• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.372-385
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• 2014

Lignin is an abundant natural polymer in the biosphere and second only to cellulose; however, it is under-utilized and considered a waste. In this study, lignin was fabricated into nanofibers via electrospinning. The critical parameters that affected the electrospinnability and morphology of the resulting fibers were examined with the aim to utilize lignin as a resource for a new textile material. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was added as a carrier polymer to facilitate the fiber formation of lignin, and the electrospun fibers were deposited on polyester (PET) nonwoven substrate. Eleven lignin/PVA hybrid solutions with a different lignin to PVA mass ratio were prepared and then electrospun to find an optimum concentration. Lignin nano-fibers were electrospun under a variety of conditions such as various feed rates, needle gauges, electric voltage, and tip-to-collector distances in order to find an optimum spinning condition. We found that the optimum concentration for electrospinning was a 5wt% PVA precursor solution upon the addition of lignin with the mass ratio of PVA:lignin=1:5.6. The viscosity of the lignin/PVA hybrid solution was determined as an important parameter that affected the electrospinning process; in addition, the interrelation between the viscosity of hybrid solution and the electrospinnability was examined. The solution viscosity increased with lignin loading, but exhibited a shear thinning behavior beyond a certain concentration that resulted in needle clogging. A steep increase in viscosity was also noted when the electrospun system started to form fibers. Consequently, the viscosity range to produce bead-free lignin nanofibers was revealed. The energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed that lignin remained after being transformed into nanofibers. The results indicate the possibility of developing a new fiber material that utilizes biomass with resulting fibers that can be applied to various applications such as filtration to wound dressing.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2024

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized lipid bilayer vesicles released by cells. EVs act as messengers for cell-to-cell communication. Inside, it contains various substances that show biological activity, such as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and metabolites. The study of EVs extracted from terrestrial organisms and stem cells on inflammatory environments and tissue regeneration have been actively conducted. However, marine organisms-derived EVs are limited. Therefore, we have extracted EVs from sea urchins belonging to the Echinoderm group with their excellent regenerative ability. First, we extracted extracellular matrix (ECM) from sea urchin gonads treated with hypotonic buffer, followed by collagenase treatment, and filtration to collect ECM-bounded EVs. The size of sea urchin gonad-derived EVs (UGEVs) is about 20-100 nm and has a round shape. The protein content was higher after EVs burst than before, which is evidence that proteins are contained inside. In addition, proteins of various sizes are distributed inside. PKH-26 was combined with UGEVs, which means that UGEVs have a lipid membrane. PHK-26-labeled UGEVs were successfully uptaken by cells. UGEVs can be confirmed to have the same characteristics as traditional EVs. Finally, it was confirmed that Schwann cells were not toxic by increasing proliferation after treatment.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.19-22
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• 2007

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (E.C.2.2.1.6., AHAS) is the enzyme that catalyses the first step in the synthesis of the branched-chain amino acids valine, leucine and isoleucine. The AHAS gene (TIGR access code HI2585) from Heamophilus influenzae was cloned into the bacterial expression vector pET-28a and expressed in the Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3). The expressed enzyme was purified by $Ni^{2+}-charged$ HiTrap chelating HP column. The purified enzyme appears as a single band on SDS-PAGE with a molecular mass of about 63.9 kDa. The enzyme exhibits absolute dependence on the three cofactors FAD, $MgCl_{2}$ and thiamine diphosphate for activity. Specific activity of purified enzyme has 3.22 unit/mg and optimum activity in the pH 7.5 at $37^{\circ}C$. This enzyme activity has an effect on the buffer. When comparing the enzyme activity against the organic solvent, it followed in type and the difference it is but even from the aqueous solution where the organic solvent is included with the fact that the enzyme activity is maintained.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.271-277
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seasonal variation of picoplankton community in Lake Juam depending on the change of physico-chemical factors such as rainfall, water depth, DO and pH. The concentration of chlorophyll-a was most high as 18.03 mg/$m^3$ in July when the rainfall and water temperature were highest. The concentration was gradually decreased in October, April and that of January was decreased most low as 1.86 mg/$m^3$. The highest concentration of the Chl-a was shown at 2 and 5 m of water depth than surface, and the concentration was gradually decreased when the water depth becomes deep. Overall, microplankton was the highest rate as 33.9~54.2%, nanoplankton was 24.3~30.5% and picoplankton was 21.6~41.2%. Picoplankton was included as considerable concentration in the water of Juam lake. Therefore it is necessary to remove thoroughly the picoplankton in the water treatment processes such coagulation·sedimentation and sand filtration. The protoplasm released from destruction of picoplankton by chlorine has high possibility to cause regrowth of bacteria and pathogenic microorganism in the distribution system by playing the role of the assimilable organic carbon.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.755-760
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• 2010

In this study, we mainly focused on the PM (Particulate Matter) emission characteristics of a diesel engine. To analyze particle behavior in the tail-pipe, particle emission was measured on the engine-out (downstream of turbocharger), each upstream and downstream both of DOC (Diesel Oxidation Catalyst) and DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter). Moreover, particle emission contours on each sampling point were constructed. The reduction efficiency of particle number concentration and mass through the DOC and DPF was studied. Parameters such as EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) and the main injection timing were varied in part load conditions and evaluated using the engine-out emissions. The DMS500 (Differential Mobility Spectrometer) was used as a particle measurement instrument that can measure particle concentrations from 5 nm to 1000 nm. Nano-particles of sizes less than 30 nm were reduced by oxidation or coagulated with solid particles in the tail-pipe and DOC. The DPF has a very high filtration efficiency over all operating conditions except during natural regeneration of DPF.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.158-172
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• 2020

In the aspect of saving energy and water, facilitating the separation membrane for the water treatment has been rising recently as one of the possible solutions. However, microbial biofouling effect is the biggest obstacle that hinders reaching higher permeability over a prolonged period of nanofiltration operation. To solve this problem and fully utilize the filtration membranes with enhanced performance, largely two kinds of solutions are studied and the first and the most commonly mentioned type is the one using the silver nanoparticles. Since silver nanoparticles are important to be well tailored on membrane surface, various methods have been applied and suggested. Using silver nanoparticles however also has the drawbacks or possible toxicity risks, raising the need for other types of utilizing non silver particles to functionalize the membrane, such as copper, graphene or zinc oxides, and amine moieties. Each attempt included in either kind has produced some notable results in killing, preventing, or repelling the bacteria while at the same time, left some unsolved points to be evaluated. In this review, the effects of metal nanoparticles and other materials on the antifouling properties of water treatment membranes are summarized.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.101-119
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• 2021

The demand for clean water is virtually present in all modern human societies even as our society has developed increasingly more advanced and sophisticated technologies to improve human life. However, as global climate change begins to show more dramatic effects in many regions in the world, the demand for a cheap, effective way to treat wastewater or to remove harmful bacteria, microbes, viruses, and other solvents detrimental to human health has continued to remain present and remains as important as ever. Well-established synthetic membranes composed of polyaniline (PANI), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and others have been extensively studied to gather information regarding the characteristics and performance of the membrane, but recent studies have shown that making these synthetic membranes conductive to electrical current by doping the membrane with another material or incorporating conductive materials onto the surface of the membrane, such as allotropes of carbon, have shown to increase the performance of these membranes by allowing the adjustability of pore size, improving antifouling and making the antibacterial property better. In this review, modern electrically conductive membranes are compared to conventional membranes and their performance improvements under electric fields are discussed, as well as their potential in water filtration and wastewater treatment applications.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.149-157
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• 2023

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have shown promise in various applications, including molecular separation, dye separation, gas separation, filtration, and desalination. Integrating COFs into membranes enhances permeability, selectivity, and stability, improving separation processes. Combining COFs with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) creates nanocomposite membranes with high permeability and stability, ideal for dye separation. Incorporating COFs into polyamide (PA) membranes improves permeability and selectivity through a synthetic interfacial strategy. Three-dimensional COF fillers in mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) enhance CO₂/CH₄ separation, making them suitable for biogas upgrading. All-nanoporous composite (ANC) membranes, which combine COFs and metal-organic framework (MOF) membranes, overcome permeance-selectivity trade-offs, significantly improving gas permeance. Computational simulations using hypothetical COFs (hypoCOFs) demonstrate superior CO₂ selectivity and working capacity relevant for CO₂ separation and H₂ purification. COFs integrated into thin-film composite (TFC) and polysulfonamide (PSA) membranes enhance rejection performance for organic contaminants, salt contaminants, and heavy metal ions, improving separation capabilities. TpPa-SO₃H/PAN covalent organic framework membranes (COFMs) exhibited superior desalination performance compared to traditional polyamide membranes by utilizing charged groups to enable efficient desalination through electrostatic repulsion, suggesting their potential for ionic and molecular separations. These findings highlight COFs' potential in membrane technology for enhanced separation processes by improving permeability, selectivity, and stability. In this review, COF applied for the separation process is discussed.