• Advances in materials Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.193-203
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• 2016

Compared to metal-to-metal tribology, polymer tribology presents further complexity as it is more prone to be influenced by operating conditions. Over the past two decades, progress in the field of wear of polymers has led to the establishment of more refined wear mechanisms. The current paper establishes the link between different load parameters and the wear rate of polymers, based on experimental investigations. A pin-on-plate reciprocating tribometer was used to examine the wear behaviour of polyamide sliding against a steel counterface, under constant and fluctuating loads, in dry conditions. In addition, the influence of controlled imperfections in the polymer surface upon its wear rate were examined, under cyclic and steady loading, in order to better understand surface fatigue wear of polymers. The imposed imperfections consisted of vertical artificial deep crack (slit) perpendicular or parallel to the direction of sliding. The study concludes with the followings findings; in general, wear of polymers shows a significant tendency to the type of applied load. Under cyclic loads, polymers show an increase in wear rate compared to those tested under static loads. Such increase was found to increase with the increase in cyclic load frequency. It is also demonstrated that surface cracks results in higher wear rates, particularly under cyclic loads.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.784-788
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• 1999

The effects of pH, moisture content, and the relative amount of a polymer sample on the biodegradation of degradable polymers in soil were studied using various polymer materials such as cellulose, poly-(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (SG) polycaprolactone (PCL), a blend of PCL and starch (PCL-starch), and a poly-lactic acid (PLA). As with other materials, the polymers degraded faster at a neutral pH than at either acidic or basic conditions. Moisture contents of 60 and 100% water holding capacity exhibited a similar biodegradability for various polymers, although the effects differed depending on the polymer. For synthetic polymers, biodegradation was faster at 60%, while the natural polymer (cellulose) degraded faster at 100%. Fungal hypae was observed at a 60% water holding capacity which may have affected the biodegradation of the polymers. A polymer amount of 0.25% to soil revealed the highest biodegradability among the ratios of 0.25, 0.5, and 1%. With a higher sample amount, the residual polymer could be recovered after the biodegradation test. It was confirmed that a test for general biodegradation condition can be applied to plastic biodegradation in soil.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.421-422
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• 2006

According to the industrialization the using of polymers is increased by their mechanical or commercial demands. At now, the using of polymers is become bigger and bigger than yet. On the other words, our whole life is covered by the polymers. Due to the extended polymer using, the material cost is higher and higher. Therefore, the people used the polymer foaming process using the gas. The polymer foaming using the pentane or butane gas is prohibited by the government cause of the explosiveness and non-environmental friendly. Therefore, the members of MIT invented the Micro-cellular Polymer Foaming in 1980. The Micro-cellular Polymers has many cells in the polymer matrix. By compare between non-foamed polymers, the Micro-cellular Polymers have low material cost, soundproof and shock less. The purpose of this study is to study the twice foamed polymer by batch process. To know the reaction by step of microcellular foaming process, we measure the density of polymer. And to viewing the cell morphology, we used the scanning electron microscopy(SEM).

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.155-163
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• 2013

Meta-kaolin (MK) and blast furnace slag (BS) were used as raw materials with NaOH and sodium silicate as alkali activators for making geo-polymers. The compressive strength with respect to the various pre-curing conditions was investigated. In order to improve the recycling rate of BS while still obtaining high compressive strength of the geo-polymers, it was necessary to provide additional CaO to the MK by adding BS. The specimens containing greater amounts of BS can be applied to fields that require high initial compressive strength. Alkali activator(s) are inevitably required to make geo-polymers useful. High temperature pre-curing plays an important role in improving compressive strength in geo-polymers at the early stage of curing. On the other hand, long-term curing produced little to no positive effects and may have even worsened the compressive strength of the geo-polymers because of micro-structural defects through volume expansion by high temperature pre-curing. Therefore, a pre-curing process at a medium range temperature of $50^{\circ}C$ is recommended because a continuous increase in compressive strength during the entire curing period as well as good compressive strength at the early stages can be obtained.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.345-351
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• 2012

Biomimetic terpene sensors which have high sensitivity and stability have been fabricated using moleculary imprinted polymer (MIP) technology. Since it is impossible to make a resistive type sensor due to the high resistance of MIP, we improved the sensor by adding conductive polymers. We investigated the sensitivity of resistive type sensors with nano particles depending on the amount of conductive polymers. The MIP membrane contained the methacrylic acid as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross linker, which formed specific cavities originated by the target terpene molecules. The mixture of MIP and the conductive polymer was coated on the patterns of interdigit electrodes on the alumina substrate. The fabricated sensors showed their highest specific sensitivities exposed to 500 ppm target gases : limonene 0.055 at 40% of amount of conductive polymers and geraniol $5.84{\times}10^{-4}$ at 20% of amount of conductive polymers. In conclusion, we found that the terpene sensors are affected by the target molecules, functional monomers and the conductive polymers.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.451-458
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• 2004

Water-soluble polyacrylamides hydrophobically modified with small amounts of N,N-dialkylacrylamides [N,N-dihexylacrylamide (DHAM) and N,N-dioctylacrylamide (DOAM)] have been prepared through free radical solution polymerizations using two hydrophobic initiators derived from 4,4' -azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) (ACVA) and long linear chains consisting of 12 and 16 carbon atoms (C12 and C16). This procedure resulted in polyacrylamides containing hydrophobic groups along the chain as well as at the chain ends. We compare the properties of this class of polymers, termed "combined associative polymers", with those of the multisticker (with hydrophobic groups along the polymer chain) and telechelic (with hydrophobic groups at the chain ends) associative polymers. These materials were prepared using DHAM or DOAM and a hydrophobic initiator (ACVA) modified with alkyl chains of two different lengths. Polymers having molecular weights (M$\_$w/) of ca. 175,000 and hydrophobic contents [H] of ca. 0.8 mol% were prepared using 0.07 mol% of initiator relative to the total monomer feed. We investigated the effects that the type, localization, and concentration of the hydrophobic groups have on the viscosities of the associative polymer solutions.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2008

Photoreactive polymers as a color filter resist containing both photoreactive acrylate and cinnamate double bonds were synthesized usin two step reactions. The chemical structures of the synthesized polymers were confirmed by $^1H$-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. The photoreactive polymers were quite soluble in most common organic solvents and produced excellent quality thin films by spin-coating. The photocuring kinetics of the acrylate and cinnamate double bonds were examined by FT-IR and UV- Vis spectroscopy, which confirmed the excellent photoreactivity of both the acrylate and cinnamate double bonds in the polymers. Upon UV irradiation, photocuring was almost completed within approximately 5 min, irrespective of the type of the prepolymers. The polymers also exhibited superior thermal stability, showing little change in transmittance in the visible region even after heating to $250^{\circ}C$ for one hour. Photolithographic micropatterns could be obtained with a resolution of a few microns.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.205-212
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• 1994

Gas permeation properties of simple gases(He, $H_2,\;CO_2,\;O_2,\;N_2,\;CH_4$) through plasma-polymerized films were investigated, and the chemical structure of the plasma polymers was analyzed by infrared spectra. The plasma-polymerized films were prepared by plasma polymerization of fluorine-containing aromatic compounds, and permeation measurements were made at $35^{\circ}C$, latm. The permeability coefficient of the plasma films decreased as the size of penetrant molecules increased. The plasma polymers showed higher $CO_2/CH_4$ selectivities than those of commonly used polymers, while $O_2/N_2$ selectivities were similar of slightly lower than those of common polymers. FT-IR spectra shows that the plasma polymers contain both aromatic and aliphatic structures.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.101-113
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• 2016

In this study, to improve the water flux of porous hydrophobic membranes, various water-soluble polymers including neutral, cationic and anionic polymers were adsorbed using 'salting-out' method. The adsorbed hydrophobic membrane surfaces were characterized mainly via the measurements of contact angles and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. To enhance the durability of the modified membranes, the water-soluble polymers such poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) and found to be resistant for more than 2 months in vigorously stirred water. The water flux was much more increased when the ionic polymers used as the coating materials rather than the neutral polymer and in this case, about 70% of $0.31L/m^2{\cdot}h$ (LMH) to 0.50 LMH was increased when 300 mg/L of polyacrylamide (PAAm) was used as the coating agents. Among the cationic coating polymers such as poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) (PSSA_MA), poly(acrylic acid-comaleic acid) (PAM) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), PSSA_MA was found to be the best in terms of contact angle and water flux. In the case of PSSA_MA, the water flux was enhanced about 80%. The low concentration of the coating solution was better to hydrophilize while the high concentration inclined to block the pores on the membrane surfaces. The best coating condition was found: (1) coating concentration 150 to 300 mg/L, (2) ionic strength 0.15, (3) coating time 20 min.

• Clean Technology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.191-200
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• 2011

Natural polymers, biopolymers, and synthetic polymers based on renewable resources are the basis for the 21th portfolio of sustainable and eco-friendly plastics but high-volume consumable plastics continue to be dominated by nondegradable petroleum-based materials. Three factors have recently made biodegradable polymers economically attractive: (i) rising costs of petroleum production resulting from the depletion of the most easily accessible reserves, (ii) environmental and economic concerns associated with waste plastics, and (iii) emissions of carbon dioxide from preparation of petroleum-based materials. These pressures have driven commercial applications based on biodegradable polymers which are related to reduction of carbon dioxide in processing, such poly(hydroxy alkanoate) and poly (lactide). Since initial degradation of these polymers leads to catastrophic mechanical failure, it is necessary to control the rate of initial degradation for commercial applications. In this article, we have a critic review on the recent progress of polymer modification for the control of degradation.