• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.297.2-297.2
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• 2016

Photoacoustic generation of ultrasound is an effective approach for development of high-frequency and high-amplitude ultrasound transmitters. This requires an efficient energy converter from optical input to acoustic output. For such photoacoustic conversion, various light-absorbing materials have been used such as metallic coating, dye-doped polymer composite, and nanostructure composite. These transmitters absorb laser pulses with 5-10 ns widths for generation of tens-of-MHz frequency ultrasound. The short optical pulse leads to rapid heating of the irradiated region and therefore fast thermal expansion before significant heat diffusion occurs to the surrounding. In this purpose, nanocomposite thin films containing gold nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), or carbon nanofibers have been recently proposed for high optical absorption, efficient thermoacosutic transfer, and mechanical robustness. These properties are necessary to produce a high-amplitude ultrasonic output under a low-energy optical input. Here, we investigate carbon nanotube (CNT)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite transmitters and their nanostructure-originated characteristics enabling extraordinary energy conversion. We explain a thermoelastic energy conversion mechanism within the nanocomposite and examine nanostructures by using a scanning electron microscopy. Then, we measure laser-induced damage threshold of the transmitters against pulsed laser ablation. Particularly, laser-induced damage threshold has been largely overlooked so far in the development of photoacoustic transmitters. Higher damage threshold means that transmitters can withstand optical irradiation with higher laser energy and produce higher pressure output proportional to such optical input. We discuss an optimal design of CNT-PDMS composite transmitter for high-amplitude pressure generation (e.g. focused ultrasound transmitter) useful for therapeutic applications. It is fabricated using a focal structure (spherically concave substrate) that is coated with a CNT-PDMS composite layer. We also introduce some application examples of the high-amplitude focused transmitter based on the CNT-PDMS composite film.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.60-65
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• 2016

Purpose: The necessity for precise manipulation of bioparticles has greatly increased in the fields of bioscience, biomedical, and environmental monitoring. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is considered to be an ideal technique to manipulate bioparticles. The objective of this study is to develop a DEP microfluidic device that can trap fluorescent beads, which mimic bioparticles, at the low voltage and frequency of the sinusoidal signal supplied to the microfluidic device. Methods: A DEP microfluidic device, which is composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels and interdigitated electrode networks, is fabricated to trap fluorescent beads. The geometry of the interdigitated electrodes is determined through computational simulation. To determine the optimum voltage and frequency of the sinusoidal signal supplied to the device, the experiments of trapping beads are conducted at various combinations of voltage and frequency. The performance of the DEP microfluidic device is evaluated by investigating the correlation between fluorescent intensities and bead concentrations. Results: The optimum ratio of the widths between the negative and positive electrodes was 1:4 ($20:80{\mu}m$) at a gap of $20{\mu}m$ between the two electrodes. The DEP electrode networks were fabricated based on this geometry and used for the bead trapping experiments. The optimum voltage and frequency of the supplied signal for trapping fluorescent beads were 15 V and 5 kHz, respectively. The fluorescent intensity of the trapped beads increased linearly as the bead concentration increased. The coefficient of determination ($R^2$) between the fluorescent intensity and the bead concentration was 0.989. Conclusions: It is concluded that the microfluidic device developed in this study is promising for trapping bioparticles, such as a cell or virus, if they are conjugated to beads, and their concentration is quantified.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.142-149
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• 2009

This paper proposes and demonstrates novel flexible contact force sensing devices for 3-dimensional force measurement. To realize the sensor, polyimide and polydimethylsiloxane are used as a substrate, which makes it flexible. Thin-film metal strain gauges, which are incorporated into the polymer, are used for measuring the three-dimensional contact forces. The force sensor characteristics are evaluated against normal and shear load. The fabricated force sensor can measure normal loads up to 4N. The sensor output signals are saturated against load over 4N. Shear loads can be detected by different voltage drops in strain gauges. The device has no fragile structures; therefore, it can be used as a ground reaction force sensor for balance control in humanoid robots. Four force sensors are assembled and placed in the four corners of the robot's sole. By increasing bump dimensions, the force sensor can measure load up to 20N. When loads are exerted on the sole, the ground reaction force can be measured by these four sensors. The measured forces can be used in the balance control of biped locomotion system.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.184-190
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• 2007

This study reports on the pervaporation separation of a volatile organic compound(VOC), dichloromethane(DCM) from water using fluorinated copolysiloxaneimide membranes. The copolysiloxaneimide membranes were prepared from 4,4'-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride(6FDA) and two diamines(polysiloxane diamine(SIDA), 2-(perfluorohexyl)ethyl-3,5-diaminobenzene(PFDAB)). By varying the ratio of flexible polysiloxane diamine(SIDA)/rigid fluorinated aromatic diamine(PFDAB) from 0/100 to 100/0 mol%, five copolysiloxaneimide membranes were prepared success- fully. The pervaporation properties of DCM/water were examined in terms of two diamine monomer ratio at room temperature and the feed composition of 0.05 wt% in water. It was found that the increase in SIDA content led to high permeation flux and pervaporation selectivity towards DCM by the enhanced sorption/sorption selectivity and diffusion coefficient/diffusion selectivity due to the increased hydrophobicity and fractional free volume.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1539-1549
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to compare the sampling methods for monitoring indoles (phenol, p-cresol, indole and skatole) in airs of swine facility. As the collecting methods of indoles in air, Tenax-TA adsorption tube and solid phase microextraction (SPME) were examined. For the preparation of calibration curves of indoles concentrated in Tenax-TA, the standard indoles solutions were spiked in each of Tenax-TA tubes and thermally desorbed (ATD) into a gas chromatograph combined with mass detector (GC/MS). And for the preparation of calibration curves by SPME, indoles in the standard gaseous solution prepared by evaporating the aqueous solution that contained indoles into a polyester sampling bag were extracted with SPME fiber and subsequently analyzed by the GC/MS. Two sampling methods were evaluated for extracting indoles present in swine building environments. Results indicated that the SPME method using Polydimethylsiloxane/ Divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) fiber was more effective than Tenax-TA method in extracting indoles. The gas chromatographic analysis showed that the linearities of calibration curves and detection limits were useful for detection of indoles in swine airs. The field tests also showed that considerably different levels of indoles were present in various parts of the swine building.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.1320-1327
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• 2013

In this paper, two different electromagnetic energy harvesters using bulk micromachined silicon spiral springs and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) packaging technique have been fabricated, characterized, and compared to generate electrical energy from ultra-low ambient vibrations under 0.3g. The proposed energy harvesters were comprised of a highly miniaturized Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) magnet, silicon spiral spring, multi-turned copper coil, and PDMS housing in order to improve the electrical output powers and reduce their sizes/volumes. When an external vibration moves directly the magnet mounted as a seismic mass at the center of the spiral spring, the mechanical energy of the moving mass is transformed to electrical energy through the 183 turns of solenoid copper coils. The silicon spiral springs were applied to generate high electrical output power by maximizing the deflection of the movable mass at the low level vibrations. The fabricated energy harvesters using these two different spiral springs exhibited the resonant frequencies of 36Hz and 63Hz and the optimal load resistances of $99{\Omega}$ and $55{\Omega}$, respectively. In particular, the energy harvester using the spiral spring with two links exhibited much better linearity characteristics than the one with four links. It generated $29.02{\mu}W$ of output power and 107.3mV of load voltage at the vibration acceleration of 0.3g. It also exhibited power density and normalized power density of $48.37{\mu}W{\cdot}cm-3$ and $537.41{\mu}W{\cdot}cm-3{\cdot}g-2$, respectively. The total volume of the fabricated energy harvesters was $1cm{\times}1cm{\times}0.6cm$ (height).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.921-925
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• 2015

The number of people suffering from renal disease increases every year. One of the most common treatments (clinical care options) for renal diseases is hemodialysis. However it takes a long time and has a high cost. Therefore, the importance of artificial kidney research has risen. Filtering creatinine from blood is one of the prime renal functions. Thus, we designed a novel two channel microfluidic chip focused on that function. In order to bond the individual polydimethylsiloxane layers, we have developed a housing system using acrylic plastic frame. This method has significant advantages in changing filter membranes. We use anodic aluminum oxide for the filter membrane. We analyzed the difference in the absorbance values for various creatinine concentrations using the Jaffe reaction. For the purpose of acquiring a standard equation to quantify the creatinine concentration, we interpolated the measured data and confirmed the concentration of the filtered solution. Through this experiment, we determined how the filtration efficiency depended on the flow rate and creatinine concentration.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.1785-1791
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• 2010

This paper describes a separable microfluidic device fabricated with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) and glass. The device is used for sample preparation involving cell lysis and the DNA purification process. The cell lysis was performed for 2 min at $80^{\circ}C$ in a serpentine-type microreactor ($20 {\mu}l$) using a Au microheater that was integrated with a thermal microsensor on a glass substrate. The DNA that was mixed with other residual products during the cell lysis process was then filtered through a new filtration system composed of microbeads (diameter: $50 {\mu}m$) and PDMS pillars. Since the entire process (sample loading, cell lysis reaction, DNA purification, and sample extraction) was performed within 5 min in a microchip, we could reduce the sample preparation time in comparison with that for the conventional methods used in biochemistry laboratories. Finally, we verified the performance of the sample preparation chip by conducting PCR (polymerase chain reaction) analysis of the chip product.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.354-359
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• 2006

Recently, the interest in lithography without photo exposure has been increased compare to the conventional photolithography in nano meter and micrometer size patterning area. We studied a self aligned dipping of Ag solution through micro contact printing (${\mu}-CP$) with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) treated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) soft mold. The OTS monolayer on the patterned PDMS was formed by dipping it into OTS solution. We transferred the OTS monolayer from PDMS mold to the glass. The OTS monolayer changed the surface energy from hydrophilic surface to hydrophobic surface, And then we made self aligned Ag solution patterns just after dipping the substrate, using adhesion difference of Ag solution between OTS treated hydrophobic area and non-OTS treated hydrophilic area. We finally get the Ag patterns through only dip-coating after the ${\mu}-CP$ process. And we observed surface energies on the glass substrate through the contact angle measurements as time goes on.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1037-1047
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• 2014

A highly sensitive analytical method based on stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) technique and gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS-MS) has been developed, allowing the simultaneous multi-analyte determination of seven UV filters in water samples. The stir bar coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was added to 40 mL of water sample at pH 3 and stirred at 1,100 rpm for 120 min. Other SBSE parameters (salt effect and presence of organic solvent) were optimised. The method shows good linearity (coefficients > 0.990) and reproducibility (RSD < 12.9%). The extraction efficiencies were above 84% for all the compounds. The limits of detections (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) were 2.1~8.6 ng/L and 6.8~27.5 ng/L, respectively. The developed method offers the ability to detect 8 UV filters at ultra-low concentration levels with only 40 mL of sample volume. Matrix effects in tap water, river water, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) final effluent water and seawater were investigated and it was shown that the method is suitable for the analysis of trace level of 7 UV filters except of benzophenone (BP). The method developed in the present study has the advantage of being rapid, simple, high-sensitive and both user and environmentally friendly.