• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.33 no.7
• /
• pp.295-301
• /
• 2023

Thermoelectric (TE) energy harvesting, which converts available thermal resources into electrical energy, is attracting significant attention, as it facilitates wireless and self-powered electronics. Recently, as demand for portable/wearable electronic devices and sensors increases, organic-inorganic TE films with polymeric matrix are being studied to realize flexible thermoelectric energy harvesters (f-TEHs). Here, we developed flexible organic-inorganic TE films with p-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ powder and polymeric matrices such as poly(3,4-eethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). The fabricated TE films with a PEDOT:PSS matrix and 1 wt% of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exhibited a power factor value of 3.96 µW·m^-1·K^-2 which is about 2.8 times higher than that of PVDF-based TE film. We also fabricated f-TEHs using both types of TE films and investigated the TE output performance. The f-TEH made of PEDOT:PSS-based TE films harvested the maximum load voltage of 3.4 mV, with a load current of 17.4 µA, and output power of 15.7 nW at a temperature difference of 25 K, whereas the f-TEH with PVDF-based TE films generated values of 0.6 mV, 3.3 µA, and 0.54 nW. This study will broaden the fields of the research on methods to improve TE efficiency and the development of flexible organic-inorganic TE films and f-TEH.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.2029-2035
• /
• 2014

In this study, we conducted the adsorption equilibrium and batch experiments of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the wastewater by granular activated carbon (GAC). The components of organic compound were Beef extract (1.8 mg/L), Peptone (2.7 mg/L), Humic acid (4.2 mg/L), Tannic acid (4.2 mg/L), Sodium lignin sulfonate (2.4 mg/L), Sodium lauryle sulfate (0.94 mg/L), Arabic gum powder (4.7 mg/L), Arabic acid (polysaccharide) (5.0 mg/L), $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ (7.1 mg/L), $K_2HPO_4$ (7.0 mg/L), $NH_4HCO_3$ (19.8 mg/L), $MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ (0.71 mg/L), The adsorption characteristics of DOC in synthetic wastewater was described using the mathematical model through a series of isotherm and batch experiments. It showed that there was linear adsorption region in the low DOC concentration (0~2.5 mg/L) and favorable adsorption region in high concentration (2.5~6 mg/L). The synthetic wastewater used was prepared using known quantities of organic and/or inorganic compounds. Adsorption modelling isotherms were predicted by the Freundlich, Langmuir, Sips and hybrid isotherm equations. Especially, hybrid isotherm of Linear and Sips equation was a good adsorption equilibrium in the region of the both the low concentration and high concentration. In applying carbon adsorption for treating water and wastewater, hybrid adsorption equation plus linear equation with Sips equation will be a good new adsorption equilibrium model. Linear driving force approximation (LDFA) kinetic equation with Hybrid (linear+Sips) adsorption isotherm model was successfully applied to predict the adsorption kinetics data in various GAC adsorbent amounts.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.111-115
• /
• 2013

The optimum synthetic conditions of poly(p-phenylphenol) by horseradish peroxidase in dioxane:water (80:20 v/v) mixtures were studied. The stability against thermal degradation and structural properties of the synthesized phenolic resins were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. The synthetic yield of poly(p-phenylphenol) increased upon the increase of the amount of enzyme up to 0.25 mg HRP/mL, then leveled off for further increase of the enzyme usage. When sodium acetate (100 mM, pH 4~6) and sodium phosphate (100 mM, pH 7~9) were used as the buffering salts for the aqueous component (20% v/v), the synthetic yield of the resin increased at higher pH of the aqueous buffer. But when the pHs of the aqueous buffer were 6 and 9, the synthetic yield strongly depended on the types of the buffering salts; if sodium phosphate was used instead of sodium acetate at pH 6, the yield decreased by about 15% and if sodium bicarbonate was used instead of sodium phosphate, the yield decreased by almost 20%. When the pH range of the aqueous buffer was from 4 to 7, the addition of a radical mediator, 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS), up to 2 mM improved the synthetic yield of the resin by about 10%. TGA experiments revealed that the thermal stability of the resin synthesized in dioxane:water (100 mM sodium phosphate, pH 9) (80:20 v/v) was high having the char yield of 47% upon the heating at $800^{\circ}C$. DCS results showed that the structures of the polymers synthesized in acidic aqueous buffers were different from those of the polymers synthesized in the basic aqueous buffers. However, all the synthesized resins were found to have the property of the thermosetting resins.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2002

This study was performed to investigate the possibility of water purification by a wild train of Oenanthe javanica DC. Three commercially available dishwashing detergents and a standard surfactant, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS), were used for this study. The experiment was done in 1.5 ι transluscent aquariums. The plants were distributed into various concentrations of detergents and various kinds of detergent in the separate aquariums. The wet weight of the plants was significantly decreased (p<0.05), and the visual vitality of the plants also decreased in 2 days. The higher the concentration of detergent was, and the more time the plants were exposed to the detergents, the more decrease of growth was observed. The pH value of the culture media decreased in 2 days and in 4 days, then slightly increased in 6 days. However, the pH value of the media did not return to the initial neutral level of pH in 6 days. The pH value of the culture media containing the LAS remarkably increased in 6 days and increased to a neutral pH value in 18 days (p<0.01) as the pH of the other culture media. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the culture media gradually increased over the 4 days. A decrease of COD was observed in 6 days, but no tendency was observed between 12 and 18 days. The detergent in the culture media was highly significantly decreased in 2 days (p<0.01) and gradually decreased after this. After 6 days the remaining detergent was 12.4∼23.7% from the various levels of initially added concentration, and 22.4 ∼34.2% from the flour kinds of detergents. These results show that the reduction of detergent was caused by Oenanthe javanica and the effect was significant during the first 6 days when the plants were still growing well. These results indicate that the plant purifies contaminated water for several days and the effect could be variable according to the level of contamination and the environment in which the plant grows.

• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.45-50
• /
• 2013

Mutagenesis is used to study gene function and obtain new genetic resources for plant breeding. Soybean is an important oil crop in the world. Thus, to find new genetic resources, a mutation population was developed from the soybean cultivar Pungsannamul using 0.3% ethyl methane sulfonate. The variation of fatty acids was then evaluated among 892 M4 generation mutant lines selected from 3,774 mutant lines. While the wild type Pungsannamul showed 11.6, 3.4, 23.8, 53.3, and 7.8% for palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid, respectively. the fatty acid variations in the mutant lines ranged from 7.4 to 19.7%, 2.2 to 13.0%, 14.7 to 49.0%, 31.8 to 63.9%, and 3.9 to 15.9% with an average of 10.8, 3.8, 25.3, 52.0, and 8.1% for palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid, respectively. Thus, two mutation lines with higher plamitic acid, PE1542 (17.1%) and PE3058 (17.0%), one line with lower stearic acid, PE2166 (1.9%), one line with higher stearic acid, PE977 (12.7%), two lines with higher oleic acid, PE450 (44.4%) and PE2742 (47.7%), and two lines with lower linolenic acid, PE594 (4.6%) and PE1690 (3.7%), were selected from this study. The newly selected fatty acid variants will be good genetic sources for gene function analyses and breeding soybean varieties with altered fatty acids for various industrial and human food applications.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.465-474
• /
• 1999

RNase activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 7754 was investigated to obtain strains with high ribonucleic acid (RNA) content. The yeast strain contained two RNase activities; an acidic RNase with a optima of pH $3{\sim}4$ and an alkaline RNase with a optima pH 9. The acidic RNase activity was inhibited by $0.08\;M\;HgCl_{2}$ most drastically. The alkaline RNase activity was inhibited by 2.0 M NaCl or KCl, while enhanced by addition of $0.05\;M\;CaCl_{2},\;0.02\;M\;ZnSO_{4},\;or\;0.008\;M\;HgCl_{2}$. Various mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 7754 were isolated by ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS) treatment or $\gamma$-ray/ultra violet irradiation. Among the mutants that were sensitive to high concentration of KCl which inhibits alkaline RNase, B24 was selected for high RNA content per culture volume. Growth characteristics of the mutant were comparable to those of the mother strain with optimum growth at pH $4.5{\sim}5.5$. The mutant accumulated higher content of RNA than the mother strain when glucose was used as the carbon source. However, both growth rate and total RNA content of the mutant were higher in molasses medium than in glucose medium. RNA content of the mutant increased rapidly during the early stage of growth, and then decreased gradually until the culture reached stationary phase by a fed-batch culture in a 5 L jar fermenter. Maximal cell harvest and the final RNA content using the mutant B24 were 69.6 g/L culture broth and 19.8 g/100 g of the dry cell while those using the mother strain were 68 g/L culture broth and 16.1 g/100 g of dry cell, respectively.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.46-52
• /
• 2000

Miscibility improvement between polypropylene(PP) and ethylene-propylene-diene-terpolymer (EPDM) was studied by introducing specific interaction into both polymers. PP was modified by grafting maleic anhydride(MAH) onto backbone, leading to MAH-grafted PP(PP-g-MAH). Sulfonated EPDM ionomer neutralized with bivalent zinc cation(ZnSEPDM) was used as one component. The blends of PP-g-MAH and ZnSEPDM were prepared at $200^{\circ}C$ in Brabender Roller Mixer. Fourier transform-infrared(FT-IR) spectroscopic and dynamic mechanical studies have been performed to investigate the miscibility. FT-IR spectral peak corresponding to carbonyl group in PP-g-MAH and that to sulfonate group in ZnSEPDM were shifted to lower and higher frequency with increasing ZnSEPDM content, respectively, in the blends. Glass transition temperature of ZnSEPDM was increased up to 70wt.% of ZnSEPDM, and again decreased above 70wt.%. It can be concluded from the shift of FT-IR characteristic peaks and the changes of glass transition temperatures that the miscibility between PP and EPDM was improved via introducing specific interaction, i.e., dipole-ion interaction.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.105-117
• /
• 2012

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the concentration of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) in blood and factors controlling their exposure among Koreans. Methods: Study subjects were selected to include 718 members of the general population residing in five metropolitan cities and the Gangwon Province area from August 2008 to January 2009. A questionnaire was administered to investigate lifestyle, socio-demographic characteristics, and other related factors. Blood samples were collected and extracted using solid-phase extraction and anion-exchange methods, and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC, Agilent 1200 Series) coupled with a Triple Quad LC-MS/MS system (Agilent 6410). Results: Geometric mean concentrations of PFOA and PFOS in the blood were measured as 1.82 and 6.06 ng/ml, respectively. Mean PFOA and PFOS concentrations generally increased with age in both genders. Blood PFOA concentration was significantly different according to such variables as age, family income, residential district, and province. Blood PFOS concentration was significantly different by such variables as gender, age, lifestyle factors such as regular exercise, alcohol consumption, and smoking status. Also, family income, hazardous facilities, job classification, and province contributed significantly to differences in blood PFOS concentration levels. Conclusions: Blood PFOA and PFOS concentrations in Koreans were similar with those found in Japan, the USA, and Germany, but less than those in Australia. PFOA and PFOS exposure seems to be affected by a variety of factors in Korea. Therefore, investigation is required for each factor to assess the relative contribution of different variables.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.169-175
• /
• 1988

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of pH, organic matters and anion on the adsorption and degradation of surfactant by different soils; Anmi series (limestone region), Gangseo series (alluvial soil). For this study, Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate (ABS ; Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate) was used as a surfactant. The results were as follows: 1. Adsorption of ABS by soils was correlated positively with the equilibrium concentration of ABS in a soil suspension. (Anmi seris : r=0.9855, Gangseo series : r=0.9931). 2. Adsorption rate of ABS by soils was about 70% of the treated concentration ($600{\mu}g$ ABS/g soil) in a range of pH 4 to pH 5, and about 20% for pH 8. 3. Addition of electrolytes increased ABS adsorption by soils in a soil suspension; the higher concentration, the higher adsorption. But the influence among electrolytes was not significant. 4. Adsorption of ABS by soils was not affected by soil organic matter content in this experiment. 5. Degradation rate of ABS in a soil suspension was about 85% at $30^{\circ}C$, and about 10 to 15% at $10^{\circ}C$. Addition of sewage accelerated the degradation rate regardless of temperature and reached about 85% in a week.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.3-12
• /
• 1980

Certain heavy metals which may lead peoples to poisonous status are widely used in industry and their uses have been increasing along with rapid industrialization of this country. Such an increasement of metal uses aggravates the status of environmental pollution affecting foodstuffs which are the most important life supporting factor of animal and humanbeing. Concerning the safety measures to minimize food-borne transmission of such hazardous metals, surveillance is the backbone of them and probably more so with a potential problem such as intoxication. Theoretically, this surveillance should include the determination of levels of heavy metal toxicants in foods, the determination of food consumption patterns and typical total diet, and the estimation of total load of the metal contaminant from all sources of exposure including air, water, and occupational sources. In recent year, actually, such estimates on the total daily intake of some heavy metals from foods have been made in several developed countries and a wide variation of date by season, locality, and research method was recognized. Also in this country, this kind of research data is vitally needed to make up for the serious shortage or lack of references to estimate the total amount of heavy metal intake of the people. In this study, a modification model for estimation of the total daily intake of cadmium copper, nickel, zinc, and lead through foods was applied and concentrations of the above metals in crops cultivated in this country were measured with atomic absorption spectro photometer to get the following results. 1. Level of heavy metal concentration in crops Generally, the levels of such metals in essential crops such as rice, cucumber, radish. chinese cabbage, apple, pear, grape, and orange are similar or lower than those in Japan and other developed countries. By the way, a striking result on cadmium concentration was increasement of its concentration in rice from $0{\sim}0.035ppm$ in 1970 to 0.11ppm in this study. However, the value is still far below the. Japanese Permissible Lebel of 1.0ppm. 2. Estimation of total daily intake per capita from foods A new model for estimation was devised utilizing levels of metal concentration in foods, amount of food consumed, and other food factors. Based on the above method, the daily intake of cadmium was estimated to be $70.53{\mu}g/man/day$ in average which was as high as the Limit Value of ILO/WHO(up to $71.4{\mu}g/man/day$). Also, 3.89mg of Zinc, 1.65mg of cuppor, 0.32mg of lead were given as the total daily intake per capita by this research. 3. Efficacy of washing or skinning to decrease the amount of metals in crops After washing the crops sufficiently with commercial linear alkylate sulfonate, the concentration of heavy metals could be reduced to $50{\sim}80%$ showing decreasement rate of $20{\sim}50%$. Also, after skinning the fruits, decreasement rate of the heavy metal concentration shelved $0{\sim}50%$.