• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.11a
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• pp.217-218
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• 2023

This study is to develop porous concrete using super absorbent polymer, which possesses insolubility and high absorption capacity, as a substitute material for lightweight soil. Various mixtures were prepared using aggregates, cement, mixing water, and super absorbent polymer, and the absorption ratio and compressive strength were examined for each mixture. As the amount of super absorbent polymer added increased, the absorption ratio also increased, reaching up to 35-105%. However, the compressive strength decreased by 49.5% to 65.3%. This is believed to be due to the inherent properties of super absorbent polymer, which led to an increase in the absorption ratio but, in turn, reduced the binding strength of cement paste particles, resulting in a decrease in compressive strength.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2012

Silicone resin has no water-absorbing function because it is a strong hydrophobic polymer. However, addition of super absorbent polymer gives much better absorbency than that of conventional silicone resin. In this study, we developed novel silicone materials with water-absorbing function by choosing three types of amorphous acrylic super absorbent polymers with different particle sizes, determining the mixing ratio of the three polymers and applying the mixtures into two-component type silicone material for medical purpose. The change in the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tear strength, compressive strength and hardness was investigated by varying the particle size and content ratio of the added super absorbent polymers while preparing the silicone resins. The absorbency of the silicone resins was measured over time. Additionally, the particle shape of the super absorbent polymers as well as the distribution within the silicone resin was observed using an optical microscope.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.286-292
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• 2006

Super water-absorbent resins were prepared by inverse suspension copolymerization of sodium acrylate, acrylamide and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate using N, N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide as cross-linker. For the suspension copolymerization, monohexadecyl phosphate was employed as the dispersing agent, cyclohexane as the dispersing medium and potassium persulfate as the initiator. The dependence of water-absorption capacity on the amount of crosslinking agent, oil/water ratio, degree of neutralization and the composition of the copolymer were systematically investigated. Furthermore, the swelling kinetics of the super water-absorbent copolymer was carried out. The absorption of the resins is more than 1800 g/g for deionized water and 100 g/g for 0.9% NaCl solution, respectively. The copolymers showed an increased salt resistance and enhanced water retention of soil.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2000

Super water absorbent (CPAM-AS-hyd-1) was prepared by polymerization of acrylamide and allyl sulfonate salt with N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide as crosslinking agent, followed by alkaline hydrolysis and the effect on mycelial growth and sporophore production of edible mushrooms in the artificial cultivation was examined. The mycelial growth of edible mushrooms did not depend on the addition of super water absorbent upto 200 g of hydrated polymer gel per 100 cc medium. The proper hydrated polymer gel concentration for sporophore production of Pleurotus sajor-caju and Hericium erinaceus were 200 g and $200{\sim}250\;g$ per 100 cc medium, respectively. The proper hydrated polymer gel and puffed rice hull concentration for sporophore production of Flammulina velutipes was 200 g per 100 mm medium and 10% (v/v), respectively.

• Solar Energy
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.28-37
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• 1990

A study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using a super-absorbent polymer made from a acrylic acid copolymer for a capsule-type ice storage system. In a simple pyrex-tube test, 25% of distilled water samples tested turned out not be frozen at all at $-12^{\circ}C$ and the average supercooling of the samples frozen was $9.8^{\circ}C$. With the addition of 0.5wt% super-absorbent polymer, however, the supercooling of the distilled water was dramatically reduced and more than 35% of samples tested did not show any supercooling. The heat transfer characteristics of a capsule-type ice storage unit was also investigated with a distilled water as the phase-change material. With the addition of 0.5wt% polymer, the supercooling of water was not observed at all and thus an overall heat transfer was enhanced. Based on these results, it was concluded that a super-absorbent polymer is a potential candidate as the nucleating agent for an ice-storage system.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

Super absorbent polymers (SAPs) are hydrophilic molecules that can absorb large amounts of water. This study was conducted to investigate the enhancement of the physicochemical properties of sand soil blended with three SAPs imbibed with 100, 150, and 200-fold water. Three treatments were applied, namely, 100SAP, 150SAP, and 200SAP. The three SAPs were blended at concentrations of 0% (control), 3%, 5%, 7%, and 10% with sand. The pH, electrical conductivity, and cation exchangeable capacity (CEC) of soil blended with the three SAPs were pH 6.35-6.46, 0.09-0.65 dS/m, and 1.42-1.92 cmol_c/kg, respectively, and their capillary porosity, total porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity were 21.0-29.3%, 39.2-48.7%, and 272-470 mm/hr. CEC, capillary porosity, total porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil were positively correlated with the ratio of the SAPs (p<0.01). These results indicate that blending sand soil with SAPs increased CEC, capillary porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity, thus improving the nutrient-retention capacity, water-retention capacity, and permeability of the soil.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2018

For the efficient recovering of collapsed sloped soil, using a soil binder that can support the soil strongly and help the growth of plants is very important. The soil binder should also have functions of recovering the soil ecologically as well as be environmental friendly materials. In this research, optimum values of the water content and permeability and direct shear strength were searched by adding the water absorbent and coagulant into the soil binder. The polyacrylamide (PAM) with various anionic strength, super absorbent polymer (SAP) and cellulose ether (CE) were used as a soil binder, water absorbent and coagulant, respectively. Effects of the soil binder on the characteristics of soil were observed by changing the mixing ratio of PAM, SAP and CE. Experimental results showed that the soil binder increased the direct shear strength tens of times and the water content around two times, whereas decreased the water permeability. Also, the addition of CE to increase the coagulation of SAP increased more of the direct shear strength and water content.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.283-288
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• 2008

Plant leaf surface is an important niche for diverse epiphytic microbes, including bacteria and fungi. Plant leaf surface plays a critical frontline defense against pathogen infections. The objective of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a starch-based super-absorbent polymer(SAP) combination, which enhances water potential and nutrient availability to plant leaves. We evaluated the effect of SAP on the maintenance of bacterial populations. In order to monitor bacterial populations in situ, a SAP mixture containing Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci that expressed recombinant green fluorescent protein(GFPuv) was spray-challenged onto whole leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana. The SAP combination treatment enhanced bacterial robustness, as indicated by disease severity and incidence. Unexpectedly, bacterial numbers were not significantly different between leaves treated with the SAP combination and those treated with water alone. Furthermore, young leaves treated with the SAP combination had more severe symptoms and a greater number of bacterial spots caused by primary and secondary infections compared to young leaves treated with the water control. In contrast, bacterial cell numbers did not statistically differ between the two groups, which indicated that measurement of viable GFP-based bacterial spots may provide a more sensitive methodology for assessing virulence of bacterial pathogens than methods that require dilution plating following maceration of bacterial-inoculated leaf tissue. Our study suggests that the SAP combination successfully increased bacterial aggressiveness, which could either be used to promote the ability of biological agents to control weedy plants or increase the robustness of saprophytic epiphytes against competition from potentially harmful microbes.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.34-41
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• 2020

Used disposable diapers have been considered for a long time as a type of waste difficult to recycle and valorize due to their composite nature including plastic, cellulose pulp, a super absorbent polymer and either urine, feces or both. Therefore, the fate of disposed diapers often is either incineration or landfill burial which both have various adverse environmental impacts. However, used disposable diapers contain nutrients: cellulose is an organic matter while urine and feces contain non negligible amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are primary nutrients included in most chemical fertilizers used in agriculture. In a scope of waste recycling and valorization, this study focuses on developing a method to achieve nutrient solution extraction from used disposable diapers. The experiment essentially consists in shredding the diapers and letting them macerate in solutions of sodium hydroxide with various concentrations to allow breaking down of the cellulose and super absorbent polymer and release of urine and feces before sterilizing the solutions in an autoclave to remove potential coliform bacteria. At the end of the experiment, a set of parameters is measured for the final solution to identify concentrations of nutrients as well as presence or absence of harmful substances. Results are discussed and directions for future studies are suggested, which include mechanization of the diapers shredding process or added aeration to enhance nitrification and absorption of extracted nutrients from plants.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2001

Poly(aspartic acid), PASP, is a biodegradable, water-soluble polymer and offers a biodegradable alternative to polycarboxylates and other non-degradable water-soluble polymers. PASP one of poly (amino acid)s, possesses carboxylic acid pendant group in its repeating unit, which can be used for various further modification purposes. In this study we prepared high molecular weight polysuccinimide, as the precursor polymer for PASP, by thermal polycondensation ofL-aspartic acid in the presence of phosphoric acid. The polysuccinimide was hydrolyzed with 0.1 N sodium hydroxide, and then acidified to give PASP. High water-absorbent gels were produced by thermal crosslinking of freeze-dried mixture of partially-neutralized PASP and different amount of low moi. wt. PEG-diepoxide compounds in aqueous medium. The swelling behavior of the prepared gels from different size and composition of crosslinking reagent in different media was investigated and the results were discussed. This PASP-based hydrogel materials possessing inherent biodegradability, potential non-toxicity and biocompatibility, is expected to be used as a substrate for various biomedical applications as well as a general purpose super-absorbent polymer.