• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.493-498
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• 2011

Reactive mesogens were used to prepare photo-cured liquid crystal films in which orientations of liquid crystal molecules were preserved by crosslinked networks of cured reactive mesogens. The molecular orientations of liquid crystal mixtures of photo-reative mesogens and non-reactive nematic liquid crystals were studied and compared before and after curing reactions. The effects of temperature and the amount of the non-reactive nematic liquid crystal in the mixture on birefringence of the liquid crystal films were investigated. It was found that optical compensation films with different birefringence could be prepared by controlling the amount of the nematic liquid crystals in the reactive mesogen mixtures.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.418-425
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• 2020

In this study soft computing techniques including, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) were investigated for the prediction of Cr(VI) transport efficiency by novel Polymer Inclusion Membranes (PIMs). Transport experiments carried out by varying parameters such as time, film thickness, carrier type, carier rate, plasticizer type, and plasticizer rate. The predictive performance of ANN and ANFIS model was evaluated by using statistical performance criteria such as Root Mean Standard Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Coefficient of Determination (R²). Moreover, Sensitivity Analysis (SA) was carried out to investigate the effect of each input on PIMs Cr(VI) removal efficiency. The proposed ANN model presented reliable and valid results, followed by ANFIS model results. RMSE and MAE values were 0.00556, 0.00163 for ANN and 0.00924, 0.00493 for ANFIS model in the prediction of Cr(VI) removal efficiency on testing data sets. The R² values were 0.973 and 0.867 on testing data sets by ANN and ANFIS, respectively. Results show that the ANN-based prediction model performed better than ANFIS. SA demonstrated that time; film thickness; carrier type and plasticizer type are major operating parameters having 33.61%, 26.85%, 21.07% and 8.917% contribution, respectively.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.639-643
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• 1999

Interpenetrating polymer networks(IPNs) composed of castor oil(CO) polyurethane(PU) and epoxy resin were prepared by the simultaneous polymerization technique. Two types of PU were prepared using 1,4-butanediol(BD) and BD/trimethylolpropane(TMP) as a chain extending agent and crosslinking agent. The PU/epoxy based on BD as a chain extending agent showed more shift in the damping peak than PU/epoxy based on BD/TMP as the PU content was increased. BDPU/epoxy simultaneous interpenetrating polymer networks(SINs) had a better compatibility than BD/TMP-PU/epoxy SINs. For both systems, it was postulated that unique network formation of PU/epoxy SINs as a chain extending agent and crosslinking agent had occurred to a significant extent of phase mixing. The types of chain extender in the PU were found to be an important factor in determining the phase mixing of the IPNs. When the BD/TMP-PU reaction was faster than epoxy network, the extent of phase mixing was retarded by decreasing entanglement of networks. It was found that both PU/epoxy SINs provided enhanced flexural properties and fracture toughness, fracture surfaces of BDPU/epoxy and BD/TMP-PU/epoxy SINs showed the localized shear deformation and generation of stress whitening associated with the cavitation.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.458-462
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• 2013

A drainage ditch is normally a component of drainage networks in farming systems to remove surplus water, but at the same time, it may act as a major conduit of agricultural nonpoint source pollutions such as sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus, and so on. The hybrid turbidity reduction system using biodegradable check dam and synthetic polymer was developed in this study to manage pollutant discharge from agricultural farmlands during rainfall events and/or irrigation periods. The performance of this hybrid system was assessed using a laboratory open channel sized in 10m-length and 0.2m-width. Various check dams using agricultural byproducts (e.g., rice straw, rice husks, coconut fiber and a mixture of rice husks and coconut fiber) were tested and additional physical factors (e.g., channel slope, flowrate, PAM dosage, turbidity level, etc.) affecting on turbidity reduction were applied to assess their performance. A series of lab experiments clearly showed that the hybrid turbidity reduction system could play a significant role as a supplementary of Best Management Practice (BMP). Moreover, the findings of this study could facilitate to develop an advanced BMP for minimizing nonpoint source pollution from agricultural farmlands and ultimately to achieve the sustainable agriculture.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.577-582
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• 2016

In this study, a multiscale method for solving a thermoelasticity problem for interphase in the polymeric nanocomposites is developed. Molecular dynamics simulation and finite element analysis were numerically combined to describe the geometrical boundaries and the local mechanical response of the interfacial region where the polymer networks were highly interacted with the nanoparticle surface. Also, the micrmechanical thermoelasticity equations were applied to the obtained equivalent continuum unit to compute the growth of interphase thickness according to the size of nanoparticles, as well as the thermal phase transition behavior at a wide range of temperatures. Accordingly, the equivalent continuum model obtained from the multiscale analysis provides a meaningful description of the thermoelastic behavior of interphase as well as its nanoparticle size effect on thermoelasticity at both below and above the glass transition temperature.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.455-460
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• 2012

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel has been studied as an important drug delivery system due to its volume transition or temperature-responsive swelling properties, whose phase separation temperature is similar to the body temperature. However, because of hydrophilic PNIPAM, hydrophobic drugs are difficult to be uniformly loaded in the networks. Antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid (LA) can be prepared as a polymer(polylipoic acid, PLA) by ring opening polymerization, which is hardly developed as a material due to its low molecular weight and easy depolymerization. To overcome this limitation, a hydrophobic active ingredient, LA was reacted with NIPAM into stable hydrogels. Simple thermal radical reaction successfully resulted in a hydrogel (PNIPAM/PLA), which was confirmed by DSC, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy. The PNIPAM/PLA showed temperature-responsive properties, and their volume swelling decreased with an increase in lipoic acid content. These hydrogels can carry hydrophobic drugs with PNIPAM and the hydrogels could be useful as final drug delivery systems having lipoic acid as an antioxidant.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1015-1020
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• 2009

The role of the water structure present in hydrogels from nutlets of three species of salvias, S. miltiorrhiza (SM), S. sclarea (SS) and S. viridis (SV), was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The sharp endothermic peaks that appeared at $5.9^{\circ}C$ (SM), $2.8^{\circ}C$ DC (SS) and $1.8^{\circ}C$ (SV) in each 1.0% hydrogel of 10.4-15.8% were not affected by addition of 0.1 M urea and alkali-metal salts. The order-disorder portions in the network were slightly affected by the distribution of freezable and non-freezable water in the hydrogel networks. The SV hydrogel was further used to investigate the effects of additives (0.1-8.0 M urea and 0.1-5.0 M NaCl) on its melting behavior. At 0.5-4.0 M urea and 1.0-3.0 M NaCl, two endothermic peaks appeared, corresponding to unbound (high temperature) and bound (low temperature) water in the gel networks, and eventually merged into one endothermic peak at 5.0-8.0 M urea and 4.0-4.5 M NaCl. After this merger, the endothermic peak shifted to 3.7, 4.0 and $5.6^{\circ}C$ at 5.0, 6.0 and 8.0 M urea, respectively. In the case of NaCl, a combination of peaks that occurred at 4.0-4.5 M were accompanied by a shift to lower temperature (-14.4 and $15.3^{\circ}C$) and the endothermic peak finally disappeared at 5.0 M NaCl due to the strong binding of water in the gel networks.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.93-122
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• 2024

One well-known reason for using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites is to improve concrete strength and strain capacity via external confinement. Hence, various studies have been undertaken to offer a good illustration of the response of FRP-wrapped concrete for practical design intents. However, in such studies, the strength and strain of the confined concrete were predicted using regression analysis based on a limited number of test data. This study presents an approach based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) to develop models to predict the strength and strain at maximum stress enhancement of circular concrete cross-sections confined with different FRP types (Carbone, Glass, Aramid). To achieve this goal, a large test database comprising 493 axial compression experiments on FRP-confined concrete samples was compiled based on an extensive review of the published literature and used to validate the predicted artificial intelligence techniques. The ANN approach is currently thought to be the preferred learning technique because of its strong prediction effectiveness, interpretability, adaptability, and generalization. The accuracy of the developed ANN model for predicting the behavior of FRP-confined concrete is commensurate with the experimental database compiled from published literature. Statistical measures values, which indicate a better fit, were observed in all of the ANN models. Therefore, compared to existing models, it should be highlighted that the newly developed models based on FRP type are remarkably accurate.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.10-21
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• 2023

Hydrogels that are made of natural polymer-based double networks have excellent biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, and high water content, assuring that the material has the properties required for a variety of biomedical applications. However, hydrogels also have limitations due to their relatively weak mechanical properties. In this study, hydrogels based on an alginate di-aldehyde (ADA) and gelatin (Gel) double network that is reinforced with additional hydrogen bonds formed between the hydroxyl (-OH) groups of the hyperbranched polymer (HPG) and the functional groups present inside of the hydrogels were successfully synthesized. The enhanced mechanical properties of these synthesized hydrogels were evaluated by varying the amount of HPG added during the hydrogel synthesis from 0 to 25%. In addition, magnetite nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) were synthesized within the hydrogels and the structures and the magnetic properties of the hydrogels were also characterized. The hydrogels that contained 15% HPG and Fe₃O₄ NPs exhibited superparamagnetic behaviors with a saturation magnetization value of 3.8 emu g^-1. These particular hydrogels also had strengthened mechanical properties with a maximum compressive stress of 1.1 MPa at a strain of 67.4%. Magnetic hydrogels made with natural polymer-based double networks provide improved mechanical properties and have a significant potential for drug delivery and biomaterial application.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.773-777
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• 2009

In this study, the strain sensing characteristics of single-wall carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs) networks were investigated to develop a film sensor for strain sensing. The SWCNTs film are formed on flexible substrates of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) using spray process. In this manner we could control the transparency and obtain excellent uniformity of the networked SWCNT film. The carbon nanotube film is isotropic due to randomly oriented bundles of SWCNTs. Using experimental results it is shown that there is a nearly linear change in resistance across the film when it is subjected to tensile stress. The results presented in this study indicate the potential of such films for high sensitive transparent strain sensors on macro scale.