• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2015

Sustainable and eco-friendly polymers, natural polymers, bio-based polymers, and degradable polyesters, are of growing interest because of environmental concerns associated with waste plastics and emissions of carbon dioxide from preparation of petroleum-based polymers. Degradable polymers, poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), are related to reduction of carbon dioxide in processing. To improve a weak mechanical property of a degradable polymer, a blending method is widely used. This study was forced on the component separation of degradable polymer blends for effective recycling. The melt-mixed blend films in a specific solvent were separated by two layers. Each layer was analysed by FT-IR, DSC, and contact angle measurements. The results showed that each component in the PPC/PLLA and PPC/PBAT blends was successfully separated by a solvent.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 1995

Biodegradable poly (I ,4-butanediol succinate) (PBS) was synthesized from 1,4-butanediol and succinic anhydride. The glass transition temperature of poly (I, 4-butanediol succinate) was revealed at $73^{\circ}C$. The crystallization and cold crystallization of the polymers were investigated as a function of holding time in melt state, cooling rate. reheating, and molecular weight. Chain scission and/or cmsslinking did not occur in the melt state at var.ious holding times. Slower scanning rate can allow more times for nucleation, rearrangement, and packing of the polymer chain, so the onset temperature of crystallization from the melt was increased. PBS crystallized from the melt was found to have spherulitic structure. The degradation behavior of PBS was studied under basic conditions and with microorganisms using the modified ASTM method. In the basic solution. PBS lost up to 85% of its mass within two days. Based upon visual observation, the crystalline structure of films composed of larger molecular weight polymers retained their crystallinity longer than similar structures in low molecular weight samples.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.287-295
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• 2007

Three phosphorus functional groups were introduced in one structural unit of polymer backbone to enhance the flame retardancy of PU coatings. In the first step, we synthesized tetramethylene bis(orthophosphate) (TBOP) that contained two phosphorus functional groups in one structural unit. In the next step, we synthesized modified polyesters (ATBTP-10C, -20C, -30C) that contained triphosphorus group using TBOP, 1,4-butanediol, trimethylolpropane, adipic acid, and another functional monomer, phenylphosphonic acid (PPA). The amount of PPA in ATBTPs was adjusted from 10 wt% to 30 wt%. The structure and characteristics of ATBTPs were examined using FT-IR, NMR, GPC, and TGA analysis. From the thermo-behavior test of diphosphorus modified polyester (ATBT) and ATBTPs, the afterglow of ATBT, ATBTP-10C, ATBTP-20C, and ATBTP-30C were 24.7, 27.1, 29.0, and 31.7%, respectively. It was found from this result that the afterglow increased with the amount of PPA component.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.506-512
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• 2007

2,3-Di-(2'-hydroxyethoxy)-4'-nitrostilbene (3) was prepared and condensed with terephthaloyl chloride, adipoyl chloride, and sebacoyl chloride to yield novel Y-type polyesters (4-6) containing the NLO-chromophores 2,3-dioxynitrostilbenyl groups, which constituted parts of the polymer backbones. Polymers 4-6 were soluble in common organic solvents such as acetone and N,N-dimethylformamide. Polymers 4-5 showed thermal stability up to $300^{\circ}C$ in thermogravimetric analysis with glass transition temperatures $(T_g)$, obtained from differential scanning calorimetry, in the range $81-95^{\circ}C$. The second harmonic generation (SHG) coefficients $(d_{33})$ of the poled polymer films at the 1064 nm fundamental wavelength were around $3.68{\times}10^{-9}$ esu. The dipole alignment exhibited high thermal stability up to $T_g$, and there was no SHG decay below $T_g$ due to the partial main-chain character of the polymer structure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1270-1280
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• 2001

In this research of biodegradable polymers, it is essential to investigate the relation between biodegradability and molecular structure such as chemical constitution, hydrophilicity, molecular weight, crystallinity, chain orientation, and so on. It is also expected that hydrophilicity of polymer can affect biodegradability because biodegradation occurs with the help of enzymes and microorganisms. This study is to investigate the effect of hydrophilicity on biodegradability of polyesters. Hydrophilicity was varied by adding 5~30 mol% of amide groups, since amide groups are hydrophilic and used for improving thermal and mechanical properties. Surface energies and nitrogen contents by ESCA were measured to determine their hydrophilicity. The biodegradation was examined in activated sludge, enzyme and natural soil by $CO_2$evolution, TOC, weight loss, and observation through microscopy. The results showed that hydrophilicity of polyesteramide films increased with the addition of amide, PBAD series of shorter methylene units showed maximum hydrophilicity at 15~20 mol% of amide contents, but PBSE exhibited maximum values at 5~15 mol% of amide contents. The biodegradability increased as the hydrophilicty on surface increased. The biodegradation rate of PBAD series was higher than that of PBSE series. Therefore, it can be concluded that the addition of appropriate contents of hydrophile enhanced the biodegradability of aliphatic polyesters as well as their physical properties. Also, the experimental results revealed the relation between hydrophilicity and biodegradability of polyesteramides.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.240-247
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• 2000

Two-component polyurethane flame-retardant coatings were prepared by blending trichloro aromatic modified polyesters(TCMPs) and polyisocyanate. TCMPs were synthesized by polycondensation of trichlorobenzoic acid(TCBA), a flame-retardant component, with adipic acid, 1,4-butanediol, and trimethylolpropane. The content of TCBA was varied in 10, 20, and 30 wt% for the reaction. These new flame-retardant coatings showed various properties comparable to other non-flame-retardant coatings. Moreover, we carried out the combustion test and the flammability test for our flame-retardant coatings. The results of vertical burning test for the coatings containing more than 20 wt% of TCBA were determined as 'no burn'. The results of flammability test for the coatings with 20 wt% and 30 wt% of TCBA contents indicated the limiting oxygen index(LOI) values of 25% and 28% respectively, which implied relatively good flame retardancy.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.933-938
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• 2008

2,4-Di-(2'-hydroxyethoxy)benzylidenemalononitrile (3) was prepared and polymerized with terephthaloyl chloride and adipoyl chloride to yield novel Y-type polyesters 4 and 5 containing dioxybenzylidenemalononitrile groups as NLO-chromophores, which constituted parts of the polymer backbone. The resulting polymers 4 and 5 are soluble in common organic solvents such as acetone and N,N-dimethylformamide. Polymers 4 and 5 showed thermal stability up to 300 ${^{\circ}C}$ in thermogravimetric analysis with glass-transition temperatures obtained from differential scanning calorimetry in the range 83-94 ${^{\circ}C}$. The second harmonic generation (SHG) coefficients ($d_{33}$) of poled polymer films at the 1064 nm fundamental wavelength were around $6.48\;{\times}\;10^{-9}$ esu. The dipole alignment exhibited high thermal stability even at 10 ${^{\circ}C}$ higher than $T_g$ and no significant SHG decay was observed below 105 ${^{\circ}C}$ partially due to the main-chain character of polymer structure, which is acceptable for NLO device applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.196-200
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• 2013

We conducted investigation on polymeric binders for anti-static coating agent which can maintain stability under the high-voltaic condition. Various polyesters composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polypropylene glycol (PPG) were synthesized and studied in term of the variation in the surface resistance of the film made from coating solution composed of a conductive polymer and these polyesters as a binder. We found that the surface resistance displayed $10^7{\sim}10^8{\Omega}/{\square}$ regardless of chemical composition of binders under the potential of 10 V. Whereas, the surface resistance surged to higher than $2{\times}10^{10}{\Omega}/{\square}$ when 1000 V was applied, rendering it improper for anti-static purpose. When 1,4 butanediol (BD) was incorporated into polyesters ([PEG]/[PPG]/[BD] = 25.0/67.5/7.5), the surface resistance showed $2.8{\times}10^9{\Omega}/{\square}$ under 1000 V, acceptable for anti-static application. These observations may indicate that the hydrophobic nature of BD makes a significant contribution to the surface resistance at a high positive potential.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.200-206
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• 2012

A bacterial strain capable of synthesizing polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) with an unusual pattern of monomer units was isolated from activated sludge using the enrichment culture technique. The organism, identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa P-5, produced polyesters consisting of 3-hydroxyvalerate and medium-chain-length (MCL) 3-hydroxyalkanoate monomer units when $C_{-odd}$ alkanoic acids such as nonanoic acid and heptanoic acid were fed as the sole carbon source. Solvent fractionation experiments using chloroform and hexane revealed that the 3-hydroxyalkanoate monomer units in these polyesters were copolymerized. The molar concentration of 3-hydroxyvalerate in the polyesters produced were significantly elevated up to 26 mol% by adding 1.0 g/L valeric acid as the cosubstrate. These copolyesters were sticky with low degrees of crystallinity. The PHA synthase genes were cloned, and the deduced amino acid sequences were determined. P. aeruginosa P-5 possessed genes encoding MCL-PHA synthases (PhaC1 and PhaC2) but lacked the short-chain-length PHA synthase gene, suggesting that the MCL-PHA synthases from P. aeruginosa P-5 are uniquely active for polymerizing (R)-3-hydroxyvaleryl-CoA as well as MCL (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoAs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.1224-1231
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• 2006

Sucrose esters were synthesized by transesterification of sucrose with docosahexaenoic acid ethylester mixture (DHAEE). Potassium carbonate as a base catalyst was used in the presence of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) for the reactions. The reactions were performed with the different reaction times and molar ratios of substrates in the presence of surfactant in vacuum. Among the reaction conditions in this study, SE#4～7 showed the relatively high conversion rate (>96%) of DHAEE, leading to the high yield of sucrose esters. In addition, the product composition was changed from sucrose mono ester to di/tri/polyesters after the prolonged reaction time while the increased molar ratio of DHAEE also resulted in the composition changes of sucrose mono ester to the sucrose di/tri/polyesters. From the reaction (SE#7), conversion ratio was 98.5% in which 87.3% mono ester and 13.7% di/tri/polyester were found, resulting in the highest content of mono ester. Therefore, the sucrose ester containing various rates of mono and di/tri/polyesters, which effects on hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB) values, can be manipulatively synthesized using the reaction conditions reported in this study.