cycles of dissolved substances such as nutrients and trace metals.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.144-156
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• 2021

This study examined hydrogeological characteristics of groundwater and surface water interaction in the fresh-saline water mixed zone of East Coast lagoon area, Korea, using several technical approaches including hydrological, lithological, and isotopic methods. In addition, the fresh-saline water interface was evaluated using vertical electrical conductivity (EC) data. For this purpose, three monitoring wells (SJ-P1, SJ-P2, and SJ-P3) were installed across the Songji lagoon at depths of 7.4 to 9.0 m, and water level, EC, and temperature at the wells and in the lagoon (SJ-L1) were monitored using automatic transducers from August 1 to October 21, 2021. Isotopic composition of the groundwater, lagoon water, and sea water were also monitored in the mid-September, 2013. The mixing ratios calculated from oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition decreased with increasing depth in the monitoring wells, indicating saline water intrusion. In the study area, the interaction of groundwater-surface water-sea water was evident, and residual salinity in the sedimentary layers created in the past marine environment showed disorderly characteristics. Moreover, the horizontal flow at the lagoon's edge was more dominant than the vertical flow.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2016

The essential role of the Division of Earth Sciences(EAR) in the Directorate of Geoscience(GEO) of National Science Foundation of America(NSF) is to support basic research aimed at acquiring fundamental knowledge of the Earth system that can be directly applied to the United States' strategic needs. The 2011 Committee on New Research Opportunities in the Earth Sciences(NROES) of the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) identified specific areas of the basic earth science research scope of the EAR that were poised for rapid progress during the next decade. Quantified by interdisciplinary approaches, the Committee highlighted the following topics relating to the EAR Deep Earth Processes and Surface Earth Processes sections: (1) the early Earth; (2) thermochemical internal dynamics and volatile distribution; (3) faulting and deformation processes; (4) interactions among climate, the Earth surface processes, tectonics, and deep Earth processes; (5) co-evolution of life, environment, and climate; (6) coupled hydrogeomorphic-ecosystem response to natural and anthropogenic change; and (7) interactions of biogeochemical and water cycles in terrestrial environments. We also promote future research challenges such as the critical zone studies. In order to promote more active such a huge future research challenges, additional research support policies are needed.

• Carbon letters
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• v.22
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• pp.42-47
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• 2017

In this paper, the in vitro biocompatibility of graphene film (GF) with osteoblasts was evaluated through cell adhesion, viability, alkaline phosphatase activity, F-actin and vinculin expressions, versus graphite paper as a reference material. The results showed that MG-63 cells exhibited stronger cell adhesion, better proliferation and viability on GF, and osteoblasts cultured on GF exhibited vinculin expression throughout the cell body. The rougher and wrinkled surface morphology, higher elastic modulus and easy out-of-plane deformation associated with GF were considered to promote cell adhesion. Also, the biomineralization of GF was assessed by soaking in simulated body fluid, and the GF exhibited enhanced mineralization ability in terms of mineral deposition, which almost pervaded the entire GF surface. Our results suggest that graphene promotes cell adhesion, activity and the formation of bone-like apatite. This research is expected to facilitate a better understanding of graphene-cell interactions and potential applications of graphene as a promising toughening nanofiller in bioceramics used in load-bearing implants.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.509-515
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• 2017

Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust. Therefore, understanding of quartz dissolution and precipitation is very important to know about weathering processes and interactions between rocks and water in hydrothermal and metamorphic environments. This paper presents a basic review on the research about quartz dissolution mechanism under various physico-chemical conditions. We rearranged the relationship between each physico-chemical factor and dissolution mechanism from the results of previous researchers in this paper. From this result, we understood that quartz dissolution and precipitation are affected by each factor such as temperature, pH, and applied stress conditions at contact point. In particular, we recognized that the high pH and temperature conditions have different anion concentrations on mineral's surface. As a result, high pH and temperature conditions have a better effect than applied stress condition to the quartz dissolution mechanism.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.339-346
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• 2011

The effects of mineral admixtures on the bonding properties of cement mortar to polyolefin based synthetic fiber were evaluated. The mineral admixtures consisted of 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15% fly ash, blast furnace slag, and metakaolin in cement. Bond interactions between the cement mortar and the polyolefin based synthetic fiber were determined by Dog-bone bond tests. Bond tests of the polyolefin based synthetic fiber showed an increase in pullout load with the strength of the cement mortar. Also, the interface toughness of polyolefin based synthetic fiber in cement mortar increased as the fly ash, blast furnace slag, and metakaolin contents increased. The microstructure of polyolefin based synthetic fiber surface was examined after the pullout test to analyze the frictional resistant force according to the replacement ratio of fly ash, blast furnace slag, and metakaolin during the pullout process of polyolefin based synthetic fiber in cement mortar. The scratched of polyolefin based synthetic fibers increased with the replacement ratio of fly ash, blast furnace slag, and metakaolin. Also, the interface toughness was enhanced by adhesion forces induced by the fly ash, blast furnace slag, and metakaolin.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.61-66
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• 2006

Over the past 20 years there has been a revolution involving the use of nano or macro size particles as drainage and retention systems during the manufacture of paper. More recently a group of patented technologies called Synthetic Mineral Microparticles (SMM) has been invented and developed. This system has potential to further promote the drainage of water and retention of fine particles during papermaking. Prior research, as well as our on preliminary research showed that the SMM system has advantages in both of drainage and retention compared with montmorillonite (bentonite), which one of the most popular materials presently used in this kind of application. In spite of the demonstrated advantages of this SMM system, the properties and activity of SMM particles in the aqueous state have not been elucidated yet. Streaming current titrations with highly charged polyelectrolytes were used to measure the charge properties of SMM and to understand the interactions among SMM particles, fibers, fiber fines, and cationic polyacrylamide (cPAM) as a retention aid. It was found that pH profoundly affects the charge properties of SMM, due to the influence of Al-ions and the Si-containing particle surface. SEM pictures, characterizing the morphology, geometry and size distribution of SMM, showed an broad distribution of primary particle size. Dilution of SMM mixturee appeared to wash out particles smaller than 100 nm from the surface of larger particles, which themselves appeared to be composed of fused primary particles. DSC thermoporometry was used to measure the size distribution of nanopores within SMM particles.